Record high?

2007-08-03 04:39:45.000 – Ryan Knapp,  Meteorologist

Hot, humid, and hazy sunrise.

“Have you exceeded any records today?”I got this question a few times yesterday while providing tours to summit visitors as well as visitors to our valleys Weather Discovery Center (WDC). In case you are wondering what the WDC is, it is an interactive weather museum we run in the valley that is free of charge thanks to sponsorship from the Mount Washington Auto Road and Great Glen Trails. Visitors that stop in there can talk to observers, like me, daily at 11 am and 2 pm. So I get to answer questions either in person or virtually when I am awake during the day.I seem to be digressing from the story I was telling though so let me refocus. Did we break a daily record high or an all time record high yesterday? As you may or may not know, the summits highest recorded temperature is only 72 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature has been met on two separate days during two separate years. The first day was June 26, 2003 and the second day was August 2, 1975. With yesterday being August second, the daily record high would actually become the all time record high on the summit. If you were anywhere in New England yesterday, you know how hot and humid things were. But surprisingly most cities did not reach a record high. If you were alive in 1975, unlike me, then you may know that August second has the nickname of “Hot Saturday.” It was on that day that many locations reached over the century marks, an unprecedented feat. To give you an idea of how hot it got in 1975, here are some highs that occurred. New Bedford and Chester, MA reached 107F, Portland, ME reached 103F, Bangor, ME topped out at 102F, and Bar Harbor, ME reached 100F. There was no escaping the heat whether on the coast of Maine or on the summit of Mount Washington, NH.By now you’re probably thinking, “Well that’s all good and great, but you’re becoming sidetracked again. Did you break a record or not?” Sadly we did not break any records. The high yesterday only reached 64F. It was hot (for Mt. Washington at least) but not hot enough. Another time I guess.

Ryan Knapp,  Meteorologist