Heat, Humidity and Water Woes

"It's not the heat, but the humidity." We hear it all the time. But we are living that phrase this week. Last week, air temperatures reached 100 and dew points (measure of amount of moisture in the air) were extremely high (60s & 70s), which made it feel like a sauna each time you stepped outdoors.

This heat wave is different in that our moisture source is cut-off, so our air is very dry, almost like the desert. At one point Wednesday, the dew point was 49 and the relative humidity was 27%. That's almost as dry as Death Valley.

We're in desperate need of rain. Roanoke Regional Airport has a deficit of -7.98" for 2007. In the middle of a moderate drought, Danville is even worse, down -8.15" for the year. It's not unusual that summer is dry, with mainly scattered storms being the main source of precipitation. We typically see a return of wetter weather in the fall as the tropics get active and also when the jet stream returns a bit farther south. One could only hope we can make up for some of the lack of rain as we did at the end of 2006.

Below is the temperature and precipitation outlooks for September-November, based on climate and current models. This data comes from NOAA and the National Weather Service.

THE TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK FOR SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2007 CALLS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER MOST OF THE UNITED STATES. THE CHANCES OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE SOMEWHAT HIGHER THAN NORMAL FOR THE SOUTHWEST DUE LARGELY TO THE LONG-TERM TRENDS AND ONGOING DROUGHT CONDITIONS.

ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED ALONG THE GULF AND ATLANTIC COASTS PARTLY DUE TO AN EXPECTED ACTIVE TROPICAL ATLANTIC STORM SEASON AND ALSO DUE TO THE LONG-TERM TRENDS.

What does this all mean? Conserve water, drink water, and pray for water. --Brent