People die, their predictions live on
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Weather can humble you, even after you’re dead. On July 1, 1925, James H. Spencer, who headed the U.S. Weather Bureau office in Baltimore, looked over his June record books and told The Sun: “There will not be another June like the one just past, for centuries.” Temperatures in Baltimore had reached 101 once, and topped 90 degrees 13 times — eight in a row. The month averaged 78.7 degrees.
The record stood for just 85 years, until June 2010 averaged 78.9 degrees.
UPDATE and CORRECTION: Statistics can humble you, too, even when you're alive. An alert reader checked my "facts" and called with a correction. The hottest June on record for Baltimore was June 1943, which averaged 79.8 degrees. It was NOT June 2010, which actually comes in second, at 78.9 degrees. So Mr. Spencer's bold prediction fell even shorter. It lasted for just 18 years. And I need to get my glasses checked.
(SUN File photo, 1925)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Heat waves
Comments
Hiya,
Why do I get the feeling that this month might have a decent chance at breaking 80 degrees on average.
Frannie
FR: That's doubtful. Although we are running 7.3 degrees above the long-term average, the month-to-date stands at 76.8 degrees. Eighty would be a big leap. And the cold front passing through now with some noisy thunderstorms will cool things down quite a bit for this week. The temperature on the WeatherDeck just dropped from 83 to 71 in an hour.
Posted by: Fran Smith | June 12, 2011 2:31 PM