July set U.S. heat records, but was just average locally

The region’s average temperature last month was 74.9 degrees — 5.4 degrees cooler than the hottest July average on record.

By QUINCEY CATULLO
TribLive

July was the hottest month on record for the contiguous United States. But for Western Pennsylvania, temperatures were comparable to previous years.

The average temperature last month in Western Pennsylvania was just shy of 75 degrees (74.9). That figure falls between the 40th and 50th hottest average July temperatures for the region, said Matt Brudy, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office in Moon.

The hottest average July temperature for Western Pennsylvania, 80.3 degrees, was recorded in 1887, Brudy said.

This data may be skewed, he said. Prior to 1948, the weather service’s sensor, which is used to record temperature data, was located in an urban environment.

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But last month still was cooler on average than the Julys of recent years. In 2020, the average temperature in Western Pennsylvania was 77.3 degrees, Brudy said. July 2020 was Western Pa.’s eighth hottest July, he said.

The hottest temperature for the month, 95 degrees, was recorded July 3. This was 8 degrees cooler than the region’s hottest July temperature on record, first achieved in 1881 and tied in 1988.

“The warmest stretch this July was definitely the beginning of the month,” he said. “The first four days of the month, the temperatures were above 90.”

Temperatures reduced toward the middle of the month — to a handful of degrees above average — before dropping a few degrees below average at the end of the month, Brudy said.

“It wasn’t a very extreme month,” he said.

But July still held its share of hot days. Western Pennsylvania typically sees temperatures between 63 and 83 degrees throughout July. The average high temperature this past July was 84.2 degrees and the average low was 65.5 degrees.