Summer starts hotter than usual for Birmingham area
Summer starts hotter than usual for Birmingham area
Birmingham and the rest of Alabama are part of a heat hazard warning from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.
An area that stretches 1,600 miles from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Gulf Coast will have much higher-than-normal temperatures or excessive heat over the weekend, according to a climate center warning published Wednesday.
This heat is caused by an upper-level area of high pressure across the central United States. It comes on the heels of the official start of summer on Wednesday.
AccuWeather.com is forecasting highs for Birmingham of 94 on Friday, 96 on Saturday, 95 on Sunday, 97 on Monday and 93 on Tuesday. The normal high temperature in Birmingham for this time of year is 89 to 90 degrees.
The forecast highs from the Calera office of the National Weather Service are a bit lower -- 93 on Friday, 94 for the next three days and 92 on Tuesday.
The year has been unusually warm so far. From the start of 2012 through the end of May, Alabama and 28 other states in the Southeast, Great Plains, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic region and New England have had their warmest year to date in 118 years of record keeping, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
The Climate Prediction Center expects above-normal temperatures will persist in Alabama through the summer. Both its one-month and three-month predictions show above-normal heat blanketing the lower half of the United States from Nevada to the Carolinas.
The hot weather in Birmingham this weekend is a normal part of summer, said Weather Service meteorologist Scott Unger. "It's just an upper-level ridge that allows temperatures to build."
"But the heat is definitely something to keep an eye on," he said. "Wear sunscreen and stay hydrated."
The website for the Birmingham-area National Weather Service has an Alabama Department of Public Health tip sheet on how to combat heat. Advice includes drinking plenty of water, staying in an air-conditioned room and keeping out of the sun. You should also check on older neighbors and relatives and make sure that pets have plenty of water to drink and a shady place to cool off.
Birmingham residents typically take mid-90s temperatures in stride. The National Weather Service issues a heat advisory for the area only if the temperature hits triple digits or if the heat index reaches 105, Unger said.
This year's start of summer on Wednesday came a day earlier on the calendar than the last three years, partly because of the extra day for leap year on Feb. 29. The summer solstice is the time of year with the longest hours of daylight.
In Birmingham today, sunrise was at 5:38 a.m. and sunset will be at 8:01 p.m. The days will gradually shorten over the next two months. On July 21, the sun will rise at 5:52 a.m. and set at 7:55 p.m. On Aug. 21, the sun will rise at 6:14 a.m. and set at 7:26 p.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Summer starts hotter than usual for Birmingham area
Summer starts hotter than usual for Birmingham area
