These Southern Cities Have Had Their Warmest or Wettest Year So Far

2020 has gotten off to a record warm or wet start for a number of cities in the Southeast due to a stubborn weather pattern leaving some either sweltering in summerlike heat or repeatedly drenched.

Over a dozen cities from southeast Louisiana to North Carolina's Outer Banks have had their hottest start to a year on record, according to data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

Eight of those cities are in Florida.

Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers have each topped their previous hottest years through April 21 by over 1 degree, a pummeling of a record in the realm of year-to-date mean temperature data.

On Monday, Miami soared to 97 degrees, a new all-time record for April. That searing temperature was reached sooner in the season in Miami than in Phoenix.

Through April 22, Miami had already logged 14 days with a high in the 90s in 2020, doubling their previous record year-to-date 90s tally, according to Eric Blake, a National Hurricane Center scientist and South Florida resident.

The persistence of the heat since March has been remarkable. Miami didn't have a single day cooler than average from March 9 through April 22, a streak of 45 straight days through the time this article was written.

University of Miami scientist Brian McNoldy noted Miami's April heat was more typical of June or September.

Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota and Vero Beach have also been sweating through a record warm start to the year.

And it's not just Florida.

The culprit for this record start to 2020 has been a persistent dome of high pressure aloft centered over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

This feature produces sinking air, drying it out and inhibiting clouds and rain. As a result, drought expanded along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida in spring.

This increased sunshine and light winds under the upper-level high allowed the Gulf of Mexico to heat up to record levels for early April, as FEMA atmospheric scientist Michael Lowry noted. This warmer water then added extra heat to the air above it.

Record Wet Start

Other parts of the Southeast have been exceptionally wet in 2020.

Six cities from Mississippi to eastern Tennessee have had their wettest start to any year on record, and most clobbered their previous record by several inches.

Birmingham, Alabama, picked up roughly 6 inches more precipitation in 2020, so far, than their previous record wet year in 1961. Huntsville, Alabama, has smashed its previous record wet year, so far, for the second year in a row.

An analysis from the National Weather Service indicated parts of Mississippi and Alabama have picked up over 20 inches more than average so far this year.

Wedged between the Gulf of Mexico upper high-pressure dome and persistent low pressure aloft over western Canada and the northern High Plains, an active jet stream has delivered a number of soaking events to this part of the Southeast so far in 2020.

In mid-February, heavy rain pushed the Pearl River to its highest crest since 1983, flooding parts of the Jackson, Mississippi, metro area.

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