Beastly Hot

Record and Average Highs, Atlanta, Georgia

Temperatures across the South and in the Midwest have been fifteen degrees above normal for the past few days and are expected to continue. We can expect highs in the 90s for at least the next ten days. The projected high for tomorrow (Sunday) is 96F. Ouchie!

Yep, it can get hot here in Pine Lake-- but it's hot all over the place just now. When it gets hot here, it's generally hotter almost everywhere else.

When I tell people I live in Pine Lake they immediately assume I live in a brick oven. Yes, I say, it can get hot. Yes, it can get muggy. When I tell them it's not all that bad they don't believe me.

Click MORE, below, for my analysis of Atlanta's summer weather.


We have a great microclimate here in Pine Lake; the trees and the water cool things off a bit. Many is the summer day when I've ventured outside and decided it wasn't bad, then nearly died crossing the parking lot at the Publix or Ingles grocery store. We're fortunate to have shade and tree-fueled air conditioning.

But it still gets hot.

And yet when it gets hot here, it's hot everywhere-- the entire East Coast sometimes, and the South and the Midwest at other times, like now. And however hot it is in Atlanta, it's generally hotter to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west.

I'm not crazy; it's true. It's almost unheard of for us to break 100 F.

I looked at data for a number of cities in the eastern half of the US. Here are their record highs for June, July, and August:

101, 102, 101  Atlanta
106, 107, 105  Nashville
104, 103, 100  Indianapolis
104, 102, 101  Chicago
105, 112, 110  Little Rock
105, 107, 108  Augusta, GA
100, 102, 100  NYC
112, 111, 109  Dallas
100, 104, 102  Boston
104, 108, 103  Minneapolis
102, 107, 105  Louisville

Now, all those cities except Augusta and Dallas are north of Atlanta, some as much as one thousand miles. For the record high temperature, Atlanta is tied with New York City and has a lower record high than the rest, even Minneapolis and Boston.

Atlanta doesn't fare badly for average high temperatures, either:

84, 88, 86  Atlanta

85, 89, 88  Nashville

81, 84, 82  Indianapolis

80, 84, 83  Chicago

89, 93, 92  Little Rock

90, 92, 90  Augusta, GA

78, 84, 82  NYC

92, 96, 96  Dallas

77, 82, 80  Boston

79, 83, 80  Minneapolis

83, 87, 86  Louisville

Our average highs are lower than Nashville and Little Rock, to our north, and only a degree off Louisville.

Now let's look at average lows:

62, 67, 66  Atlanta

65. 70, 68  Nashville

61, 65, 63  Indianapolis

61, 66, 65  Chicago

68, 72, 71  Little Rock

65, 70, 68  Augusta, GA

63, 69, 68  NYC

73, 77, 76  Dallas

59, 65, 64  Boston

58, 63, 61  Minneapolis

65. 70, 68  Louisville

It seems New York City's average lows are higher than ours-- and Nashville's, and Little Rock's, and Louisville's, and of course Augusta' and Dallas'.

Yeah, yeah, you say. It's not the heat, but the humidity.

Here are mean afternoon relative humidity levels for July in the same cities:

59%  Atlanta

60%  Nashville

60%  Indianapolis

59%  Chicago

58%  Little Rock

55%  Augusta, GA

59%  NYC

52%  Dallas

57%  Boston

58%  Minneapolis

58%  Louisville

So maybe it's not the humidity after all!

I wouldn't want to live in Atlanta without an air conditioner, but it's not bad here-- or at least no worse than anywhere else, and better than some.