Heat Wave « WJAC-TV Weather Blog

The Hottest Low Temperatures Ever!

By Tim Tender on July 22nd, 2011 at 12:06 PM

Bill Brown and I were both amazed by the temperatures this morning. When we went on the air at 5 AM, it was 80 degrees at our studios in Johnstown. It was extremely muggy outside, as well.

Take a look at the (tentative) lows from this morning.

Low Temperatures (Friday, July 22, 2011)

These lows are actually where are normal highs should be during this time of the year.

After doing some digging, I found that some of those numbers are actually all-time record high minimums (if that makes sense)!

Let’s look at the numbers. (Read More)

Anybody Have An Extra Spot Open In Their Pool?

By Tony Martin on July 20th, 2011 at 9:15 PM

It’s times like these that I wish I had a pool. 95% of the year I can do without, but not now!

We are in the midst of one the hottest periods in recent years. It’s been since the mid 1990′s since we’ve had temperatures hitting the century mark in our area, but that [...]

The Heat Is… ON!

By Tim Tender on July 18th, 2011 at 10:36 AM

You don’t know how awesome it is to write a blog post and have Glenn Frey’s song ‘The Heat Is On’ playing in the background. Trust me, it’s pretty rad. (I’m channeling my inner 80s with the term ‘rad.’)

The Glenn Frey song is the perfect fit for the coming week with temperatures surging into the 80s and 90s across west-central Pennsylvania. As of right now, we have temperatures peaking in the low and mid 90s by Friday.

When temperatures get this hot, we start to think about the heat index and how hot it really feels. So how does the heat index work? (Read More)

Another Blast of Heat

By Tony Martin on June 24th, 2011 at 9:21 PM

The pattern is shaping up to produce another big blast of heat next week, perhaps our first true heat wave of the season. To qualify for a legitimate heat wave, a city has to hit 90° or better three days in a row. While that likely won’t happen in Johnstown (due to the temperature [...]

The Desert Northeast (Part 2)

By Tim Tender on July 9th, 2010 at 1:56 PM

Dry Weather in the Alleghenies

How about this weather? It’s been extremely dry and up until Monday, comfortable with low humidity. Monday started to crank up the heat a little with highs getting into the 90s and staying that way through Thursday (and even Friday for some). The humidity crept up, as well and it started to feel more uncomfortable outside. Now, our string of dry weather is finally going to end today with thunderstorms and heavy downpours.

Thursday was the 10th day in a row without rain. As you can see in the graphic, the last rain we had was on June 28th. The last heavy rain came on June 9th. Those numbers are from the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport.

So, where does this dry spell rank in terms of number of days without precipitation? Let’s take a look. Click into the post to check it out. (Read More)

The Desert Northeast

By Tim Tender on July 5th, 2010 at 11:29 AM

Dry Weather - As of Monday, July 5, 2010

The desert northeast isn’t a term you hear often… or at all. I feel like it’s kinda been accurate over the last couple of days with temperatures getting into the 80s and dry weather.

Take a look at the graphic. We’ve been really dry recently. As of Monday, we’re up to 7 consecutive days without a drop of rain. It has been pretty dry recently. I got a dose of that with all of the dust that we stirred up during my UTV ride on my trip to 7 Springs last week. It was extremely dusty.

As far as rain goes, we haven’t had any for a week but it’s been even longer since we’ve had a really good soaking. The last half-inch (and 1-inch) rainfall was back on June 9th. So, it’s almost been a month.

We are expecting some rain as we head into the weekend. Will it be enough to catch us up for the month? I’m not sure. As of Monday, we are about 0.5″ below normal for the month of July. (Read More)