Notice a chill in the air?

August is cooler than usual so far.

By THOMAS LAKE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 9, 2007

Midafternoon. You open the car door. The escaping air nearly singes your eyebrows. You grip the steering wheel and scream in pain.

Bad as it is, the heat could be worse.

This will not ease the prickly sensation at the back of your neck, but you may be interested to know that the unceasing steam bath you're experiencing is no worse than normal. The heat and humidity are actually below average for August - and mild compared with conditions to the north.

Dozens of cities set temperature records on Tuesday, according to AccuWeather.com. It hit 101 in Raleigh, N.C., 103 in Nashville and 104 in Augusta, Ga., where the old record had stood since 1878.

Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or 727 992-8665.

88.9 Average high in St. Petersburg in August 2007 (so far).

89.9 Historical average high for August.

90.2 Historical average high for July, the hottest month.

101 Heat index Tuesday afternoon.

89 Heat index Tuesday morning.

88 The water temperature at Clearwater Beach. The gulf's warm water is the reason that it doesn't cool down much at night.

99 At the hottest place Tuesday in Florida: Marianna, in the Panhandle.

110 At the hottest place in the U.S.: Death Valley, Calif.

23 At the coolest place in the U.S.: Bodie State Park, Calif.

250 Miles: the approximate distance between Death Valley and Bodie.

Source: Richard Rude of the National Weather Service, Mike Pigott of AccuWeather.

[Last modified August 9, 2007, 00:01:06]