This Will Be Burlington, Vermont's Hottest August On Record

Boaters seek cool Lake Champlain breezes on
a very warm evening on August 8 near Burlington,
Vermont. This will be the area's hottest August on record.

Did you sweat much this month? Even in normally cool and comfortable Vermont?

There's a reason for that. August, 2016 is a shoo-in for the hottest August on record.

It looks like the average temperature for the month will come in somewhere in the ballpark of 73.5 to 73.7 degrees, depending on what the temperature does today and tomorrow.

Either way, that would comfortably (or maybe uncomfortably) exceed the previous record for the hottest August, which was 73.1 degrees in 1947.

That might come as a surprise, since we didn't have too much in the way of extreme heat. Oh, sure it was 96 degrees on August 11. But only one other day this month made it above 90.

This month, the warmth and heat was consistent. There weren't any blasts of cool Canadian air that we normally get on occasion during the summer.

So far, 23 days made it to 80 degrees or more in Burlington during August It hasn't gotten any cooler than 52 degrees, in a month that historically has been as chilly as 35 degrees (in 1965.)

A warm August, 2016 evening along the shores of
Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont.  

May, June and July were warmer than average, too. Which prompted a remark by somebody where I work that I don't think I've ever heard in Vermont before, given our long winters: "I'm done with summer. We've had too much of it."

Personally, I wouldn't go that far, but it has been a pretty warm summer. It's gotten to 90 degrees or more 12 times, not a record, but twice the number we normally get in a summer.

By the way, although I haven't examined it closely, I'm sure other cities in the Northeast will also have their hottest August on record this year, or at least come close.

For those of you who DO want a break from summer, I have some good news. A cold front will coem through Wednesday, and September will open with a spell of sort of autumnal weather.

Highs Thursday and Friday in Vermont will only get into the 60s to maybe a few low 70s and overnight lows will drop down into the 40s. Such weather is perfectly normal for early September, but still, it will be the chilliest it's been since about the third week in May.

Summer partisans can also cheer: It'll warm up again as we go through the Labor Day weekend.