The Dog Days of Summer

As we get set to experience the warmest air of the season so far, I decided to take a look around our region to see how long it has been since we've reached 90 degrees, as well as just how high above that number the temperature has typically climbed to throughout the summer months over the past decade or so.

For Albany, we haven't had to wait as long as many others have had to wait (or we've had a shorter break from 90+, if you wanted to look at it that way!). The mercury climbed up to 92 on August 1st of last summer, then failed to climb back to 90 for the remainder of the summer. August 1st, remarkably, was the 13th 90-degree day of 2024, which all occurred between mid-June and August 1st. Most years, Albany's maximum observed temperature tops out in the low to mid 90s, but we almost hit triple digits back in the summer of 2022. Additionally, only 4 years since 2000 in Albany have featured a maximum temperature higher than 96 degrees.

Out in Berkshire County, I was honestly a bit surprised while conducting research that there have been 3 years since 2014 where the temperature simply did not get up to 90 degrees in Pittsfield. Additionally, in that same timeframe, the temperature has not climbed above 93! Only one time since 2000 (2010) has the temperature climbed above 93 degrees in Pittsfield. The last time it hit 90 there was almost a full year ago, back on June 20th when it reached 91 degrees. That was part of a 3-day stretch where the temperature reached 90+ successively.

90+ happened six times in Glens Falls last summer, all before Mid-July! That means it has been 324 days since Glens Falls has reached 90+. I was particularly impressed with the consistency of the highest temperature each summer since 2014 in Glens Falls, which has ranged from 91 to 93 degrees each summer. Dating back to 2000, the maximum temperature in a summer in Glens Falls has only exceeded 96 one time, which was back in 2011 when it got all the way up to 99 degrees!

90+ is achieved most years in Bennington but was not achieved in 2014. Back in 2022, the temperature soared all the way up to 95 degrees, which was the only time since 2000 the temperature has soared that high. The last time Bennington reached 90 degrees was also in mid-July, 323 days ago. Bennington had one more day reach 90+ than Glens Falls did, totaling 7 such days in the summer of 2024.