Corine Schramke isn't complaining.
The Baltimore area has not experienced much extreme summer weather thus far, so the Ellicott City resident has enjoyed more time on her deck. Her utility bills are lower, too.
"In the late afternoon and evening, I throw open all the windows and get the fresh air in, and it's been wonderful," said Schramke, who works from home. "This is an enormously pleasant surprise this year."
Temperatures at the weather station at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport didn't climb above 90 degrees at all in May or June, according to National Weather Service data, defying the area's reputation for sweltering summer heat and humidity. In fact, so far this year, temperatures have breached the 90-degree threshold on only three April days, based on the data.
The mild weather was likely a big reason why Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. customers used about 10 percent less electricity in June compared with last year. Bills for many customers will be lower as a result, according to BGE officials.
On the hottest day in May, the temperature reached 86 degrees. In June, temperatures remained close to normal and hit 89 degrees only twice, said Todd Miner, a meteorologist with the Penn State Weather Communications Group.
July, on the other hand, has been 4 degrees below normal, he said.
"It's not out of the ballpark to have an oddball 90-degree day in April," Miner said. "What is unusual is if you had three all year and ... all three occurred in April."
There are usually about seven days warmer than 90 degrees in May and June, according to the National Weather Service. And Marylanders can usually expect about 10 such days by the first week of July, Miner said.
Daytime highs in June were about 2 degrees below normal. That month was rainy, though, and the accompanying clouds tend to keep daytime temperatures lower, Miner said. But nighttime averages were actually a little higher than normal, because the cloud cover retains the sun's radiation close to the ground, he added.
However, it's unlikely we will escape summer without at least a few scorchers, according to Miner. Forecasts call for a fairly average month, he said.
"I would be pretty surprised if Baltimore doesn't have a string of several consecutive days where the temperature is at or above 90," he said. "We would really be fighting climatology ... that would be so highly unusual I would tend to bet against it."
