Tampa recently marked its first 100-degree day since 1890.
On Sunday, July 27, Tampa, Florida, made history by hitting 100 degrees for the first time since record-keeping began in 1890. A day later, the thermometer at Tampa International Airport topped out at 95 degrees in the afternoon, a narrow miss for a second consecutive day of triple-digit heat. For Northern dwellers who dream of sunshine and beaches in the dead of winter, and even Floridians who boast about their heat hardiness, the fact that a Florida city had never officially reached 100 degrees came as a surprise—and for many, disbelief.
Part of the reason for Tampa’s atypical leap across the century mark is due to wind direction. For Tampa’s scorcher, winds came out of the north and northeast, bringing dry air off the land with no cooling onshore breezes from the water, explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert. “That is what helped to keep the air warmer and not allow it to get any cooling from the water,” he added…