Where there’s smoke, there’s fire -- and the highest summer temperatures (so far).
Canadian wildfires are making the air more difficult to breathe, and a sudden heat wave feels like it might melt anyone foolish enough to dally in parking lots. Thankfully, weather prognosticators say weekend rains will cool things down before the July 4 holiday and the running of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
Thursday’s high was expected to hit 96, but prior to this week, June 2023 has been the coolest in years, according to data provided by The National Weather Service. According to that data, the average high temp of the first 24 days of the month was a mild (for us) 84 degrees.
It’s been way hotter, according to the NWS, which has been checking thermometers at Atlanta’s biggest airport since 1930, which is about the time homes started getting air conditioning.
In 1952, Atlantans endured the hottest June on record, a scalding 93.3 degrees.
In 1943, during World War II, the average of daily highs was a blistering 92.
Of the 10 hottest Junes on record, four have occurred in the last 13 years.
The third hottest June was in 2011, when the average of daily highs was 91.9 degrees. The prior year, 2010, was another warm one, at 90.5 degrees.
Last June was the ninth hottest since 1930, checking in at a sweaty 90.6 degrees.
The coolest June? It wasn’t June Cleaver. It was June 1997 at only 79.1 degrees.
That would feel pretty good right now.
