David Stooksbury says that based on average mean temperature, the three-month period of June, July and August was the hottest ever recorded in the cities of Alma, Athens, Augusta, Columbus and Savannah. Atmospheric scientists, climatologists and meteorologists define summer as that three-month period.
Stooksbury says Macon experienced its second hottest summer, while Atlanta had its third-warmest summer.
He says says Georgia's average mean temperature for June, July and August was 82.3 degrees, or over 3.5 degrees above average. The average high of 92.5 is 4.5 degrees above average.
It was much the same in Gainesville. Data from the weather station at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport shows that during the three-month period temperatures were at or below normal on only four days... one in June, three in July and none in August. At times, they were running 10-12 degrees above normal. The highest reading was 97, recorded on June 1, July 13, and August 3... although there were several days when the temperature reached 96. On 68 of the 92 days in June, July and August, the high topped 90 degrees. The average high in Gainesville for the three months was 90.7 degrees.
Stooksbury says only the summers of 1980 and 1993 were warmer in Atlanta, with 1993 averaging one-hundredth of a degree warmer than this year. Both years show a mean temperature of 82.3 degrees.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/9/241572