Ok, so maybe the title is a bit over the top. Here at the fabulous LEX 18 StormTracker Weather Center we love the obscure facts. The records and stats that take a little digging to come up with. They can help tell the whole story, or confirm things you thought to be true, but just couldn’t quantify it.
If you remember back 2 season, we really didn’t have a spring this year. We had one of the coldest March/April combinations ever recorded in Lexington and then literally on May 1st we hit 80, which we did for the vast majority of days making it the hottest on record. We really did go from winter to summer with about a day and a half of spring.
We had a very warm September so summer held on for extra time. That transitioned into the warmest opening to October we’ve recorded. And then the cold front hit and highs headed well below normal. We technically had 1 70 degree high temperature, but it was in the hours after midnight Thursday, so it really doesn’t count.
So we decided to play with the numbers a little and using the 70s as our gauge (which given the fashion of the time has likely never been done) we looked at how many days from January 1 to today on how many days we had in the 70’s. Yes, it’s somewhat arbitrary, but it’s our stat so we can do that 🙂 .
So what we found is what you have already felt…we just could put numbers to it. An average year has 57 days in the 70s, but this year we’ve only had 33. There are only 2 other years that had fewer, back before World War 2 in 1939 and 1941.
What can also be fun when doing research like this is you can come up with other records you weren’t expecting. This year is in 3rd place for the most 80 degree and hotter days. Ironically it’s also 1941 with 144 days and 1939 with 141 that lead this year’s 140.
So go into this very Novemberish weekend with the warmth that you now possess obscure and interesting knowledge.
All the best…
Bill
