Welcome to Dog Days

| July 3, 2011 @ 8:30 am | 1 Reply

July 3rd marks the official beginning of the Dog Days of Summer. The Dog Days are named for the Egyptian belief that during the period of time from July 3 through August 11 when the Dog Star Sirius rises and falls with the sun, that the star added to the heat of the Sun.

As you would expect, July is the hottest month of the year in Birmingham. The average daytime high is 90.6F. The average overnight low is 69.7. There really isn’t much difference on average between July and August.

The hottest day ever in Birmingham, occurred on July 29, 1930, when the mercury hit a sizzling 107F. The temperature has reached 105F or higher on 16 occasions in Birmingham. Eleven of those times were observed in the month of July.

The mercury reaches 90F or higher on 17.3 days on average in July.

The coolest reading ever observed in the Magic City in July was 51F back on July 15, 1967.

July is not one of our sunniest month with 59% of possible sunshine on average. Six months are sunnier.

Rain is usually observed just over twelve days in the month and thunderstorms occur on nearly twelve days in the month, both tops for the year.

On average, 5.09 inches of rain falls during the month. The most ever observed is 20.12 in July 1916. That is also the wettest month ever in Birmingham history. In 1983, 0.30 fell during the month, the driest July ever.

Category: Alabama's Weather

About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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