GAINESVILLE - One look at your power bill and you probably don't have to be told that this summer is turning out to be much warmer than last year's.
The number of days with high temperatures at 90 or more in Gainesville is already more than double the number to this date last year - with several weeks of summer to go.
Data from the weather station at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport show that from June 1 through this past Wednesday, there were 37 days with readings of 90 or more. Through the same period last year, there were only 13 (Source: NOAA/NCDC). The warmest was August 4, when the temperature reached 96.
State climatologist Bill Murphey says the main difference in weather patterns this year compared to last is that, up to this point, "we have been dominated more by upper and mid-level high pressure ridges, and at times have been positioned on the eastern periphery of the main ridge axis."
Murphey says last summer Georgia was transitioning more to a weak El Nino from neutral conditions. "That pattern," he added, "kept us in a fairly progressive upper level pattern...(keeping) prolonged heat waves at bay with more unstable conditions and cooler temps. It also created conditions favorable to more rain than we've seen this year."
"This summer we are currently in a moderate to strong EL Nino with additional strengthening likely through the rest of summer, fall, and into the winter."
For this summer, so far, if you look at mean average temperatures, Murphey said, it's the 17th warmest of record (77.4 degrees) in Gainesville, dating back to 1902 (Source: NOAA/NCDC). By comparison, last summer to this point it was 73.9 degrees, which was ninth coolest period of record.
"The good news," Murphey said in conclusion, "is that we are not talking about La Nina conditions, which can lead to severe drought conditions across Georgia."
POWER USAGE
Jackson Electric Membership Cooperation, which provides electricity to several north Georgia counties, says kilowatt hour usage for June and July 2014 and 2015 breaks down like this:
June 2014 424 million
June 2015 411.6 million
July 2014 499.6 million
July 2015 517.3 million
Georgia Power statistics through July are not available yet, "but we do have company-wide figures through June," spokesman John Kraft said. "For Georgia Power residential customers, June kWh sales were 7.7% higher than June 2014." Kraft added that local data were also not available at this time.
Jackson EMC data, county-by-county and month-by-month:
Total kWh June 2015 – 411,589,181
kWh Used per County
Gwinnett County 205,986,444
Hall County 81,961,476
Jackson County 57,812,074
Barrow County 32,848,445
Madison County 13,450,009
Clarke County 8,495,426
Banks County 8,392,923
Lumpkin County 2,353,809
Oglethorpe County 162,279
Franklin County 119,933
Total kWh July 2015 – 517,361,186
kWh Used per County
Gwinnett County 262,784,248
Hall County 103,344,578
Jackson County 68,989,187
Barrow County 41,027,358
Madison County 16,403,383
Clarke County 10,096,275
Banks County 11,075,493
Lumpkin County 3,250,528
Oglethorpe County 218,678
Franklin County 161,878
Total kWh June 2014 – 424,082,458
kWh Used per County
Gwinnett County 213,775,474
Hall County 86,311,510
Jackson County 56,001,844
Barrow County 33,775,770
Madison County 14,028,230
Clarke County 8,729,244
Banks County 8,665,360
Lumpkin County 2,490,667
Oglethorpe County 175,398
Franklin County 122,281
Total kWh July 2014 – 499,690,222
kWh Used per County
Gwinnett County 256,086,916
Hall County 98,684,503
Jackson County 64,287,668
Barrow County 39,727,870
Madison County 16,678,297
Clarke County 10,262,767
Banks County 10,531,926
Lumpkin County 3,037,181
Oglethorpe County 220,769
Franklin County 163,849
