The Cruelest Month - Suffering Through, Rather Than Savoring, Summer - NYTimes.com

The Cruelest Month

Out of Frying Pan, Into August

By SAM DOLNICK

Published: July 30, 2010

In this month of record-contesting heat, a West Village epidemiologist has given up washing her clothes because her building’s ground-floor laundry room feels like a hot, stale dungeon. A former dancer who lives near Prospect Park has all but given up clothes, cooking dinner in her underwear though she knows the neighbors can see.

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Mashid Mohadjerin for The New York Times

One woman who lives near Prospect Park sheds her clothes to cook in her hot kitchen, even though the neighbors can see.

If the high and low temperatures in Central Park on Saturday average at least 77.5, July 2010 will rank as the hottest month in New York since records began in 1869. Stephen Fybish, a weather historian, has delved into the numbers, from the National Weather Service, for these other highs and lows:

¶July 6 was the hottest day this month, hitting 103 (and 97 in Mr. Fybish’s Upper West Side kitchen). The highs on July 6 from 1999 to 2009: 101, 79, 72, 82, 89, 81, 82, 77, 83, 79, 83. The only years that have had temperatures topping 103 are 1918 (Aug. 7), 1936 (July 9) and 1977 (July 21).

¶This June was hot, too, creating the hottest June-July combination on record, with an average of 78.1 degrees (runner-up: 1966, with 77.6). If August averages 76.1 degrees or higher, 2010 will be the hottest June-July-August ever, beating 1966.

¶Actually, it has been the warmest March through July on record, averaging 65.5.

¶July 21 is the date that has reached 100 the most times, in 1926, 1930, 1977 and 1980; this year, it was 93.

¶Number of July 2010 days that topped 90 degrees: 16, tying with July 1966 for fourth place.

¶Number of July 2010 days that topped 89 degrees: 21, ranking second behind 1993.

¶Warmest July night on record: July 7, 2010, tied with July 15, 1995, at 84.

SAM DOLNICK

The Cruelest Month

A weeklong series as July heads to the record books as the hottest month in New York City.

Related

• The Cruelest Month: Water Vendors Profit From the Heat (July 30, 2010)

• In the Garden: The Seeds for Surviving a Scorching Summer (July 29, 2010)

• The Cruelest Month: In a Sweltering City, It’s Coolest Before Dawn (July 28, 2010)

• The Cruelest Month: The Numbers Behind a July That’s Headed for the Books (July 27, 2010)

• City Room: Tell Us How the Heat Has Changed Your Life (July 28, 2010)

And one couple near Union Square have given up cooking altogether, letting takeout containers stack up as their formerly busy oven sits idle.

The Cruelest Month - Suffering Through, Rather Than Savoring, Summer - NYTimes.com