It's Official! The Dog Days of Summer are Here!
It's official! The dog days of summer are here!
If you live here in the Lowcountry, you know that July and August can produce the kind of sultry humid days where all you feel like doing is to lay around like a dang lazy dog inside your well air-conditioned home…but did you know the ol’ idiom “dog days of Summer” actually has to do with ancient astronomy and not our furry little family members?..... We're serious, …or rather…Sirius!
The ancient Romans called the hottest, most humid days of summer “diēs caniculārēs” or “dog days.” The name came about because they associated the hottest days of summer with the star Sirius. Sirius was known as the “Dog Star” because it was the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius also happens to be the brightest star in the all of the night sky....('though we see it best around October...)
Sirius is so bright in the sky, that the ancient Romans thought it radiated extra heat toward Earth. During the summer, when Sirius rises and sets with the Sun, the Romans believed Sirius added heat to the Sun’s heat to cause hotter summer temperatures.
For the ancient Romans, the dog days of summer occurred from about July 24 to around August 24. Over time, though, the constellations have drifted somewhat. According to the Farmers Almanac, the traditional timing of the dog days of summer begins July 3 until August 22……..but we all know those " dog days" hang around a lot longer here in the Lowcountry...
In fact, while not an August record, in 2014 Charleston, South Carolina saw four of its five hottest Augusts in the last seven years. And did you know that August 2014 was the fifth hottest August in South Carolina history.….? As a Lowcountry HVAC repair service, we certainly heard it enough....
This doesnt mean that 2015 is going to be a record breaker...geesh, with all this rain who knows just how hot it will be? But..... we're not taking any chances! And neither should you.... A well-maintained HVAC or AC unit is your insurance for a cool summer....and as for Service First Heating and AC.... with over 20 years in the business....
Keepin' it cool in the Lowcountry during the dog days of summer will be a piece of cake......
Until next time....
