July was an absolutely sweltering month for New Jerseyans, so it comes as no surprise that it was a record-setting month in terms of heat.
It was the hottest July since temperature records started being kept in 1895, according to New Jersey State Climatologist David A. Robinson at Rutgers Center for Environmental Prediction.
While we’ve seen temperatures spike into the triple digits in other years, that didn’t happen in July 2020. The month broke the record simply by having a bunch of days in the 90s, Robinson explained in a statement.
For 25 days in July, one or more weather stations in New Jersey registered a temperature of at least 90 degrees. During a nasty heat wave in the second half of the month, it reached 95 degrees somewhere in the state for 10 out of 14 days, with the top temperature of 98 degrees registered in Moorestown in Burlington County July 19, Robinson said.
The statewide average temperature of 78.8 degrees — which makes it the hottest month on record — was 4.2 degrees hotter than the 1981-2010 normal temperature. It just beat out the previous record holding years, 1955, 1999 and 2011, by .4 degrees.
The average maximum statewide was 88.9 degrees, which was the fifth warmest ever, Robinson said.
This was also the hottest July on record for six other states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia — according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nationally, with an average temperature for the month of 75.7 degrees, it was the 11th hottest July since records have been kept for 126 years.
The National Weather Service reporting stations in Newark registered 17 days of 90 or above temperatures, more than the average of 10 and but not too close to the record of 22. Stations in Atlantic City and Trenton saw 16 and 17 days respectively of at least 90 degrees, twice the average of eight days, but under the record of 21.
Along with the high temperatures, July brought several wild storms that left some places flooded while others stayed dry. Spots in South Jersey registered over 10 inches of rain, while parts of Sussex, Ocean and Morris counties had between three and four inches.
It was the 15th wettest July on record, Robinson said, and there were seven storms that dumped 2 inches or more somewhere in the state. One on July 1 also pummeled Cape May County with hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter.
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Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.