Florida suffered through a brutally hot July with a dozen counties reaching temperatures that broke century-old records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA’s monthly climate report released Aug. 10 shows most of the counties suffering the worst of the sizzle were in South Florida and the Treasure Coast, although Alachua and Bradford counties in the more northern reaches of the state also hit record highs for the month.
Others included Broward, Collier, Hendry, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.
Martin County had the highest departure from normal with a monthly average temperature 4.2 degrees warmer than the 80.9 degrees typically measured in July.
Miami-Dade and St. Lucie counties tied for runner up based on temperature anomalies with average temperatures that were 4 degrees warmer than normal. Miami-Dade’s average for July was 85.5 degrees. St. Lucie County’s average was 84.8 degrees for the month.
Chris Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, said part of the heat in South Florida is attributable to less rainfall and fewer clouds.
“During the wet season we depend on those daily thunderstorms to help cool us down but we had long stretches with very little rainfall,” Fisher said. “We had one stretch where there was no measurable rainfall for seven days in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.”
Monthly rain totals can also be deceiving because while 6.1 inches of rain was measured at Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, more than half fell on a single day.
Statewide, July ranked third warmest with an average of 81 degrees. That’s 3 degrees warmer than normal.
Individual cities in Florida also ran hot in July. Pensacola had seven days with high temperatures of 95 degrees or above, ranking July seventh warmest, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center. Other cities including Jacksonville, Orlando, Sarasota, Naples and Gainesville all experienced their top 5 warmest Julys on record.
Tallahassee hit a high of 100 degrees twice in July, but ended the month as 10th warmest July based on the average temperature.
Heat domes contributed to record U.S. temps in July
Nationwide, stubborn heat domes contributed to last month ranking the hottest July on record for the contiguous U.S. with an average of 76.9 degrees. That’s 3.3 degrees warmer than normal and also ranked it the warmest month in 132 years of records.
“Above-average temperatures covered the entire CONUS, with all states ranking in the warmest third of their July temperature records and none ranking near or below average,” the NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information said in a statement.
Alaska, meanwhile, had the coldest July average temperature since 2008.
This is a breaking news story, check back for updates.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. She covers weather, the environment and critters as the Embracing Florida reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: A dozen Florida counties broke century-old July heat records
Reporting by Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
