The August 2007 Heat Wave in North Carolina: Meteorological Factors and Local Variability

August 2007 was an exceptionally warm month across North Carolina. Hundreds of daily maximum and daily high minimum temperature records, as well as numerous all-time temperature records, were either tied or broken during the month. At the same time, a drought of historic proportions overspread much...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical geography 2011-05, Vol.32 (3), p.217-240
Main Authors: Fuhrmann, Christopher M., Konrad, Charles E., Kovach, Margaret M., Perkins, D. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
air mass
America
back-trajectories
Bgi / Prodig
drought
heat wave
North Carolina
Physical geography
thermal trough
United States of America
vertical mixing
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Summary:August 2007 was an exceptionally warm month across North Carolina. Hundreds of daily maximum and daily high minimum temperature records, as well as numerous all-time temperature records, were either tied or broken during the month. At the same time, a drought of historic proportions overspread much of the Southeast United States. A critical aspect of the August 2007 heat wave was the observed variability in heat and humidity across the different geographic regions of North Carolina. The highest maximum temperatures occurred most frequently in the Piedmont and Sandhills regions, while minimum temperatures were exceptionally high along the coast. The broad-scale pattern of heat can be tied to adiabatic warming associated with subsidence downstream of a persistent upper-level ridge centered over the Mississippi River Valley. Regional to local variations in the heat and humidity across North Carolina are linked to upwind sensible heat fluxes associated with major soil moisture deficits, adiabatic warming connected with downsloping winds off the Appalachian Mountains, and the depth of the mixing layer. Along the coast, the pattern of heat and humidity was tied to the positioning of a mesoscale thermal trough and the presence and strength of the sea-breeze circulation.
ISSN:0272-3646
1930-0557
DOI:10.2747/0272-3646.32.3.217