Exactly how #FamouslyHot? 🌡️

cola sunset

photo by @erinkwash

🔥 A list of fire + ice. ❄️

Some people (not naming names) call it the armpit of the state, and it’s been known as #FamouslyHot – but how hot is Columbia, really?

cola sunset

photo by @erinkwash

🌡️ Hottest recorded day: 113º on June 29, 2012 – also the hottest recorded temp in S.C. history // Comparisons: GVL 105º (Aug. 10, 2007) + CHS 105º (June 26, 1952)

🌡️ Coldest summer day: 58º on June 7, 2006 // GVL º40 (June 1972) + CHS 50º (June 1972)

🌡️ Warmest winter day: 83º on Feb. 20, 2014 // GVL 86º (1909) + CHS 87º (Feb. 1989)

🌡️ Coldest winter day: -5º on Jan. 16, 1994 // GVL -19º (Jan. 21, 1985) – also the coldest recorded temp in S.C. history + CHS 4º (Jan. 21, 1985)

*Temps pulled from SCDNR + Intellicast.

Why so warm?

We’re a major metropolitan area with a lot of downtown pavement and skyscrapers, and that density creates + hangs on longer to heat. Also, it’s true: Cola sits in a “bowl” topographically (er, on the dinner placemat that is S.C.)

How hot are we now?

viral video

Viral video by E Cornell via YouTube

H-H-O-T-T hot.

🔥 Record average (since 1887) hottest summer: 2016

🔥 Record average hottest year: 2016

🔥 In the last 30 years, an average of 3.5 days per year with temps reaching 100º+

🔥 In 2016, 16 days reached temps of 100º+.

When out-of-towners ask me how I could possibly live in Columbia in August, I tell them that I like to pretend Cola is just giving me a long, warm hug.

– Beth

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