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| Cliff Harris |
America's hottest summer on record was back in 1936, not in 2006
This past week, a regular subscriber to the Coeur d'Alene Press asked me to feature the worst heatwave ever to strike the U.S. in recent times. Well, Ron, your wish is my command.
As I've mentioned many times in Gems in the last several years, the most intense, all-encompassing heatwave to cover the entire country occurred during the hottest summer, at least in modern times, in July and August of 1936, not 2006 or now in 2007.
Yes, it's certainly true that we've seen some blisteringly hot summers in recent years, but nothing even comes close as far as extreme heat and dryness are concerned, coast-to-coast or border-to-border, to July and August of 1936 during the peak of the infamous "Dust Bowl Days." Those two months back-to-back saw temperatures nationwide soar to levels that haven't been matched since, even in this global warming era.
July of 1936 was a bit hotter than August of that year, but not by much. There was extensive crop damage and the migrations of tens of thousands of bankrupt farmers and ranchers from the devastated U.S. Great Plains westward to California and other parts of the Far West.
Fifteen states still have all-time record maximum temperature marks that stand today some seven decades later despite the current cycle of warming baking our planet.
Killer-type readings of 120 degrees or higher were observed in July 1936 in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and, incredibly as far north as North Dakota, where the mercury peaked at 121 degrees at Steele, at 4:50 p.m. on July 6, 1936. Our friend, Ron, was 8 years old on that date and lived in Bismarck, where he remembers well the record of 114 degrees without any air conditioning!
The apex of the all-time record U.S. heatwave occurred on July 15, 1936, when the average high temperature in Iowa, for example, for all 113 stations at the time was 108.7 degrees, slightly hotter than the average July afternoon in the broiling Desert Southwest of southeastern California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
This hottest July ever in the nation's heartland also resulted in the worst drought ever seen in the region, far more intense than similar extremely dry summer growing seasons in 1910, 1983, 1988 and the past two years of 2006 and 2007. Again using the primary corn and soybean production state of Iowa, the total rainfall in July of 1936 was just 14 percent of normal across the entire state. Neighboring Nebraska saw even less rain at only 8 percent of average.
Oklahoma's July 1936 precipitation was a scant 9 percent of normal. But August's rainfall was even lower at a puny 7 percent of normal. No wonder the so-called "Okies" left their "Grapes of Wrath" state for California's "agricultural heaven."
Our driest July on record locally in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area occurred in 1967, when there wasn't even a "trace" of moisture measured in the old rain bucket during the entire 31-day period. It was likewise our driest summer season in 1967, as August only received .04 inches of precipitation. Wildfires raged that summer throughout the Inland Northwest.
The second driest July and August combined 62-day span was observed last summer in 2006, when a paltry .12 inches was gauged by yours truly on Player Drive in northwest Coeur d'Alene.
I should mention, however, that from June 17, 2006 through September 18, 2006, only a scant .14 inches of total precipitation was measured at my station, far under the .44 inches in the same time span in 1967, the previous record-holder for least total summer rainfall.
Last, but certainly not least, our hottest temperature ever observed in Idaho was the 118 degree reading set in Orofino on July 28, 1934, at almost two full years prior to the hottest U.S. summer on record in 1936.
Our warmest day ever recorded in Coeur d'Alene occurred on August 4, 1961, when the mercury soared to an egg-frying 109 degrees. The all-time record maximum reading locally for July was 108 degrees reported on July 28, 1939.
By the way, during the nation's hottest July ever in 1936, the warmest that we got in Coeur d'Alene was 104 degrees on July 26, which didn't even break the record for the date of 105 degrees in 1910 that was later broken in 1984, when we soared to 106 degrees in town on July 26.
see GEMS, A3
GEMS
from A2
It's still possible, though, that back-to-back, the torrid summers of 2006 and 2007 may set the all-time record for the most afternoons at or above 90 degrees in Coeur d'Alene.
There were 38 'Sholeh Days' last summer and we've already had 22 such scorching afternoons in 2007. The all-time record of 81 days of 90 degrees or higher temperatures was set in 1967-68, when wildfires raged throughout the Inland Northwest. If August and September see another 22 days combined at or above 90 degrees, we could break the record for consecutive summers, possible, but not probable. Stay tuned.
Brief 90-day North Idaho weather outlook
Looking down the meteorological roadway, most of the month of August locally should be both hotter and drier than normal with just a few showers, again mostly near the mountains. However, we probably will receive considerably more precipitation this August than during the record drought of last summer when only a scant .06 inches fell locally in Coeur d'Alene.
This year's edition of the late August North Idaho Fair and Rodeo should be mostly dry and warm with just the slight threat of a few afternoon and evening widely-scattered thunderstorms.
If the La Nina sea-surface temperature event holds together in the Pacific Ocean waters for a few more months before falling apart, the Fall of 2007 could turn a bit wetter and cooler than usual for the season. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.
