Services

Cool Temperatures This Summer

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: June 18, 2023 10:16 am

Last Updated: June 18, 2023 12:40 pm

The year 2023 may be one of the hottest on record worldwide. Some areas, which include Texas, have already posted a string of days with temperatures above 100 degrees F. But, across the US, this will be one of the coolest summers in years. In some parts of the country, the entire season may have temperatures below normal.

A forecast for June through September posted by Weather.com shows that most of the West Coast will have temperatures below average for the entire summer. They will be slightly below average on the East Coast and in the area South from Florida to Louisiana. Much of the rest of the country will have average temperatures during the period. Only the country’s Northern area, particularly around Minneapolis, is expected to have temperatures well above average.

Dr. Todd Crawford, Vice President of Meteorology at Atmospheric G2 and author of the Weather.com outlook, remarked, “Combining June with the July/August forecasts … gives the coolest summer since 2017,” The US temperature was scorching in many of the years in between.

One reason for lower-than-average temperatures is El Niño. It will push warm water across the Pacific, which usually causes high temperatures. This summer, much of the effect will be in Mexico south of where it would affect the US. El Niño also tends to affect air coming into the US from Canada, cooling the northwest part of the US.

The forecast does not account for one-time events, which will significantly affect this summer.. Smoke from Canadian fires in Quebec will continue from the areas south of the New England states, mainly from New York south through Philadelphia. This smoke will also move as far west as Minnesota, Air quality is not part of the Weather.com forecast.

Will the improvement in temperature in 2023 last? Based on long-term global warming trends, the answer is almost certainly “no.”