Expect a hotter, muggier Richmond summer

The Richmond region has a 40% to 50% chance of summer being hotter than average, according to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center.
Why it matters: Richmond summers typically feel like one is standing at the gates of hell to begin with.
State of play: Hotter summers are one of the most tangible ways we're experiencing climate change — and they're a health risk for vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, the elderly and homeless people.
And in Richmond, after a cooler-(and wetter) -than-usual May, summer weather seems to be finally settling in for the season, whether we like it or not.
Zoom in: Historically, a normal summer day here has a high of about 90 and a low of 70, per NWS — and that's without the humidity factored in.
With it factored in, RVA's summer "feels like" temperature can reach 105 to 110, per NWS Wakefield's Richmond climate data.
🥵 And this year, it's likely to be even hotter.
Plus, the East Coast will see above average precipitation this summer, which will mean even muggier conditions, per the Washington Post.
In RVA, it's never the heat that gets us, of course. It's the humidity.
Zoom out: It's not just this year. Summers are getting warmer nearly nationwide, per a new report from Climate Central, a climate research group.
Average Richmond summer temperatures between 1970 and 2024 are now 2.7°F hotter on average.
Between the lines: Richmond, like many cities, suffers from " heat islands" — areas of especially high temperatures caused by roads, parking lots, buildings and other heat-trapping features.
Heat islands tend to be more common in low-income neighborhoods and ones with predominantly Black and Latino residents, researchers have found.
The bottom line: Summer is awful in Richmond, and this year's is expected to be even worse.

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