stormtrackertf Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The July 1936 heat wave has to be one of the most anomalous weather events in North American history. In particular, July 6 1936 in North Dakota saw the most freakish heat you could imagine for a state bordering Canada.. widespread 113-120F temperatures with an extreme maximum of 121F in Steele, ND. That's just 1F off the all time high for Phoenix! (122F) Steele also recorded a high of 117F during that 1936 heat wave. Those were the only two times that Steele has ever seen a temperature greater than 110F. Truly an epic, off the scale heat wave that I often wonder will ever be duplicated. I think that pattern would be best described as "hellish", almost literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 July 12, 1936 Now it's about to get good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlcater Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 July 12, 1936 12th.png Now it's about to get good... Jeez it was freezing in chicago that day. Lake breeze I assume? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 Jeez it was freezing in chicago that day. Lake breeze I assume? The official observation site was very close to the lake back then, so that's a pretty good assumption. If you look at the highs at some of the suburban locations away from the lake from back then, they are closer to what you see out in Moline and Rockford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 July 12, 1936 12th.png Now it's about to get good... What's interesting is that it officially hit 96 in downtown Cleveland at BKL today, which would break the old record of 95 set today in 1936. However records are now kept at CLE, which only hit 93. Kind of funny how a record kept in one location can be broken again at the same location, but it's not official because the reporting site changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 What's interesting is that it officially hit 96 in downtown Cleveland at BKL today, which would break the old record of 95 set today in 1936. However records are now kept at CLE, which only hit 93. Kind of funny how a record kept in one location can be broken again at the same location, but it's not official because the reporting site changed.I see it all the time with dtw/det Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 July 13, 1936 It would take extensive research to be sure but I believe this day may have produced the most widespread 100+ degree readings in the region in the past 140+ years. If not, it would certainly be a top contender. The vast majority of the region saw triple digit readings with the main exceptions being very close to the lakes. Wisconsin Dells, WI and Mio, MI set all-time state record highs for Wisconsin and Michigan, and are shown in pink on this map. Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 That was a hot day! Crazy temperatures all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 July 14, 1936 Collegeville, IN set an all-time state record high for Indiana and is shown in pink on this map. Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Of the 29 regular sites, 10 set or tied their all-time record highs on this date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 1 hour ago, Hoosier said: July 14, 1936 Collegeville, IN set an all-time state record high for Indiana and is shown in pink on this map. Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Of the 29 regular sites, 10 set or tied their all-time record highs on this date. Amazing maps. Just goes to show how hot our region can get if extreme drought sets in for long periods of time. We'll definitely never seen anything like this again, as with today's hybrid crops even in severe drought they'd be considerably more successful than crops from the 1930s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 54 minutes ago, cyclone77 said: Amazing maps. Just goes to show how hot our region can get if extreme drought sets in for long periods of time. We'll definitely never seen anything like this again, as with today's hybrid crops even in severe drought they'd be considerably more successful than crops from the 1930s. Yeah, would have to be a hell of a drought to wipe out the crops on a large scale. Crop loss was pretty severe in some areas back in 2012 and some of those areas saw temps of like 107-111, especially in parts of the OV. But these 114, 116 numbers...it's hard to imagine that happening again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chances14 Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 13 hours ago, Hoosier said: July 14, 1936 Collegeville, IN set an all-time state record high for Indiana and is shown in pink on this map. Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Of the 29 regular sites, 10 set or tied their all-time record highs on this date. Marquette only at 76 degrees. brrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chances14 Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 I wonder what the water temperatures of the great lakes were during this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 1 minute ago, chances14 said: I wonder what the water temperatures of the great lakes were during this time? Hah, can only imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinook Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 That is the all-time high temp record for Toledo on that map- July 14, 1936, 105 degrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnesota Meso Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 On 7/14/2016 at 10:07 PM, Hoosier said: July 14, 1936 Collegeville, IN set an all-time state record high for Indiana and is shown in pink on this map. Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Of the 29 regular sites, 10 set or tied their all-time record highs on this date. This was the day the MSP set it's all time record of 108° Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 July 15, 1936 Italicized/underlined numbers represent all-time record highs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 July 16, 1936 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 July 17, 1936 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Can't imagine going through that stretch without A/C, and probably no fans as well for most people. When the cool down finally hit it probably felt like a rebirth of some sort lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 2 minutes ago, cyclone77 said: Can't imagine going through that stretch without A/C, and probably no fans as well for most people. When the cool down finally hit it probably felt like a rebirth of some sort lol. Lots of stories of people sleeping outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Wish we had some upper air soundings from back then, but we can make a pretty good guess as to what kind of temps aloft would've needed to be in place to support the highs well into the 100s/110s. Given the drought, surface heating would've been very efficient. Of course it's impossible to know what mixing heights were like on these days, but 850 mb temps would've been pretty warm. Taking these high temps, converting to C, and subtracting about 15-17C to allow for the likely drought enhanced/superadiabatic lapse rates near ground level yields 850 mb temps in the upper 20s C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illinois Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I spoke once with a woman who had lived close to the railroad tracks that cut across rural Richland County Illinois. She was about 12 at the time and she talked about how she remembered her father and brothers having to run out to the fields when embers from the trains would start fires along the tracks. She also said they slept for days outside in the yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 I remember reading that there were something like 4000 heat related deaths in the region just in early-mid July 1936, and several hundred more in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddylonglegs Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Local newspaper had a story of July 1936 yesterday. In Winona, MN (just up river) they were sleeping in parks. There was a cool picture of a fan on top of a huge block of ice. Locally it said there were 30 deaths . I would have found a cave or a trout stream to lay in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Wow! This is insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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