Astronomical summer starts on June 20th this year and the really hot days that usually occur in July and August are right around the corner. Of course, it can still get hot this time of year, too! The record high for this time of year is in the triple digits and as we make our way through the middle of June, our average highs are typically in the middle 80s. That’s getting a little hot but it’s nothing compared to the hottest temperature created by man. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the JT-60 reactor at the Naka Fusion Research Establishment, Nakamachi, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan on July 19, 1996 set a temperature record of 520 million degrees Kelvin. In Fahrenheit that equals out to 935,999,633 degrees! This is almost unimaginable but to try to put this into a little bit of perspective, let’s look at a couple of other very hot items. The inside of a car on a hot day can exceed 150 degrees so that’s not close at all. A lightning bolt can have a temperature of 50,000 degrees and that’s still not very close. The surface of the sun tops the mercury at about 11,000 degrees but the core of the sun, where it gets really hot, can get up to 27 million degrees. Japan’s reactor is still 35 times hotter!
Weather Last Week
June 9: 39/78/0”
June 10: 42/90/0”
June 11: 52/86/Trace
June 12: 58/89/0.02”
June 13: 50/84/0.03”
June 14: 56/88/0”
June 15: 54/92/0”
Forecast discussion for the week ahead:
A lot of high pressure is going to be in place for the rest of the week and to start the weekend. This means sunshine and very warm temperatures can be expected until a weak cold front rolls through Saturday night. We might see a spot storm out of it, then cooler air pushes in for Sunday into next week.