It's July 21, and so far the big-time summer heat which can occur in Nebraska and Iowa has not been here. July has been quite cool. Back in early July, we only had a high in the 60s, which has not happened for nearly 10 years! If we take the average temperature of both highs and lows, we are running around 5° below average for July. While it is not the coolest July on record, that goes to 1992, it certainly could be hotter.
Unfortunately (or fortunately if you like the heat), this cooler stretch comes to an end next week. You've read the headlines about the southern US baking in record-breaking heat. Cities like Phoenix breaking their all-time record low temp (97°), as well as their longest streak with highs over 110°. That big heat dome begins to expand eastward into the plains next week, bringing our first true taste of summer heat within a few days.
While Omaha might stay just shy of 100° as of current forecasts, next Tuesday through Friday will be at least into the mid-upper 90s, with heat index values well over 100°. So, with this heat coming in, it bets the question of how often Omaha hits 100° in a given year. Do we always hit it? What year had the most 100-degree temperatures? How long have we gone without hitting 100?
If you look at just the average, Omaha hits 100° roughly twice a year. However, that number can be somewhat misleading as it takes into account years without hitting 100° and years where we have hit it multiple times. For example, last year in 2022 we hit 100° 5 times, while in 2019 we hit it 0 times. Over the last 30 years, we have hit 100° 17 times. In 2012, we hit 100° 11 times.
As for 90-degree days, on average Omaha experiences around 35 times a year. So far in 2023, we have hit it 19 times, which is right on average. To put this in context, last summer by July 20 we hit 90 degrees 49 times. In 2012, we hit 90 degrees 17 times.
So while next week looks to be hot, when seen in context it's heat that we haven't experienced before. It is important to note that Omaha will be on the outer edge of the really intense heat, so while it is not as bad in our region, others to the southwest will be much hotter.
