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Hartford area on track for one of the warmest summers on record

Southern New England's summer climate is changing, and getting warmer.

HARTFORD, Conn. — There's still plenty of summer weather left in the tank, but the end of the season is approaching, especially in the weather world.

Meteorological seasons are determined by temperature. The three warmest months of the year are June, July, and August. In our record books, summer comes to a close at the end of August.

Astronomical seasons are determined by the position of the sun. Fall will begin when the sun's rays end up directly over the equator, on the autumnal equinox September 22.

RELATED: Could the ongoing drought impact the upcoming fall foliage in Connecticut?

So far this summer season, the Hartford area is on track for one of the warmest on record.

The average summer temperature is 71.9 degrees, taking all of the high temperatures and low temperatures over the last 30 years and averaging them together.

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We are running more than 2 degrees above that this summer.

The average summer temperature in the Hartford area is 74.1 degrees, with 8 days to go. 

Odds are very good we end the summer in the top 5 and even have a shot at the top spot given the heat coming later this week.

This does fit into the larger picture of our warming climate. Summers are getting warmer in southern New England, and climate change is playing a role.

RELATED: Severe drought impacts eastern Connecticut farms

Not every summer will be this warm, but we are breaking far more warm records than cold records in recent summers in southern New England.

It's also likely this summer's drought is part of the reason for our very warm summer temperatures. The lack of cloud cover and rainfall also allowed us to set the record longest streak of 80-degree days in a row, beginning in late June and lasting through mid-August.

Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at rbreton@fox61.com. Follow him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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