BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (WDTV) – With temperatures starting at 4 degrees Celsius before sunrise Wednesday and a (nearly) full moon under clear skies, it felt like the Mountaineers were supposed to be playing football this weekend. However, I checked the calendar again and it was still August. We have our northern neighbors, Canada, to thank for all of these below-average air temperatures for the climatologically warmest time of the year. Because they don’t have warm, large bodies of water and are at higher latitudes than we do, they can’t provide us with warm, humid air. Quite the opposite. As you may already know, with initially cool air combined with dry air (humidity-wise, not just lacking precipitation), temperatures can fluctuate wildly from dawn to late afternoon. The reason for this is that water in the atmosphere (water in gaseous form (water vapor)), also known as humidity, absorbs large amounts of energy released into the air by sunlight. Less energy in the air means temperatures drop much faster at night and rise more during the day, assuming the night is clear and the day is sunny.
The bottom line is that our days will be cooler than average until the air returns from the south. Most of our humidity comes from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, and it is warmer further south too, as the sun is higher in the sky and the days are a little longer than here. Once the winds move south (coming from the south), it will become more summery again. This “taste of fall” interim period will eventually give way to more normal August weather.
Record lows are possible Thursday morning, with a sunny and pleasant afternoon. Friday and Saturday will be sunny, with highs approaching what’s expected for this time of year. Mornings won’t be as cold, but still below average. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday will feel like summer again, with highs at or above average, but no rain or storms. Temperatures should be back in the 30s at some point early next week.
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