July 2019 is one for the record books in Boston. The average temperature (not including today, since it’s not over) was 78.5°. The average temperature is when you average the high and low for each day and then average all 31 days. In fact, in terms over the average temperature, only six days of the whole month were below average! On the calendar below, the boxes correspond to the average temperature, with the high temperature typed out.
Since we don’t have the official high and low of the day yet, the average temperature on the list below does not include today. That said, it won’t matter. It was above average so the number won’t go down… fact, it will go up. The rest of the years contain the data for all 31 days, so there’s no risk of being passed.
Today’s high of 94° is our 12th 90° day of the year and also July — all of the 90° days so far in 2019 happening in July. That’s good enough for 4th place on number of 90° days in the month. It was our second heatwave of the year (and month) and also the longest heatwave of the year (and month) with the 90s going back to Sunday.
Thankfully for those looking for heat relief, August is usually cooler than July. But take that with caution. While the average temperatures for the month show August as a cooler month, three of the last four Augusts were warmer than July. However with how hot July was this year, it would take quite the August to over take it. Also, three of the last four Augusts were above average and August 2017 coming in exactly equal to average.
As we head into August tomorrow, the average high is 81°. And now that we’re past the summer solstice, months are starting to get cooler. By the end of the month our average high drops to 77°. And you may have noticed the days getting shorter. Unfortunately our temperatures are not the only thing dropping. Hours of daylight drops through the month as well. We lose an hour and 16 minutes of daylight between now and August 31st.