ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — We don't need to tell you it's hot outside — it's Florida. In the summer.
Still, it's actually feeling hotter than usual, with numerous heat advisories issued in recent and coming days. And the increase in heat has many people wondering "Why is it so hot in Florida?"
Let's take a look at what's causing all this extra hot weather.
An area of high pressure is dominating our forecast after parking itself right over the Gulf of Mexico. This high pressure acts as a heat dome and you might be wondering what that even means. High pressure contains sinking motions of air, and it compresses the column of air above us and heats it up.
The sinking motions of air block out or suppress significant rain from forming. The lack of rain and cloud cover prevents us from receiving any significant relief from the heat. High pressure also blocks low-pressure or storm systems with substantial rainfall from coming our way.
In addition, we have had a Gulf sea breeze, meaning winds are coming from the west. When we have a Gulf sea breeze that typically results in a drier pattern for us on the west coast of Florida, meaning less rain to cool us off, equaling more heat. A Gulf sea breeze gets us storms that will develop and push east quickly toward the central and eastern parts of the peninsula.
Essentially, the heat dome gives us hot air while the west wind gives us more humid air. This dangerous combination of heat and humidity is what gives us the heat advisories.
We are under a heat advisory today until 7 p.m. due to our feels-like temperatures between 108-112 degrees.
So when you ask why has it been so hot there are a couple of different factors to consider, but get ready more heat is on the way! We could tie or break more records the rest of this week!