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The US’s hottest cities are already having a record summer for cooling demand and it’s only the first day of August.
The cooling degree days value, a means for coupling weather to energy demand, was 699 for June and July — the highest number since data began being collected in 1950. This beat the previous mark set in 2011 by 12 points, said Matt Rogers, president of the Commodity Weather Group LLC said. Individually, June had the highest number in the data with 304, while July came in sixth with 395.
Cooling degree days are calculated by measuring the difference between the average daily temperature with a base of 65F degrees. The idea is “the more extreme the outside temperatures, the high the number of degree days,” according to the Energy Information Administration.
The world experienced its hottest day ever recorded in July. Temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere this summer have smashed through records, adding strain to power grids as households and businesses crank up air conditioning systems. The extreme temperatures have also put millions of people globally at risk of heat-related deaths. Scientists warn the planet will heat up more as greenhouse gas emissions generated from burning fossil fuels continue to increase.
Around the US, the higher cooling degree days value is reflected in the monthly average temperatures in a number of cities. New York’s Central Park, for example, saw temperatures come in 2.1F above normal for July and 3.1F higher in June, while in Sacramento July was 6.5F over the 30-year average and June 4F above.
But not everywhere saw large departures. Chicago, Dallas, and Houston all came in a touch below or nearly normal for July after having had a hot June, according to the National Weather Service.
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