NJ has you beat Brooklyn, Newark currently reading 104 F with a heat index of 116 F.. :) I just had to be in one of the big box stores and the parking lot must have been near 120 F..:(

Parking lots with black top in this heat must be 120* plus. Sounds like Newark NJ is the equivalent of the baking heat of death valley. This weather is getting dangerous.

Brooklyn is baking hot also, yesterday my rasberry bushes almost died completely until I soaked them. Meterologists expect 100* plus in most locations again tomorrow. I did notice last year in July that VB and NC were very hot like this and it caused the palms to naturalize. By this I mean they were growing like it was their habitat and I believe this strengthens them to be more hardy.

I have to water soon as I get home today!

Don't be so sure of that Brooklyn. The most common cold hardy palms used in our area are Trachys and they HATE this heat and will stop growing at these temps. I noticed that some of the leaves on my Trachys were beginning to close up--to conserve water (though I had the hoses on them both yesterday). I see native trees starting to yellow and drop their leaves--some look like they're dead already. Sabals love the heat but they also love water--I don't see any of that unless it's coming out of my garden hose. We are talking serious drought conditions here if we don't start to get rain and soon--then you and I will have to worry about our water police neighbors. Meantime, I'm neglecting my outdoor chores and projects because it's just too miserably HOT on there.

I heard tracky's do not like too much heat but mine is growing well. I have been watering my palms daily and maybe that's cooling her off?

You're right about my Sabal Palmetto she is taking off in this heat!

That's the secret Greg(-;

In hot weather like yours YOU CANNOT OVER WATER them!

That's what 14+" of rain with days in the mid 90s taught me last month.

I think we broke the all time record high here. Not sure of the official temperature but I heard 104F which would make today the warmest day in HISTORY for my area! I was at an amusement park in Allentown, PA today and it was VERY hot and a lot of people were passing out and getting sick. Worst mistake was going barefoot in the water area. The pavement EASILY exceeded 120F. Some of the plants were wilting too (the hydraneas (not sure of spelling) especially). They had banana plants in the ground also wilting in the heat but I must admit they had some beautiful palms including very healthy windmill palms in pots and lots of other nice tropicals doing well. Not sure what they do with them in the winter time but its a little far away to be constantly checking up on them!
I watered my plants this morning and they still look good now. My banana plants grew really fast in 1 day! The palms werent as thrilled but they look fine.
It is absolutely impossible to overwater plants in heat like this. Some of them might be better submerged in water! It was such a warm day and there must have been at least 5 incidents that I saw where someone needed medical attention and Im sure many more got sick. Very dangerous weather for people, animals, and even many plants. Its worse when there hasnt been rain in over a week (I think its been 2 weeks) but the humidity did seem higher today. Relief is on the way though this weekend. Temps will still be in the upper 80s but at least theres a chance of rain.
Good luck!
Stay cool (I hear there were some power outages so I feel really bad for those people!)
-Alex

All 3 major airports in the Washington Baltimore metro areas busted 102 or better today. 102 at Dulles, 102 at Washington National, and 105 at Baltimore. Today ranks within the top 10 all time hottest days ever in Washington DC in terms of the official records.

Dulles is 25 miles or so NW of Washington, well out of the city. National airport sticks out into the Potomac River, which cools it in summer. Go 1/2 mile away from the river, and the temps are warmer in summer, sometimes by 3-5 degrees F. Most PWS' (Personal Weather Stations) around the DC area topped out around 104 - 105. Mine hit 104.8 for the high, and it is in the shade.

The mid Atlantic is in for another doozie tomrrow with temps of 101-105, and heat index's running in the 110 range. Finally a cool down for Thursday and Friday to the mid and upper 90s, then upper 80s to low 90s on Sat/ Sun. Back to the mid 90s early next week, then were hearing ANOTHER heat wave, which could last longer, and be several degrees HOTTER than this current one. The all time record high for Washington DC was 106°F / 41°C, July 20, 1930. That record COULD be in danger of falling next week.

As for drought conditions, well that was very evident on the drive to and from the Delaware beaches this past holiday weekend. Much of the corn is really showing serious drought stress, as is the soy beans, and other crops. The corn that is irrigated is VASTLY different looking. Much greener and its leaves are not curling inwards. Even some trees are showing signs of stress. No real yellowing / loss of foliage yet, but some are definitely wilting like a potted peace lily that is left without water. We are definitely several inches down the last couple months, and are really in need of some decent, soaking rains.

Allentown record high is 105

Looks like the highest 'official' high today in P.A.was 102

Pretty amazing heat!

86 humid degrees at 7:00 AM heading to 100. Next 7 day are all going to be in the low to mid 90's. We seem to be in severe drought conditions but got very little advanced warning of this. Seems officials were asleep at the wheels in spreading the conserve water mantra (people generally do when requested to conserve). WET stormy winter of rain and snow then early April featuring hot, arid windy conditions and it's been dry ever since (April is normally showery in the Northeast.) We gardeners are sensitive to the weather but most people are oblivious to how wacky the weather has been recently. Normally, July and August rainfall would come in the form of thunderstorms but these seem to have become extinct. (September and October are normally the sunny and dry months unless tropical storms come into play.)

Yesterday was 104F here offically (according to weather.com). That crushed our old all time record high of 102F. The ocean seemed to do absolutely nothing despite there actually being an east wind at times. And I dont know how hot the actual pavement got but I had a thermometer on the ground in full sun and it recorded 137F! I wouldnt be surprised if my deck got a surface temperature of 150F! Lots of things were starting to wilt so I had to soak them today (yes I did water them yesterday too!) The palms seem to be handling the heat very well though. Manhattan stayed in the mid 80s for a low temperature this morning but I didnt check by me yet.
The humidity continues to return and there is a chance of some thunderstorms on saturday! Most days in the forecast are in the 90s with all nights in the 70s. I think after today the weather will be back to normal with a high temeprature of 87F in the forecast for Thursday which is average.
Good luck and stay cool!
-Alex

Thanks for the advice Jim and TZ. Its good to know the secret is plently of cool water for the tracky which has fronds I have to photograph for you to believe. They must be 18-24 inches across per new leaf!

NJOasis and everyone; you guys encourged me to keep watering. Can you imagine we have not had rain in 7 weeks in Brooklyn (except one night 4 weeks ago with half an inch of rain). The park is so dry I can't even bare go there and see everything dying.

Keep watering!

I know what you mean about going barefoot. I usually do, normally it's the black top that's burning--now, I can't do bare foot in the grass. This is getting ridiculous! WE NEED RAIN!!!

I only water my containerized plants, trees and shrubs--the grass, I do NOT water. First, I have a very large lawn, I don't want to pay astronomical bills for GRASS, nature intended it to go dormant brown in drought, it'll come back eventually, it's too freakin' hot to keep it healthy anyway and we ALL need to watch our water use!!! Peace out.

Its a 100 again!

I dont think we got to 100F here today but it was close. Too much water use is definitely a problem. Apparently we arent in a bad drought but things are really drying up here. Its much more humid now so the chance of rain must be getting higher. Current dew point is 71F.
Good luck!
-Alex

No 100s yet here but I have had to water every day. Today was our 4th strait day of 90 + heat with zero rain. I actually did get one rain cloud over the area a couple of hours ago. Enough rain to soak the potted palms. Themn the 90 degree sun came out agian. This is as close as it is going to get to Florida like. There is no breeze and it is MUGGY out and 88. It finally cools down Friday after another 90 day tomorrow and 60% chance of rain. Maybe better than the hot dry weather we've has as after all of that rain it is supposed to be sunny and 85 this weekend

Hopefully, this awful pattern of serious severe drought is breaking down. We're supposed to get up to two inches of rain on Saturday and Saturday night. The trees and shrubs are going to be lovin' it and sucking up all the available moisture. Seems like we want to get into a more normal tropical air mass pattern with thunderstorm activity but weather is so unpredictable lately it's difficult to take typical historical patterns for granted. Drought feeds on itself, so hopefully the entire NE, Mid-Atlantic and SE will get drenched. Once soil conditions hydrate themselves, these 100 plus degree days will be thing of the past. Get your rain buckets out!!:)

Sun shower as Im writing this. The sun is out byt there is one cloud in the sky thats just making it pour. Its not enough to keep the plants moist but its a start! Hopefully we get flooded tomorrow. Its very humid outside now so I think scattered showers are a great possibility for today and hopefully some good thunderstorms tomorrow.
And I already have some buckets to capture water and I hope everyone else remembers to get their's too!
Good luck!
-Alex

Njoasis and Tropicalzone7-
Our temperatures may not be the same but our weather patterns seem to be. It has been hot by Michigan standards and very dry. it is much cooler and less humid today. it's going to be 85-87 the next two days and falling to low -mid 60s at night, rain Monday and Tuesday then 87-90 with lots of rain all next week. The last two days rain has been our only in 12 days.

Yeah the pattern is very similar for us. The main difference is its probably more humid here now and we have less of a rain chance here next week than you (but we do have a chance of rain which is a real change from the past 2 weeks). Temperatures will remain warm. Day temperatures will be in the upper 80s to low 90s and nights will be in the low to mid 70s for the next 10 days. Not a bad forecast. Today actually brought enough rain to keep me from having to water the plants but they will need extra water tomorrow even though there is a rain chance again (you never know with these storms, its really hit or miss, thats the way it was today and I just got lucky!).
Good luck!
-Alex

I am sooo disappointed. There was NO rain here today--none. Forecast calling for low 90's/min mid 70's for the next week and only chances of TS's. What with the torrid humidity all day today, you think we could squeeze a few raindrops out. Don't remember the last time it rained. This is getting dangerous. Tropicals are doing okay but having problems with roses, camellias, azaleas. Weeds are doing fine as it's been too torrid to work outside lately and they seem to love drought. I have no excuse for not weeding now though. One of my summer projects was to create an outdoor, tropical shower area. I love it!--may be moving into it if this weather continues. Peace out.

We did get a little bit of rain here but most of the thunderstorms didnt hit us. Also having a problem with a few of the shrubs but I do water them to keep them happy. My camellia gets more water then it probably even want so it stays happy and most of my other shrubs are drought tolerant. But I think everyone around here will be planting cacti if we dont get some rain soon! We havent had a really good drenching rain in close to a month! The humidity remains oppresive and a majority of this morning was filled with clouds but no notable precipitation. We need a GOOD thunderstorm, one with gusty winds, and torrential rain!

Out of all these big storms they predicted, we only had .25 of an inch but we are greatful to have that. It was a last minute shower in Brooklyn.

It went to 93* F, 5 degrees over the predicted high!!! This is a hot humid summer and still too dry. I am watering my fig trees, palms tomatos etc...

I happened to be out of town today in the pm hours.--Figures it would rain when I was away in Pa. Everything looked drenched when I returned and the humidity seemed much higher. Much of Pa. is also suffering from drought. I wanted to be here to see rain again!

When I was in PA, I also saw lots of drought. We have been getting a little rain here and there over here (a little sun drizzle here yesterday). Hoping for good rain soon. Suppose to make it into the 90s again so some rain would be nice.

We had a long, slow rain here on Saturday. Just what the doctor ordered.

Hey Jacklord, approx where are you located in 7A?

I saw drought in PA and frankly its much worse in New York City. The past radars in southern and eastern PA have shown they had had much more rain but are still below normal.

Jack Lord-
Did you know a new Hawaii 50 is coming out? Sorry I had to do it. We got enoguh rain last night followed by enough clouds and humidity today ath all of my potted plants AND the soil in my garden (tomatos, peppers, cucumbers, and strawberries) was still soaked this evening. It got up to about 83 with bits of sun today so I know the palms were happy. We are supposed to get more rain tonight and be cloudy and humid tommorow. Then partly cloudy with highs in the high 80s-low 90s for the next week. After that kind of rain I would expect it to be the biggest groth spurt of the year.

Its absolutely pouring right now here!

Was anyone else surprised by how hot it got today?! I was doing yard work since early in the morning when it was tropically warm and humid near dawn. Was able to work till after noon and still was hot but manageable (okay, I slip into the outdoor shower ever hour or so. But then by late afternoon it was so hot I couldn't tolerate it. I thought it was me but saw Newark hit 98 F (absolute temperature--not taking into consideration the humidity).

I was moving a few plants around and I was really surprised how the heat got to me since heat doesnt usually bother me. But it didnt get as hot here as it could have since a quick shower did hit (It didnt even show up on the radar maps). It came out of nowhere but the plants probably liked a little extra water. More rain in the forecast tonight. Looks like we are finally getting the rain but keeping the heat. Im amazed at how similar the daytime high temepratures are in the forecast. Everyday looks pretty similar (and warm) after this mini heat wave. Kind of reminds be a little of the tropics. Some of those night temperatures are pretty close to 80F again!

TZ, I actually worry it's too hot for the tropicals. I must have some weird microclimate in my back yard--a lot of black top and two detached garages at right angles to each other (the two car garage is my winter greenhouse and the single garage is my tool/potting shed). They are very light in color. Hottest part of the day is after 3:00 or 4:00 PM with the sun bouncing off the garages and the black top radiating the day's heat. It was roasting back there today. I use large Phoenix and Washingtonias to provide shade for the more tender plants. Although a challenge at this time of year, it means I can extent my growing season for the palms into December. Still, this is going to be some record breaking summer at this point!

Yesterdaqy was the most humid and hot day of the summer. It hit 92 and had a "real feel" of 96. I know my tropicals loved it. Especailly after a couple of inches of rain fell. It was much more comfortable today but still was sunny and topped out at 87.We have a great pattern of rain and warm sun going.

fortunately most of my plants seem to be benefiting from the heat and are getting a lot of growth. My coconut palm is working on its second leaf of the season and my musa basjoos are working on there third leaf in the past 10 days! My tomato plants are the only plants that are really suffering from the heat. However if I didnt soak all these plants at least once a day every day they would be in really bad shape with this heat.

Heres my 10 day forecast.
Jul 17.......Sunny.......94/76
Jul 18.......Mostly Sunny.......94/77
Jul 19.......Isolated T'storms........90/74
Jul 20.......Partly Cloudy........88/74
Jul 21..... .Isolated T'storms........89/72
Jul 22.......Partly Cloudy........90/74
Jul 23.......Isolated T'storms.......90/71
Jul 24.......Sunny.......87/73
Jul 25.......Sunny.......87/73
Jul 26.......Sunny.......87/71
The end of my forecast is back to average and cooler. Lets face it, unfortunately, we are already about halfway done with those prime summer months of June, July, August, and September. This summer is going by so fast! I miss it already. I hope we have a mild winter so much, but I hate winter so much that I really dont consider any winters a good one.

Good luck!
-Alex

Now as we approach July 22-28 we see its all one big heat wave in the 90s with slight chances for rain.

TZ I will be away next week. NOt sure if I have a chance to get on-line.

thats exactly what this summer has become! Series of heat waves followed by slightly above average temperatures in between the heat waves. Dont worry about not being on line, I wont be online too much for the next week or 2.
Hope you enjoy your trip (if its suppose to be enjoyable) and take pics if there palms!!
Good luck!
-Alex

Thanks and be back soon.