Two weeks ago on Franklin Facts, I mentioned that it wasn't too early to start thinking about hot weather. And coincidentally, temperatures hit 90^oF three days last week, setting several new records for April. Predictably, people are asking whether this early season warmth says anything about the coming summer.

I looked back in the historical records, and found nine previous Aprils in which temperatures hit 90^oF at least twice. I then looked at the summers that followed to see if they showed any trend in temperature. It turns out that, in general, they didn't - if anything, they were a little cooler than average, and none made the list of the top twenty warmest summers.

With last week's heat, the drought took a back seat in the news, but had we not been in a drought, the heat likely would not have been as intense. Usually, some of the sun's energy goes toward evaporating water on the ground. But when the ground is dry, there's less water to evaporate, which means more sunshine goes toward heating.