According to a recent study by Climate Central, summer overnight temperatures have risen nearly twice as fast as afternoon highs. In fact, since 1970 overnight numbers have warmed by 2.5 degrees across the U.S. and nearly 40% of the 247 locations analyzed have risen by a whopping three degrees.
These warmer nights impact your pocket book and pose a health risk. The very young and elderly, individuals with chronic illness and outdoor workers are most at risk. Climate Central found that 95% of the 200+ locations analyzed showed an increase in cooling degree days since 1970.
Cooling degree days are used to track energy use. As they go up, energy use goes up.
What about Miami? Even though the Atlantic waters keep Miami’s numbers pretty consistent, we see an alarming trend here too. Miami has seen a 1.6 degree rise in overnight temperatures since 1970. We’ve seen Miami’s average overnight low go from 76 degrees in 1970 to over 77.5 degrees in 2021.
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The average low for Miami during the month of July is 77.5 degrees. This past July came in with an average overnight temperature of 78.9 degrees. This is a significant jump over the average.
Here’s another way to break down the month: we had 25 mornings with temperatures starting out above the 77.5 degree average and we had 15 days with the mercury starting at 80 or higher.
So clearly, July featured some sweaty overnights.
