news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Martha Reeves and The Vandellas don't have anything on Piedmont residents.

Like the Motown group from the 1960s, folks around here know plenty about heat waves.

But this latest weather composition has residents singing the blues.

"Stop this — it's got a hold on me ... This ain't the way it's supposed to be ... It's like a heat wave."

Sure, it's supposed to be hot. It's August.

But not this hot. Not record-setting hot. Not for a whole month.

But it could happen.

National Weather Service meteorologists — who know a thing or two about heat waves themselves — say Greensboro could smash the mark for the hottest August on the books.

"I expect the record will fall," said Brandon Dunstan, a meteorologist at the weather service in Raleigh.

"I would say it's highly likely."

And with a little bad luck, we

could challenge for the hottest month ever.

On top of that, the area could set the record for the driest August ever.

"This really has been an exceptional month for heat and dryness," said Jeff Orrock, warning coordinator for the weather service in Raleigh. "Last summer we had a number of hot spells, but nothing like this."

The combination of hot, dry weather has taken a significant toll on crops and livestock, lawns and gardens, lakes and streams, and pets and people.

"It makes me sick just being outside," said Denise Boswell, a 47-year-old Greensboro woman.

"Even in the shade, it's not helping. It's ridiculous."

Here's what has

Boswell and thousands of other Triad residents hot and bothered.

l Eighteen of the 20 days this month have seen the temperature hit 90 or above.

A typical month might have eight or nine such days.

l On three successive days — Aug. 8-10 — the mercury climbed to 100 or above.

Since 1929, when the weather service began keeping records at Piedmont Triad International Airport, that's happened only two other times — three days in August 1983 and four straight days in July 1977.

l Through Sunday, Greensboro has recorded an average temperature of 83.4 for the month. The previous record for August is 80 degrees, set in 1975.

The hottest month on record in Greensboro was July 1993, when the average temperature hit 82.

l Record highs were set on six days this month and record minimums on another five.

"We're smashing records all over the place," Orrock said of Greensboro. "We might be able to flirt with some (more)."

l Lastly, we've had a devastating lack of rainfall. Through Sunday, only 0.34 of an inch of precipitation had been recorded at PTI. That's less than half of the previous low for August — 0.71 of an inch set in 1972.

And that puts Greensboro at nearly 2 inches below normal for the month and more than 9 inches below normal for the year.

Last week, Guilford and counties to the east, south and west were declared in a severe drought, the second-worst category.

The next seven to 10 days hold little promise for relief, either in significant rainfall or cooler temperatures.

"Right now, there is no end in sight," said Terry Brown, an official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Wilmington. "That's the bottom line."

Officials say the combination of hot, dry weather has had a far-reaching impact.

l As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the state has experienced 471 wildfires this month; that's more than double the average for August.

l As reservoir and stream levels fall, 16 municipalities across the state have put in mandatory water restrictions; 45 have established voluntary curbs.

Local, state and federal officials will met today in Raleigh to update the drought situation.

l Officials from Guilford and surrounding counties will ask today that their areas be declared agricultural disaster areas, a move that would allow farmers to receive low-interest loans.

Local officials say yields for corn, soybeans and tobacco have been cut from 30 percent to 60 percent where farmers have not been able to irrigate. Hay and pasture losses are up to 75 percent.

"They're just running out of feed," Rodney Speas, county director for Farm Service Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said of area cattle growers.

"It's going to be a big shortage of hay in the wintertime."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or donpatterson@news-record.com.