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Gainesville experiencing 17th warmest summer ever

By Ken Stanford Contributing Editor
Posted 9:01AM on Saturday 8th August 2015 ( 9 years ago )

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

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