After months of heavy rains, a sweltering heat has settled over the Historic Triangle.
Amy Hicks, a farmer in Charles City County who sells vegetables from her farm at the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market, has noticed both the heat and the precipitation.
“It’s definitely the wettest growing season I remember,” Hicks said. “Right now we’re harvesting melons and we prefer it to be a little bit dryer for that.”
Now she has heat to contend with, too, though it hasn’t been too much of an issue so far.
“The tomato blossoms, but then it shrivels up on the vine or drops to the ground,” Hicks said, describing what can happen when tomatoes are exposed to temperatures in the 90s. “You see that every summer. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
John McGee, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s Wakefield office agrees.
“The persistent pattern of being wetter than normal looks to continue,” McGee said. “Because of that, our temperatures will also be at or slightly below normal. It’s a better likelihood that we’ll see normal temperatures because of the amount of moisture we’ve been seeing. It’s harder to get those hot dry spells. Getting to 100 degrees is unlikely with all the precipitation.”
That’s good news for people who don’t like the heat — and those who like tomatoes. McGee said the hottest period of the year tends to fall between July 8 and July 23. That seems right in line with the current high temperatures, which prompted the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory through Saturday, saying index values between 100 and 104 degrees are likely each afternoon. The actual temperatures, however, aren’t expected to rise above the 90s.
“It’s just typical July temperatures and humidity levels we’re seeing,” McGee said.
Though the heat has been within normal limits, storms and rainfall have made their mark on the area. A number of heavy storms struck the area in May and June, resulting in heavy rains and, in some cases, violent weather. One storm knocked down trees across the area, even damaging a Dominion Virginia Power substation. You can see WYDaily gallery of damage from that storm by clicking here.
“We’ve made a lot of investments in our infrastructure, and those investments have been paying off,” said Bonita Harris, a Dominion spokesperson. “Excluding major storms, which are unpredictable, our average customer minutes out per year has been steadily dropping.”
The average Dominion customer experienced 135 hours without power in 2005 and 105 in 2012. The number of hours has steadily declined over that span.
The excessive precipitation was responsible for at least one power outage, however, when a tree fell onto power lines in James City County on July 12 due to what Dominion officials believe was excessive moisture in the ground. That incident knocked out power to about 1,200 people near the intersection of Jamestown and Neck O Land roads.
Meteorologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are predicting an “active” or “extremely active” hurricane season, so the worst may still be ahead of us.
The National Weather Service tracks rainfall amounts in Southeastern Virginia. The closest official measuring station to the Historic Triangle is at Norfolk International Airport, where the seemingly endless spring rains are not so endless after all.
“For this year, [Norfolk has measured] 23.82 inches of rain,” McGee said. “The normal value is 23.86. We’re right on the mark for rain.”
The numbers from Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport, which records unofficial measurements through equipment maintained and operated by the airport, paint a different picture.
“So far, through July 17, 39.80 inches of rain have fallen at Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport,” McGee said. “The normal amount through that time frame is 27.76 inches.”
That puts the area around the airport at about 12 inches above normal through the middle of July, but that’s still not too far outside of ordinary, McGee said.
