Is this heat normal? (Norfolk, Wakefield: schools, store, moving)

[froggin4colorado]

Please tell me, is this normal? Can we expect this heat until September? I remember moving in late August last year and the day we had to unpack I was told that THAT day was the hottest day of the summer yet...and with the heat index it was supposed to reach 103 that day. That was end of August though and we are in June.

[Spazkat9696]

NO!!!! It's not usually this hot.

[misueno]

It is not usually this hot until mid-July... when it will be worse. Look on the bright side, you're getting acclimated early. :-)

[froggin4colorado]

Oh happy joy joy! (I think...)

[sleeptodream138]

It's kind of normal but it has been unusually humid unusually early. I used to think mid-July, all of August into early September was the worst but not this summer! The actual temps have been hotter earlier than usual too so I guess get ready. It's going to be a scorcher.

[tvpirate05]

This was a year where we actually got several inches worth of snow*. Any extreme weather from here on out is probably an anomaly. :-)

*In Virginia, anything more than 6 inches is considered a "blizzard" and will shut down schools and the roads for at least two days. Stop laughing! ;-)

[froggin4colorado]

Anything more than 2 inches of snow in CO we shut down the entire city! LOL...so not really laughing at VA. But I thought the summer heat hit later in the summer.

[DaniMae1]

HA! I remember just a dusting of snow on the ground shut everything down and sent hordes of folks into the store to stock up on water! Oh it was soooo funny! Being from Ohio it takes an actual blizzard to prompt such a reaction. As for the heat, well in that area you never know what you are going to get. I remember using my air condition all the way through Thanksgiving before. Yeah it is hot there.

[Coconut1]

It will 'cool' off to the lower 90's, but the humidity is here to stay and grow. This is normal VA summer. Last year wasn't near as humid as normal.

[UHgrad]

Originally Posted by froggin4colorado

Please tell me, is this normal? Can we expect this heat until September? I remember moving in late August last year and the day we had to unpack I was told that THAT day was the hottest day of the summer yet...and with the heat index it was supposed to reach 103 that day. That was end of August though and we are in June.

It is NOT normal, this has been an extremely warm spring and is currently the 2nd warmest June on record for the area. HR certainly gets hot in the summertime, but extended periods in the 90's during June are not the norm by any stretch. The graph below, produced by the National Weather Service Wakefield VA office shows daily high temperatures for Norfolk, VA. High temps near the top of the "green" band would be considered normal and high temps in the "red" band are considered above normal. I think the graphic clearly shows that we have been consistently above normal for this time of year with even the cooler days being on the high end of what is considered normal.

Even for July, which is our hottest month, this would be considered pretty hot. Your guess is as good as mine if it will stay like this all summer, but most climate forecasts I have seen are predicting it to be a hot one.