Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

Are We Getting Soft?

| August 4, 2010 @ 9:02 am | 44 Replies

One of our Skywatchers wrote an interesting line in our chat session the other day…

“Man, we’re getting soft. I grew up along the Miss River with no air conditioning and one fan for the whole house…chopped cotton 10 hours a day in the heat.”

I have to wonder the same thing.

YES. It is hot. Excessively hot. The average high for time time of the year is 91, and the average high for the month of July was 95. And, we finally broke into record territory with daily record highs the past three days in Birmingham. The high yesterday and Monday was 101.

Many are saying they can’t remember a summer this hot. I do agree the length of the heat wave is taking a toll, but with the exception of a few years in Dallas in the 80s, I have lived here since my birth (which almost goes back to the Civil War), and long, hot summers are all I can remember growing up in Alabama.

Very hot weather is expected in the summer in Alabama. C’mon…

Compare this summer to some others in our past….

1925: The mother of all Alabama heat waves. It had started to heat up in Birmingham late in August, when temperatures would normally be expected to begin dropping. But the heat really started in earnest in early September. On September 3rd, the high reached at Birmingham reached 101.5 at 1:15 p.m. in the afternoon at the Birmingham weather office in Fountain Heights. Weatherman E.C. Horton called for fair and warm weather to continue. That would be an understatement. There would be six more straight days of 100+ degree heat followed by five more in late September. Add this to the three 100+ temperatures in late August, and there were 15 100+ days in 1925, the most ever in Birmingham weather history. By comparison, there were 14 in 1980 and 10 in 2007. The seven day period between the 3rd and 9th would go onto become the greatest heat wave in Birmingham history, as measured by average temperatures during the period (104.4). The hottest temperature on record in Alabama came on September 5, 1925 when Centreville soared to 112 degrees. Remember, there was no air conditioning back then.

1930/1931: Brutal summers as the dust bowl kicked into serious gear. Check out these four day average temperatures..

90.13 Period ending 7/13/1930
90.00 Period ending 6/30/1931

The summers of 1930 and 1931 ranked only behind 1925 in terms of four day heat records in Alabama. Birmingham’s all time temperature record came on July 29, 1930 when the high was 107. Again, no air conditioning.

1952: An amazingly hot summer. These daily record highs were established July 23-28… 104, 106, 101, 101, and 105 degrees on those days. The decade of the 1950s featured very hot summers, generally speaking.

1980: Before the sweltering July—September 1980 heat was over, it is estimated that 120 Alabamians lost their lives. Nationally, the toll was even more staggering. An estimated 10,000 people lost their lives to heat related conditions. We reached 100 degrees or higher on 8 consecutive days without a drop of rain. The 106 high on July 13, 1980 was only one degree the 107 high on July 29, 1930.

Yep… this summer has been hot, but I would prefer this heat to the many of the summers we have lived through in years past.

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About the Author ()

James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.

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