Summer is lingering longer in most US cities. How many more days in Fresno?
While it might feel like summer flies right by, the season’s hot temperatures actually stick around longer in most major cities in the U.S., a new study found.
A new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit focusing on how changing climate affects people’s lives, found that summer’s high temperatures “are lingering later” by days and even weeks, depending on where you live.
The nonprofit looked at weather data for 246 cities going back to 1970 and found that hot summer temperatures are sticking around in 227 of them — or 92%. The heat extends into the fall by about 10 days on average, the nonprofit said.
Fourteen California cities are experiencing these lingering summer temperatures, ranging from 3 on the low end to 17 on the high end, according to Climate Central’s analysis.
The same is true for major cities in both Washington and Idaho, the Tacoma News Tribune and the Idaho Statesman reported.
“The hottest days of the year are getting even hotter because of climate change. Recent analysis shows that heat-trapping pollution — mainly from burning coal, oil, and gas — has fueled the rise in summer’s extremely hot days and dangerously warm nights over the last 55 years,” the nonprofit said, which added that “heat-trapping pollution is also driving longer summers across the Northern Hemisphere.”
So what does that mean for people in the Golden State? How much longer is summer in cities like Fresno and Sacramento?
How much later is summer heat sticking around in Fresno — and how does it affect residents?
Summer temperatures linger an average of eight days longer in Fresno, Climate Central found.
While that can mean more time for fun in the sun and for crops to grow, it also ushers in a host of less positive effects.
The longer growing season can “lead to water stress and a longer, later allergy season,” making for “a longer growing season for ragweed and other fall allergens.” That’s bad news for the millions who suffer from seasonal allergies in the U.S., the nonprofit said.
“Hotter falls also mean a longer wildfire season. The annual frequency of hot, dry, windy fire weather is growing — particularly in the western U.S.,” Climate Central said. “A longer wildfire season puts health and safety at risk. Wildfire smoke exposure in the U.S. has climbed to record levels over the last five years, and tends to spike during late summer and fall.”
Longer summers also mean more demand for indoor cooling, spiking both energy costs and heat-trapping emissions, the nonprofit said. And the longer the heat sticks around, so too do disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes.
“Fall warming can also disrupt the timing of ecologically important events like bird migrations, hibernation, and fruit ripening,” Climate Central said.
All these effects put people at higher risk of heat-related illness, especially athletes, outdoor workers and children — “who now face at least twice as much extreme heat during childhood than previous generations because of climate change,” the nonprofit said.
Which California cities are experiencing longer summers?
Here’s how many days summer is lingering in other major cities in California, according to Climate Central:
- Bakersfield: 3
- Chico: 7
- Eureka: 3
- Los Angeles: 10
- Monterey: 4
- Palm Springs: 11
- Sacramento: 3
- Salinas: 16
- San Diego: 7
- San Francisco: 7
- San Jose: 17
- Santa Maria: 11
- Stockton: 7
