By Meteorologist Joe Martucci
You’ve felt it most of this week, and you’ll feel plenty of it this weekend.
The humidity.
The Jersey Shore is no stranger to the muggy, swampy days of summer. After all, our dominant wind direction is out of the south and southwest, pumping in air from the even more sultry Deep South.
However, based on the chatter I’ve seen on the internet, you may feel like this summer is super sticky.
So, before I run out of ways to say “humid,” here’s what the data shows about the dew point so far.
2024 is muggier than usual, but it’s been more muggy
Dew points for June, July as well as the two months together were all above the average at Atlantic City International Airport, our official reporting station for the region. However, they’ve been higher.
Dew points are a measure of moisture in the air. It’s measured in degrees, instead of a percentage like relative humidity (RH). Dew point is the more accurate way to describe how muggy it feels.
Here’s an example. A March day could have 100% RH with an air temperature of 50 degrees and a dew point of 50 degrees. However, fast forward to August. The RH could be 52% but the air temperature is 90 degrees and the dew point is 70 degrees. That August day feels more humid, despite the lower relative humidity.
When you combine June and July 2024, the dew point average has been 64.9 degrees at ACY Airport, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. That makes it the 21st highest in its 78-year period of record keeping. So, this summer is definitely on the stickier side.
However, you just need to go back to 2021 to have a higher dew point for the two-month period. That was the fifth highest at 66.5 degrees.
You can thank or blame July for being so high in the rankings. It had the 15th highest dew point of the 78-year period on record. June’s dew point was right near the halfway point.
We did actually wind up with a stretch of very comfortable air in early June. Then, at the end of the month, dew points were on the lower side again.
Near record heat index, though
If you feel like this has been a very sultry summer, so far, you’re still correct. While dew points have been decently above average, the heat index has been near the top of the record book.
In Atlantic City International Airport’s 78 years of record keeping, 2024 had the fifth highest heat index for June and July combined according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Taking into account all 24 hours of the day, including the cooler nighttime, the average heat index was 77.7 degrees.
The heat index is a very long math equation but, simply, it takes the relative humidity and temperature to provide what it should feel like to the human body.
Breaking it down by month, June had the third highest heat index in the 78-year period of record. Even though the dew points were near the long-term average in June, it was very hot. June was the second hottest on record at the airport.
Meanwhile, July’s heat index was 22nd highest in history.
What the climate tells us
Our region fits in line with the rest of New Jersey. Our summers have been muggier and felt hotter, over the decades.
In June, average dew points have climbed about a degree since records began at the airport in 1947, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. In July, that increase moves up to about 1.5 degrees.
For the heat index, it’s even bigger. June has increased roughly 2 degrees. July has increased roughly 2.5 degrees.
Now, these differences aren’t huge numbers. However, this is just the average. It’s a combination of all days in the month. That means that each day is providing a little more heat index and mugginess than it did in decades past.
Shore Summer Weekend Weather Report Card
I graded last weekend’s weather a ‘B’ at the Jersey Shore. Friday was excellent. Fittingly for this column, Saturday and Sunday were very muggy and it was cloudy to end the weekend.
Our summer semester grade point average remains at a 3.3, a ‘B+’. With the remnants of Debby moving through this weekend, I expect a low grade this weekend, sadly. However, the rest of the weekends through Labor Day can certainly be ‘A’ worthy. We’ll see if 2024 can make it to first place in the seventh edition of the report card.
Joe earned his Meteorology Degree from Rutgers University. He is approved by the American Meteorological Society as a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and Certified Digital Meteorologist, the only one in the state with both. He’s won 10 New Jersey Press Association Awards. You can find him on social media @joemartwx
