[Kitsune]

37.1 at 3pm, the July record is 37.6. Thats likely going to be tied or broken... some personal weather stations are apparently near 40 degrees (I saw one in Moore Park that read 39.9). The only reason why we didnt break the all time record is because the cloud's that rolled in.

 

[Urban Shocker]

I hand washed a couple of linen shirts yesterday, and hung them out in the garden, and they dried ( snaps fingers ) just like that!

 

[Kitsune]

37.9 was the high - that breaks the July record. U of T also recorded a humidex of 51 degrees with there weather station (its the only other WMO certified weather station in Toronto)

 

[GenerationW]

37.9 was the high - that breaks the July record. U of T also recorded a humidex of 51 degrees with there weather station (its the only other WMO certified weather station in Toronto)

We just broke 100 F yesterday (100.22 to be exact). Eureka!

Still can't buy humidex (which is pretty much unique to Canada) as a legitimate statistic since there is no accepted method of accounting for humidity around the world.

 

[Long Island Mike]

July 22,2011: A day for the weather record books in the Eastern US and Canada...

Everyone: This day is turning out to be one of the hottest on record for many places
in the eastern US and Canada...

Examples: NYC-Central Park(Manhattan)104 F-the 2nd highest temperature on record...
Boston-103 F-2nd highest recorded temp-hottest day in BOS in 85 years!
Baltimore,MD-106 F-All-time record: 107 F on July 10,1936...

It is going to be interesting to see how many records are set today and tomorrow...
The heat wave is to break sometime on Sunday or Monday July 24 or 25...

GW: Another way of measuring the temperature/humidity combination is the DEW POINT...

Dew points under 50 are comfortable usually...from 50 to 60 it becomes noticeable...
Over 60 it gets gradually more uncomfortable...over 70 it can become rough...

There were many dew points 70 and above in the eastern US...I noticed 73 was mentioned for NYC today...

The highest I have ever remember seeing is 81 down on the US Gulf Coast...
That can be described in one word: Oppressive...

We must remember that this is the hottest period in the hottest month of the year...


Long Island Mike

 

[GenerationW]

We must remember that this is the hottest period in the hottest month of the year...

You're exactly right Mike. Statistically speaking, July 23rd is the peak of summer in these parts.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Everyone: This day is turning out to be one of the hottest on record for many places
in the eastern US and Canada...

Examples: NYC-Central Park(Manhattan)104 F-the 2nd highest temperature on record...
Boston-103 F-2nd highest recorded temp-hottest day in BOS in 85 years!
Baltimore,MD-106 F-All-time record: 107 F on July 10,1936...

It is going to be interesting to see how many records are set today and tomorrow...
The heat wave is to break sometime on Sunday or Monday July 24 or 25...

GW: Another way of measuring the temperature/humidity combination is the DEW POINT...

Dew points under 50 are comfortable usually...from 50 to 60 it becomes noticeable...
Over 60 it gets gradually more uncomfortable...over 70 it can become rough...

There were many dew points 70 and above in the eastern US...I noticed 73 was mentioned for NYC today...

The highest I have ever remember seeing is 81 down on the US Gulf Coast...
That can be described in one word: Oppressive...

We must remember that this is the hottest period in the hottest month of the year...


Long Island Mike

I got an email from my uncle & aunt last night who are retired teachers spending 10 days in NYC. They are staying in Queens, a block from the F train so it's a quick ride into midtown and they're saying it's been hell there. I think they only have 3 or 4 days left but they've been rather limited in what they can do so far because of the extreme heat walking around there.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Summer in the City...Heat wave thoughts...

I got an email from my uncle & aunt last night who are retired teachers spending 10 days in NYC. They are staying in Queens, a block from the F train so it's a quick ride into midtown and they're saying it's been hell there. I think they only have 3 or 4 days left but they've been rather limited in what they can do so far because of the extreme heat walking around there.

DTG: This is totally understandable-On Friday July 22 temperatures in Queens,NY were
over 100 degrees F and another problem is underground NYC Subway stations...

Because of their design many Subway stations are unbearably hot because trains air units and traction motors throw off heat that cannot escape and they must work even harder due to that...

The song "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful from the late 60s comes to mind...specifically these lyrics:

"All around people looking half-dead walking on the sidewalk hotter then a match-head"

"But at night it's a different world..." Yes-but when the temperature goes no lower then 80 degrees F for an overnight low unless you have some way of keeping comfortable...
it can be rough...as it did during the days of the heat wave...

Luckily we do catch breaks-like today-July 25-when temperatures topped out in the upper 70s F...It's quite a difference...

LI MIKE

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

DTG: This is totally understandable-On Friday July 22 temperatures in Queens,NY were
over 100 degrees F and another problem is underground NYC Subway stations...

Because of their design many Subway stations are unbearably hot because trains air units throw off heat that cannot escape and they must work even harder due to that...

LI MIKE

They cut their trip short and drove home on Monday. When I found out that they were there about mid-trip I sent them an email middle of last week to their Hotmail account hoping they'd check it for things to see and do. In part, I got this response about the subways:

(received July 24th) Friday it was 109 in Newark, and yesterday we were in Central Park at 101. PLus humidy index etc. No breeze. Since NYC is about walking around and seeing the neighbourhoods it has been quite restrictive. The subway stations are the worst. Baking !

 

[Long Island Mike]

They cut their trip short and drove home on Monday. When I found out that they were there about mid-trip I sent them an email middle of last week to their Hotmail account hoping they'd check it for things to see and do. In part, I got this response about the subways:

(received July 24th) Friday it was 109 in Newark, and yesterday we were in Central Park at 101. PLus humidy index etc. No breeze. Since NYC is about walking around and seeing the neighbourhoods it has been quite restrictive. The subway stations are the worst. Baking !

DTG: Here are more July 22,2011 weather records:
Newark,New Jersey set its all-time high temperature on this day-108 degrees F...
The NYC-Manhattan-Central Park all time record is 106 degrees F that was recorded on July 10,1936-the very same day as the Baltimore,MD all-time high was recorded...

Islip,Long Island-near where I live-recorded a high temperature of 100 degrees F which was the highest temperature recorded at that location in about 10 years...
During the Summer on many warm days an afternoon "sea breeze" kicks in that can cool things down somewhat but on that day it never happened-the prevailing wind was out of the west
off the hot land adding to the record heat...and the high dew points made temperatures feel about 8 to 10 degrees warmer then the actual recorded temperatures...

During the heat wave the air quality was mentioned as not being good - high ozone and stagnant air was mentioned - and those susceptible were advised to limit their outdoor time and stay
indoors in air conditioning if possible...

Your relatives did the right thing by taking it easy in NYC but unfortunately it did a number on their plans...this was the type of extreme weather that can change a vacation...
Weather can be "luck of the draw" sometimes...

It reminded me of a June 1985 visit to Atlanta,Georgia that I made-I unfortunately was there during a major late-Spring heat wave in which the temperature topped out at just under 100 degrees F for each of the five days that I was there...it was hot enough that I was not able to visit places I wanted to go to-like Stone Mountain-and I spent a lot of time riding the MARTA
regional rapid transit system-the trains were a cool place to be-and I recall that when I passed thru Atlanta about a week later returning to NYC the temperatures was much more pleasant...
Unfortunately it was far too late to change my travel plans...I was on an Amtrak train trip and I also visited New Orleans and SE Louisiana on that trip...

Memories and insight from Long Island Mike

 

[Towered]

I went downtown for a haircut last Thursday, when it was scorching outside. When I returned to the car about an hour later, the outside temperature was 39 degrees, IN THE SHADE. Then driving west along Queen Street it consistently stayed at 40 degrees, and even hit 41 for a couple of minutes. The record may not have been broken wherever the "official" temperature was recorded, but it definitely was where I was. I've never seen it get that hot in my lifetime, and I've lived in Toronto my whole life.

 

[khris]

The thermometer on a car is not accurate like the kind they use to officially record temperatures.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The 6th heat alert of the season was issued today by the City of Toronto. Craziness!

 

[Long Island Mike]

Everyone: How often does Toronto get significant hail storms and what is the largest size hail stones that have been noted or recorded?

The reason I ask because the NYC area had a round of severe thunderstorms on Monday afternoon August 1st and in one of these storms that was in eastern Queens/western Nassau County
up to baseball-sized hail fell...specifically in Douglaston and Little Neck in Queens and New Hyde Park in Nassau County...
In those areas there was significant damage from large hail that was noted to vehicles and homes...luckily no one was seriously hurt or worse...
One veteran meteorologist mentioned that this almost never happens in this area and is the largest hail stones that he has seen in 50 years of work in weather in the NYC area...
Another explanation was mentioned in which the height of the storm clouds were noted-these storms topped out at around 50,000 feet or about 12 miles into the Atmosphere and that most northeastern US thunderstorms average 30-35,000 feet at their highest...as some know hail stones travel up and down in a cloud and then when they become too heavy for the wind to hold them aloft they fall to earth...
A way of noting how many "trips" a hail stone makes is by cutting a large one in half and counting the layers...

In my own memory the largest hail I have ever seen is quarter sized and I have also heard of storms that have so much small hail the ground becomes covered like there was a snowstorm and snow plows actually have to be called out to remove the dropped hail even though it does not last long because of warm ground temperatures...

The Summer of 2011 not only is becoming notable because of record heat it will be memorable because of the abnormally intense storms being triggered at times...LI MIKE

 

[GenerationW]

Everyone: How often does Toronto get significant hail storms and what is the largest size hail stones that have been noted or recorded?

On average, maybe 1-2 times a year.. Occasionally we'll get golf ball sized stones, but usually they're like pebbles. I don't remember ever seeing hail the size of baseballs.