Philly had a near-record stormy July, but it will feel like September the next few days

The weather around here for at least the next few days will continue to be uncharacteristically magnificent and uneventful, given that we are in the so-called Dog Days of August.

Perhaps the atmosphere is just exhausted.

We’re in store for highs in the low 80s — along with low humidities — which are more characteristic of the first week in September.

This comes after the Philadelphia region just endured what was one of the stormier — and louder and flashier — Julys in the period of record, according to the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.

Through July 30, the office said Monday, it issued 123 severe-thunderstorm warnings throughout its turf, which includes Delaware and much of New Jersey.

That’s the second-most for a July, behind the 132 of July 2021, in records that date to 1986 — the beginning of the current warning system. The average number of thunderstorm warnings for July is 47.

Thunderstorms were observed officially at Philadelphia International Airport on 15 different days in July — five more than in 2021, according to weather service data. The long-term average for the month is 5.8.

Some parts of the region likely heard more thunder and saw more lightning than what occurred at the airport, where no one actually lives. Summer thunderstorms are notorious for their caprice.

» READ MORE: Summer heat and humidity have been far worse around here

For example, on July 5, when several inches of rain fell upon the Washington Crossing area in a compressed period and seven people tragically were swept away in floodwaters, including a 2-year-old and 9-month-old, a mere 0.11 inches were measured at the airport.

For the month, the airport did receive more than its share of rain — 5.24 inches, about an inch above normal, but amounts were considerably higher in the neighboring Pennsylvania counties.

So much rain has fallen in parts of the region that some back roads may seem noticeably narrower with the encroaching of the lush foliage.

For the first 30 days of the month, the atmosphere was akin to a damp rag just waiting for something to dare to wring it dry.

» READ MORE: Philly has been having more heat waves, but they've been shorter

The amount of absolute moisture in the atmosphere, as measured by the dew points, was more than impressive, said Matt Brudy, a meteorologist at the Mount Holly office. The dew point is the temperature at which water vapor condenses and comes out of hiding.

The higher it is, the wetter the atmosphere, and the more likely that the vapor will condense into droplets. About half the time in July, they were at levels considered quite high in Philly, based on available hourly data from the Pennsylvania State Climatologist office.

An Inquirer analysis found that the numbers of hours with high dew points this century have been about 9% higher on average than they were from 1951 through 2000. Meteorologists say that is tied to the warming of the planet. Warmer air can hold more moisture.

All that moisture contributes to volatility, or a mouthful called the “convective available potential energy,” better known as CAPE.

“The higher dew points lead to higher CAPE values,” said Brudy. A front or even a stealth disturbance is enough to light the storm fuses.

All that moisture may have been a factor in why the heat wave that ended Saturday — with thunderstorms, naturally — wasn’t as intense as predicted. Moisture diverts some of the sun’s energy from heating.

For the month, Philly skated by with only two short-lived heat waves, in part due to an upper-air pattern that favored record heat in the parched Southwest and a sequence of storms directed toward the Northeast, meteorologists said.

» READ MORE: This might be the muggiest Philly summer since 1995. No wonder you’re sweating.

The city did report one heat-related death, on July 28, said Health Department spokesperson Jim Garrow. The victim was not identified, nor were any details available.

For the first two months of the meteorological summer, which began June 1, temperatures in Philly have averaged about 1.5 degrees below normal.

By contrast, July temperatures in Las Vegas, where it’s always toasty in summer, have averaged a full 4.5 above normal, peaking at 116, just a degree below the all-time monthly record.

Nothing remotely like that is heading this way.

In fact, if the weather service had such thing as an “open your windows advisory,” this would be time to issue it. Daytime highs will be in the 80s this week, with sleep-able nights in the 60s. Showers are possible Thursday and Friday, but not a 90-plus day is in sight.

The government’s Climate Prediction Center back on July 20 said the odds favored above-normal temperatures around here in August, with only about a 10% chance they would be below normal. But in its updated outlook on Monday, it said temperatures could go other way.

It doesn’t get much better around here during the so-called Dog Days, which extend from July 3 to Aug. 11, centered on the rising and falling of Canis Major, Sirius, the Dog Star.

The ancient Romans allegedly had the whacky idea that Sirius somehow contributed to the summer heat.

In fairness, they also came up with some pretty good ideas.