August weather in October has Baltimore broiling
Blame it on the Bermuda High
Above: There were high – really high – temperatures across the U.S. today. (intellicast.com).
For the third day in a row, temperatures in Baltimore and the Eastern and Southeastern U.S. sizzled up into the 80s – strangely summery for the middle of October.
Today’s high temperature at Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport – already up to 87 degrees by mid-afternoon – had people sporting sandals and tank tops and searching out the shade.
That temperature also put National Weather Service forecasters to work. The mercury blasted well past Baltimore’s previous record high for this date, 82 degrees set in 1947, their archives show.
Three consecutive days in the 80s is unusual, forecasters said. (Tuesday’s high of 84 at BWI also broke a record. Monday’s temperature also surged into the 80’s, reaching 84 by about 3 p.m.)
Beyond Baltimore, the story was the same, with the mercury hitting 86 degrees at Dulles International Airport (a record) and 97 degrees at Reagan National Airport.
On Monday, Dodge City, Kansas, hit 101 degrees, breaking an all-time high for October that had been set just the day before at 99 degrees.
Records Shattered
A hovering weather pattern known as a Bermuda High is responsible for the summery spell.
“Record-breaking temperatures will extend north, all the way up to Chicago, and eastward to New York City and Boston,” CNN said.
Records were being shattered far and wide, according to The Weather Channel.
“At least 254 daily record highs and record warm low temperatures have been tied or broken across 34 states since Saturday,” the weather forecasting network said today.
Unusually warm weather in Baltimore is reddening these cherry tomatoes, even though it’s October. (Fern Shen)
This blast of August-in-Autumn was good news for sun-worshippers and gardeners (Don’t pluck those last few green tomatoes quite yet!), but not a good sign for citizens of a warming planet.
The first six months of 2016, according to NASA, have been the warmest on record. This follows 2015, which was, scientists say, the warmest year in the historical record.
Forecasters say cooler weather is on the way, with rain and clouds possible tomorrow and temperatures dropping into the 60s or lower 70s by Friday.