Hot Blast from NYC’s Past – A History of City’s Heat Waves
UPDATED: This week’s heat wave in New York, which brought the city five consecutive days of 90 degree+ temperatures from July 21-25, may have felt like it would never end.
In fact, it didn’t even make the city’s top 30 longest heat waves. It fell a full week short of the record 12-day heat wave in 1953, and several days short of a string of record heat waves the city has suffered in its history.
But looking ahead, indications are there’s worse to come. The NYC Panel on Climate Change reports that as the 21st century progresses, temperatures of extreme heat will become more and more frequent and the prevalence of heat waves will triple by the 2080s.
AdaptNY has compiled data from National Weather Service, based on temperatures measured at its Central Park station, for an infographic below that illustrates the longest heat waves in the city’s last century or so.
We’ve also put together a quick look at some of the city’s extreme high temperature events – some hotter, some longer lasting, some more deadly, some leaving the city in darkness with power outages. Continue reading