How Hot Does It Get In EMASS?

Eastern Massachusetts is in for some broiling temperatures this weekend. It will be hot. Red hot. Hot enough that cows are giving powdered milk. Hot enough that Jehovah's Witnesses are using Skype. Hot enough to detour funeral processions through Dairy Queen. Chickens-laying-omelettes hot.

This naturally leads to the question of how hot does it get in Massachusetts.

Let's look at the planet, first... or, how hot does the world get. Skipping past avoidable things like Lava and Blast Furnaces, we will use the standard of 1.5 meters above the ground.

There are several claimants. The World Meteorological Organization recognizes Furnace Creek Ranch, California. They hit 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10th, 1913. If Furnace Creek isn't named well enough for you, know that it is in Death Valley.

This figure is disputed. It was taken during a sandstorm, which may have fouled the readings. If you believe that, then the record of 129.2 is shared by both Death Valley (2013) and Mitribah, Kuwait (2016).

The WMO no longer recognizes the 136° figure taken from Aziziya, Libya in 1922, which makes my childhood copy of the Guinness Book obsolete.

Massachusetts doesn't have a Libyan climate, so our temperatures don't get that high. We are the 35th warmest state for summer temperatures, averaging 69 degrees for June, July and August (remember, the average includes overnights). It varies from the Cape to the Berkshires, but that's a good number to work with.

We get over 90° 5-15 times a year, although the Cape averages less than one 90+ day per year.

Individual highs vary from Town to town, and from source to source. We tend to have an oceanic rather than continental climate once you move east of the I-95 corridor.

Here are some record high temperatures for individual towns in our area:

New Bedford, 107°  August 2, 1975... New Beffuh has the state record.

Barnstable, 99°, July 5, 1999

Boston, 103°, July 22 2011

Brockton, 104°, August 28, 1948

Chatham, 95°, July 6, 1999

East Wareham. 100°, August 28, 1948

Edgartown, 99°, August 27, 1948

Hingham, 101°, July 22, 2011

Kingston , 102, July 26th, 1952

Norton, 101°, July 20, 1991

Plymouth, 102°, July 26, 1952

Rochester, 102°, July 22, 1991

Taunton, 102°, August 2, 1975