Heating up: Global Warmth hitting record stretch

June, July, and August mark the three months that make up the climatological months of summer. This year, summer has been met with balmy temperatures across numerous cities in the country, with several records being met or exceeded. With the data compiled from NOAA and local NWS offices across the nation, the summer of 2016 will officially go down in the record books as one of the hottest summers ever recorded.

Not only was it warm in America, but globally August went down as the eleventh consecutive month of record warmth. This dates back to 2015 when the streak began. It was the warmest August in 136 years of modern record keeping.

There is a reason as to why a good portion of the country experienced record heat and a lot has to do with the amount of humidity. Unusually high levels of humidity were on the increase, as a constant flow of moisture kept drifting northward from the Gulf of Mexico.

The moisture rich air was felt with heat indices that exceeded 105 degrees several times this summer and was felt through the evening hours. This is due in large part because moisture rich air cools significantly slower than drier air.

The national average overnight temperature was 60.8 degrees according to NOAA and it made for some very humid nights.

When all was said and done, 2016 tied with 2006 for the 5th hottest summer on record. Only 1936, 2012, 2011, and 1934 were hotter.

Closer to home, it was an entirely different story. While Columbia did experience some sweltering heat, it was far from breaking records. Data compiled by the National Weather Service out of St. Louis shows that we experienced a summer that was slightly above average.

Here in Mid-Missouri, June was the warmest month, coming in at the 9th warmest June on record. However, July and August didn’t even crack the top 50. There’s still the argument that it was an insanely warm summer and evidence backs that up. However Columbia barely cracked the top 25, with this summer being the 22nd warmest on record.

The overall temperature was 1.8 degrees warmer than our 30 year average of 75.9 degrees. This is a far cry from the hottest sumer that Columbia has ever seen, which was set back in 1936 at 82.7 degrees.

With the extended summer that many americans are seeing, fall colors may take some time to peak. This means a delayed start in raking leaves in your yard. Not only that, but thanks to the past several months of record rain, mid-Missourians may find themselves mowing their yard well into October, before we finally see the cool down.

While summer is expected to hold on for the next few weeks, you can be certain that the warm days are numbered, as the official start to fall is September 22nd.