From a look at the temperature readings across the country, you would never think there’s still over two weeks of spring left.
        USA Today recently cited data from the Climate Prediction Center, which suggests unseasonably warm temperatures in June are expected to hit most of the western United States, along the Gulf Coast, including the Eastern Seaboard from Florida to New England.
        So to prepare for a hot month, and an even hotter July and August, this might be the ideal time to review other scorching summers through the years, while identifying hot corners on the map to avoid, at least for those who can’t take the heat.

Hot Stuff

• Castolon, Texas, is the hottest spot in the state during June, which reaches 103.4 degrees

• Florida had a record high temperature of 109 degrees on June 29, 1931, at Monticello.

• Phoenix and Las Vegas reach temperatures of 104 degrees on a typical July afternoon, ranking them as two of the hottest major cities in the United States.

• Among some of the smaller cities, Yuma, Arizona, hovers around 107 degrees on most July afternoons, and once reached 124 degrees in July 1995.

• Lake Havasu City, Arizona, July temperatures peaks at 111 degrees; Palm Springs in the Mohave Desert reaches 108 degrees on most July days, followed by St George in southwestern Utah, which climbs as high as 102.8 degrees.

• The hottest place in the world is Death Valley, located 282 feet below sea level in interior California, which records an average daily high of 115 degrees and a low of 87 degrees during the month of July.
On July 10, 1913, a temperature reading of 134 degrees was recorded in the Valley, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

• In 1917 in the Valley, temperatures reached above 120 degrees for 43 consecutive days: between July 6 and August 17th. The average temperature during that time period was 107.2.

Other Hot Properties

• Bou-Bermous, Algeria has daily July temperatures of 87 to 116.

• Al Aziziyah, Libya recorded a world high temperature of 136 degrees.

• In 1933, a temperature of 136 degrees was recorded in San Luis, Baja Mexico.

Temperature Humidity Index

• The Temperature Humidity Index (THI) is arrived at by calculating humidity in combination with temperature in order to get the ``apparent temperature’’
Using this barometer, Corpus Christ, Texas, is the hottest city in the nation with a July/August average temperature of 110 degrees.

• Key West, Florida, averages 100 degrees with an overnight low of 94 degrees. .

• From July 10 through the 16th, 1995, THI values were in excess of 120 degrees in Waterloo, Iowa, where it caused 700 deaths.

• On July 13, 2002: Winnemucca, Nevada, reached 130 degrees with humidity at 60 degrees while the temperature stood at 104.

• The hottest major city in the world is Bangkok, Thailand, which reaches temperatures of 90 degrees or more every day of the year. The THI calculations raise its index to over 120 degrees with April and May being the hottest month, when temperatures of 130 degrees are not uncommon.

Record Heat Waves

• The most extreme heat wave took place in 1936, during the months of July and August, when readings of 120 degrees or higher were recorded in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Texas
During the same year, Central Park in New York City reached 106 degrees, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Manhattan.

• July 15, 1936: The hottest temperature recording in the U.S. outside of the desert Southwest took place in Lincoln, Neb., when the night time low was recorded at 91 degrees.

• On July 14, 1936: Minneapolis reached temperature of 108 degrees; and the Classified Department of the St Paul Daily News were supplied with 400 pounds of ice and two electric fans in order to cool the air in the press room.

• 1980: There were an estimated 1700 deaths attributed to the heat in the United States affecting the southern plains to the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.
From June 23 to August 3rd in Dallas Texas, temperatures exceeded 100 degrees or higher.

• 1988: 500 deaths were reported due to the heat from July 6 through the 15th. Taking into account the heat wave and the draught that hit the eastern United States, losses, as measured in 2002 dollars, were estimated to be $40 billion.

• 1995: More than 750 people died in Chicago from a heat wave during the month of July

• On July 14, 1911: Boston reached a record high of 104 degrees.

• From August 31 through September 7, 1955: Los Angeles reached eight consecutive days of temperatures reaching 100 degrees, with a high of 110 on September 1 at the Civic Center.

• June 14, 2000: The San Francisco Bay area reached 103 degrees at Mission Dolores and 106 at the airport.

• August 2003: A heat wave hit France, which lead to the deaths of nearly 15,000 lives.

• In 2005, the sweltering heat led to 29 deaths in Phoenix, 4 in Missouri, 2 in New Jersey, and contributed to 1,200 cattle deaths in Nebraska

Get Me Out of the Kitchen!!

• If you can’t take the heat, the coolest location of all the contiguous United States is the summit of Mount Washington New Hampshire, which has never recorded a temperature higher than 72 degrees.

• Eureka, California, along the North Coast, has never had a temperature higher than 87 degrees.

        Source: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); ``Extreme Weather’’ By Christopher C. Burt; U.S. newspaper archives.

        -Bill Lucey
        WPLucey@gmail.com