TAMPA - Last month was the hottest August in 112 years for Florida and seven other Southeastern states, and it was the second-hottest August nationwide.
A summary released last week by the National Climatic Data Center shows that since 1895, across the nation, only August 1983 was hotter.
Much of that heat was felt in the Southeast this year.
People in the Tampa Bay area certainly felt it. Last month was the second-hottest August here since the National Weather Service started keeping records in 1890.
The average temperature, the sum of daily highs and lows divided by two, set records in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
In addition, last month was the hottest August in more than a century in Virginia. Only August 1900 was hotter. August also was the hottest on record in Utah.
Actually, Tampa residents may not have as much to complain about as folks in other states. The temperature topped 100 degrees on 16 August days in parts of northeast Alabama. In western Tennessee, it was 17 days.
The main culprit was a high-pressure area camped over the Southeast most of the month. That stopped cooler air from moving south.
The persistent high pressure can bring a long period of hot weather, said Jennifer Colson, National Weather Service meteorologist in Ruskin.
High pressure reduces cloud cover and the cooling effect of rain.
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