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The dog days barking loudly: In
New York City, temperatures will approach 100 degrees early in the
week before thunderstorms "cool" the temperature back to about 90
for a high. Showers and storms may occur a bit more frequently in
Boston, so expect flight delays on a few occasions. Rainfall will be
limited in Atlanta and Charlotte; however, both spots will
experience high temperatures in the 90s this week. The Dallas-Fort
Worth hub looks void of rain, but temperatures will hit or exceed
the century mark every afternoon. The Mile High City gets into the
act as temperatures head into the 90s, and each afternoon could
feature a thunderstorm, but probably not enough to cause substantial
flight delays. In Los Angeles, hit-and-miss thundershowers are
possible each afternoon. San Francisco stays dry and cool, but
farther inland, temperatures soar to 100 degrees in Sacramento.
Hottest half-year ever: Since record-keeping began in 1895,
there has never been a warmer January-to-June period than the one
that we just went through! The average temperature across the 48
contiguous states was 51.8 degrees, which is a substantial 3.4
degrees above the average for the entire 20th century. Not a single
state experienced below-normal temperatures. Five states --
Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas -- experienced record
heat. And while flooding rains pounded the Northeast at the end of
June, many other areas continued to experience drought conditions.
As of the end of June, approximately 45 percent of the U.S. was in
the midst of a moderate-to-extreme drought. Dry conditions bred more
than 50,000 wildfires that burned more than 3 million acres. Across
the globe, it was the sixth-warmest January to June.
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 Rare tornado in New York: Severe thunderstorms spawned a
tornado that touched down in Westchester County, New York, last
Wednesday. This was the first time since 2000, and only the eighth
time since 1950, that a twister struck the county in the
southeastern part of the state, located just north of New York City.
The tornado was an F2 on the Fujita scale, which runs from F0 to F5.
Less than 10 percent of all tornadoes in the U.S. reach F2 intensity
or greater. The storm caused considerable damage in Sleepy Hollow
and Mount Pleasant before moving eastward into Connecticut.
Church outing ends in tragedy: A St. Louis church's
children's outing turned into tragedy last week, when five children,
four of them from one family, drowned after being caught up in the
rapid current of a river. Reports say that the five had gone into
the Meramec River in Castlewood State Park for a swim. The river is
known for dangerous currents, and swimming is not recommended at the
park. The children ranged in age from 10 to 17.
[Compu-Weather]
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