Heat Wave Hit Region One Year Ago Today

An Air Quality Alert has been posted from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. today by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for ozone levels which may approach or exceed unhealthy levels. The temperature may top 90 degrees inland this afternoon with increasing levels of humidity. The mercury has reached 85 degrees each of the last two days, but it won't be as hot as the scorching heat wave exactly one year ago.

The official high temperature at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford one year ago today reached 98 degrees, marking the first heat wave across southwestern Connecticut in nearly two years. The last time the mercury climbed to 90 degrees or better three consecutive days was July 18 to July 20, 2008. A month earlier, an unusual late-Spring heat wave surprised the region from June 8 to June 10, with high temperatures of 90, 97, and 96 degrees, respectively.

Some local communities topped 100 degrees a year ago today. Viewer Robert Marshall of Stamford wrote, "Tuesday (July 6, 2010) was a rough day here on the east side of Stamford. My backyard thermometer registered a high temperature of 104 degrees at around 3:00 P.M. About an hour later we lost our power, but fortunately it was restored about two hours later. (I) drove to Darien for a truly good iced coffee."

He added, "Driving back through Noroton, I saw News 12 cameraman preparing to do a video spot on the Post Road. Driving through Stamford's east side to pick up, uh, some other adult beverages, I saw Frank Recchia on Cove Road, talking with residents about the power outage. I recorded my thermometer's reading with a photo."

A 103-degree scorcher set a record at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, according to Pat Standaert, who works in the nature center's education department and operates the weather station. The nature center has kept weather records for 60 years. The previous record was 102 degrees, which was established June 26, 1952, and July 15, 1995. The next-hottest July 6 in Stamford was in 1999, when the mercury hit 100 degrees.

The temperature reached 95 degrees one day later, Wednesday, July 7, 2010, marking the fourth straight day of temperatures well into the 90s. After carefully reviewing my record book, I could not find a four-day stretch of 90-degree-plus weather over the previous five years! Sure, it will be a hot and moderately humid day across southwestern Connecticut, but it won't be quite as bad as one year ago today.

Stay cool.

Paul