The tar began to melt on the streets, students stepped outside only to be drenched in sweat within minutes, and the temperature only rose as summer progressed. So far more than 19 days this summer have had temperatures over 100 degrees, making this extreme weather the new norm on a summer day in Kirkwood.
“This was a very hot summer. Starting in the last three days of June and running all of July. It has been okay so far in August, but July was a beast of a month,” Dave Murray, FOX 2 News Chief Meteorologist, said. “The difference was, it’s been a dry heat, like the desert southwest, not the typical humidity we see in St. Louis.”
The dry air caused several record-breaking temperatures in the month of July. According to Murray, we have not seen heat similar to this since 1980.
“The drought is the main reason [for the high temperatures] not only for us, but for about 60 percent of the nation,” Murray said.
When wind blows over such a large drought area it carries the heat with it, keeping those areas, like St. Louis, hot and with- out a drop of rain, according to Murray. It takes a long time for a drought to develop but once one is active it usually persists for several weeks, maybe even months.
It was difficult for students to go about their usual summer activities such as training for fall sports, working outdoor jobs, going to KHS summer sport camps and even enduring the lack of fireworks on July 4th.
“Playing baseball in 100 degree heat is never fun, and by the time the game is over you’re soaking wet and you feel nasty,” Logan Bradshaw, sophomore, said. “I caddy, too, and by 7 a.m. it’s already hot and you still got to walk 18 holes with a bag on your back.”
Some students struggled with the heat and preferred to stay inside.
“I never wanted to be outside because I didn’t want to die,” Katy Donnelly, freshman, said. “When I was [outside], I drank a lot of water and ate a lot of [Tropical Moose].”
After a summer of 100 degree temperatures, Donnelly cannot deny she is looking forward to cooler weather.
“I am tired of the heat,” Donnelly said.
Check out the current weather in St. Louis here.
