Hoosier Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 With summer approaching, I wanted to look back on some of LAF's hottest and muggiest days. I searched for days with a high temperature of 100 or greater OR a dewpoint of 80 or greater. Hourly temps/dewpoints for LAF are only available back to 1973 (Wunderground archive) so that's as far back as I went. Since 1973, there have been 31 days with a high temperature of 100+. 8 of those days occurred in 2012. Here are the dates in order from hottest to coolest: 7/22/1983: 105F 6/25/1988: 105F 7/21/1983: 104F 7/15/1980: 104F 7/20/1980: 103F 7/20/1983: 103F 7/7/2012: 103F 7/6/2012: 102F 7/14/1974: 101F 7/19/1980: 101F 7/23/1983: 101F 7/29/1983: 101F 6/21/1988: 101F 7/8/1988: 101F 7/9/1988: 101F 7/14/1995: 101F 7/21/2011: 101F 6/28/2012: 101F 7/5/2012: 101F 7/18/2012: 101F 7/25/2012: 101F 7/6/1977: 100F 7/12/1980: 100F 7/28/1983: 100F 8/20/1983: 100F 7/6/1988: 100F 7/15/1988: 100F 7/27/1997: 100F 7/30/1999: 100F 7/4/2012: 100F 7/23/2012: 100F Since 1973, there have been 28 days with a dewpoint of 80+. I do have some doubts about the mid/upper 80 readings given the extreme difficulty in achieving those levels and because they were rather large one hour bumps. Anyway, here are the dates from highest to lowest: 6/17/1990: 88F 7/7/1980: 86F 7/27/1997: 86F 7/26/1997: 84F 7/6/1989: 82F 8/3/2010: 82F 7/11/2011: 82F 7/8/1980: 81F 7/18/1996: 81F 8/16/1997: 81F 7/22/2001: 81F 7/21/2004: 81F 7/24/2005: 81F 7/28/2010: 81F 8/4/2010: 81F 8/9/2010: 81F 7/19/2011: 81F 8/23/1975: 80F 8/20/1980: 80F 7/13/1985: 80F 8/1/1987: 80F 7/30/1999: 80F 7/7/2001: 80F 7/24/2001: 80F 7/25/2005: 80F 7/22/2010: 80F 7/23/2010: 80F 7/20/2011: 80F There have been at least 2 cases of 100 degree highs and 80 degree dewpoints occurring on the same day but not at the same time. They are 7/27/1997 and 7/30/1999. Finally, here are the 100 degree days that produced a maximum heat index value of 110 or greater with the temperature/dewpoint combination in parentheses. Nearly half of the 100 degree days (15/31) had a maximum heat index of 110+. A couple of these days produced the maximum heat index when the temperature was below 100. In cases when the high temperature occurred intrahour, I used the dewpoint value corresponding to the maximum hourly temperature for the day to come up with the peak heat index (for example, the high temp on 7/30/1999 was 100 but the max hourly temp was 99...the dewpoint at that hour was 79 so the max heat index value is calculated using 100/79). Heat index values were calculated from here: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/html/heatindex.shtml 7/27/1997: 131F (97/86)….next highest for this date is 117F 7/20/1983: 120F (102/77) 7/23/1983: 120F (101/78) 7/30/1999: 120F (100/79) 7/29/1983: 116F (101/76) 7/28/1983: 115F (100/76) 8/20/1983: 115F (100/76) 7/14/1995: 115F (98/78) 7/12/1980: 114F (100/75) 7/21/2011: 114F (101/74) 7/15/1988: 113F (100/74) 7/22/1983: 112F (105/67) 6/25/1988: 112F (105/67) 7/15/1980: 110F (104/67) 7/21/1983: 110F (104/67) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpartyOn Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Great write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Great write up. Thanks. I might do more with the heat indices at some point (like come up with a list of the highest values regardless of temperature threshold) but that is going to take longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Really though, good work. I know researching LAF stuff is a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Really though, good work. I know researching LAF stuff is a PITA. Yeah it can be. High temps were missing for 1989-1991 so can't totally guarantee that there aren't more 100 degree days but there were no hourly temps of 100 during that period. Will we be adding any days this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Yeah it can be. High temps were missing for 1989-1991 so can't totally guarantee that there aren't more 100 degree days but there were no hourly temps of 100 during that period. Will we be adding any days this year? Better chance at a 80º dew than a 100º temp. And I just noticed the sub-title. Don't think I've cried, but maybe got angry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Better chance at a 80º dew than a 100º temp. And I just noticed the sub-title. Don't think I've cried, but maybe got angry. I'm a little surprised that the number of days is that close. I figured there would've been more 80 degree dewpoint days...who knows, maybe there were some intrahour 80 dews that we don't know about. There were a lot of years that maxed out at 78-79. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I'm a little surprised that the number of days is that close. I figured there would've been more 80 degree dewpoint days...who knows, maybe there were some intrahour 80 dews that we don't know about. There were a lot of years that maxed out at 78-79. Certainly possible. Looks like 2011 is the king of 80º dew points. Happy for you, that you got to experience that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Certainly possible. Looks like 2011 is the king of 80º dew points. Happy for you, that you got to experience that. I remember running in 95/82 once. I guess it was 7/11/2011. That was brutal stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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