When to expect the first 90-degree day in your city
The days are getting longer and temperatures are heating up. Here are the usual dates that cities across the U.S. hit 90 degrees for the first time and the earliest they've done so.
When does your city typically hit 90 degrees for the first time?
FOX Weather crunched the numbers and found the average date and the earliest date various cities across the U.S. hit 90 degrees for the first time.
As summer arrives, most of us pull out the shorts, test out the air conditioning and get the pool ready. But if you wait for the start of summer at the end of June, it's too late for most of us to beat the heat. The first 90-degree day of the year generally arrives in spring.
FOX Weather crunched 30 years of weather data (1991-2020) to find when various cities across the U.S. hit 90 degrees for the first time in an average year. Only one city on our list usually hits 90 degrees for the first time during the summer. That is why you will hear FOX Weather meteorologists discuss meteorological spring and meteorological summer along with solstices and equinoxes.
WHY SUMMER SHOULD ACTUALLY BEGIN ON JUNE 1
This is the first day Northeast cites typically hit 90 and the earliest date they ever hit 90.
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Meteorological summer is considered the warmest three months of the year across the U.S.: June, July and August. Even though the sun is at its northernmost point in the sky on the summer solstice in late June, it takes the Earth and oceans a little time to warm up and cool down, so there is a seasonal lag.
Who usually hits 90 degrees first?
This is the first day Western cites typically hit 90 and the earliest date they ever hit 90.
(FOX Weather)
Phoenix hits 90 degrees as early as March 30 in an average year. This is not surprising because the city is so dry that afternoon heating doesn’t net thunderstorms to cool down the Desert Southwest city during the spring. It is also far enough away from the ocean to prevent marine influences from the cooler Pacific waters.
HERE'S WHEN THE SUNSHINE STATE'S RAINY SEASON GETS UNDERWAY
FILE - Florida thunderstorms cool the air through evaporational cooling and shade the area from the sun's warning rays.
(Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Los Angeles hit 90 degrees as early as Jan. 8 in 1923, but that was much earlier than its average first 90-degree day of April 18. Offshore winds, called Santa Ana winds, blow from the east and warm the air as it descends the mountains outside the city. As the descending air warms by compression, temperatures can rise as much as 30 degrees with every mile, according to a UCLA professor. That warms up the land despite the chilly Pacific Ocean temperatures.
This is the first day Southern cites typically hit 90 and the earliest date they ever hit 90.
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Dallas is not far behind Los Angeles, having reached 90 degrees as early as Jan. 31 in 1911. On average, Dallas hits 90 for the first time on April 26.
Miami’s first 90-degree day is usually April 7, while the earliest the city hit 90 was March 2, 2003. The warm Gulf Stream current keeps Miami warm throughout the year.
THE REASON CALIFORNIA BEACH SURF IS SO MUCH CHILLIER THAN ATLANTIC, GULF COAST WATERS
File: Tourists hitting the beach to keep cool in Miami.
(Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group / FOX Weather)
Who waits the longest for the first 90-degree day?
Seattle generally doesn't hit 90 degrees for the first time until July 2. Cool water temperatures in the Pacific and onshore winds keep the city's climate very moderate. Seattle’s earliest 90-degree day was on May 17, 2008.
In Detroit, the first 90-degree day is usually not until June 10. However, in 1895, the Motor City hit 90 on May 5.
THESE ARE THE ALL-TIME HOTTEST TEMPERATURES EVER RECORDED IN EACH STATE
This is the first day Midwest cites typically hit 90 and the earliest date they ever hit 90.
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Anchorage, Alaska, has hit 90 degrees only one time in recorded history on July 4, 2019, according to NOAA. That stands as the all-time record high for the city.
Meanwhile, National Weather Service records show that Eureka, California, has never hit 90 degrees.