It’s UNofficial—summer is here!!

The calendar says that summer starts on June 21 at 1:45 AM, but that's merely the time of the summer solstice. Summer here in the Carolinas is UN-officially underway as of this week--in my book anyway.

I base this statement not on what our high temperatures are like even many meteorologists are inclined to think. On average, we have about five 90 plus degree days in May. Instead, I base it on LOW temperatures. Here's why.

A number of things can cause high temperatures to soar into the 90s. You can have a downsloping west wind out of the Appalachian Mountains or even just an unseasonably warm air mass in place, but neither of those things necessarily indicate a change in seasons has taken place. Low temperatures on the other hand tend to reflect that humidity level of the atmosphere. This is because at night, with clear skies and light winds, the temperature will cool to the dewpoint temperature making the relative humidity 100%. Simply put, the higher the dewpoint temperature, the more humid it is. In the summer, our weather in the Southeast is dominated by an area of high pressure known as the Bermuda high that only forms in the summer months. The clockwise flow around this high located to our east gives us a fairly consistent south this time of year and is the reason our humidity in the Carolinas is SO high. Since higher humidity means higher dewpoint temperatures mostly in the 70s throughout the summer, our overnight low temperatures begin to only fall into the 70s. Until this week, we had seen a couple of 90 degree afternoons, but our lows were still consistently falling into the low to mid 60s at night giving us the nice, cool nights we enjoy in the springtime.

This week, however, that all changed. Starting tonight and lasting through the entire 7 day forecast, low temperatures every night are expected to be in the low to even middle 70s with no real change in sight beyond 7 days either.

So, as far as I'm concerned it is now summer in the Carolinas even if it isn't OFFICIAL until June 21.

Log In | Register as a new member