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St. John's YYT has 2nd hottest day ever, 31.2

Let's be honest. St. John's isn't known for its heat.

However, I think most would be surprised to know that since record keeping began at St. John's airport back in 1942, Monday was only the ninth time that we've officially reached 30 C or warmer.

At St. John's YYT the official high Monday was 31.2 C, making it the second-hottest day on record.

The last time we hit the magic 30 mark was 17 years ago. It was way back on Aug. 7, 1996, when the official YYT temperature was 31.0 C.

The warmest temperature ever recorded at YYT over the past 71 years was 31.5 C, back in July 1983.

The chart below shows the key dates.

I know what you're thinking: St. John's International Airport isn't exactly located in the hotspot of St. John's.

You may remember just over a week ago, numerous local weather stations in St. John's topped the 30 mark, while St. John's YYT only peaked at 28.7.

There's little doubt that the 14 times that YYT hit between 29.0 and 29.9 over the past 71 years, it could very well have been over 30 in your backyard.

But it's not official, until it's official! And there is a good reason we look at official Environment Canada weather stations.

For accurate temperature readings, thermometers need to be kept away from buildings and need to be shielded from the sun, in something called a Stevenson screen. For more check this out.

It's also worth noting, before the official St. John's weather station was set up at the airport, it was located in downtown St. John's. While there are some holes in that data, especially in the early 1930s, that station does give us a sample of what the weather was like from 1874 to 1941.

In that 67-year stretch, a quick scan turned up 21 times where the 30 mark was reached! Certainly a much better track record than the newer airport weather station. By the way, the warmest temperature ever recorded at that old downtown station was 33.9 on Aug. 14, 1876.

A temperature of 31 C Monday afternoon and it's going to be a spectacular evening.

Get out and enjoy. Winds become northerly overnight and the temperature will struggle to get to 16 C on Tuesday.

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