We will have to wait and see if August continues to be hot and if the 1980 record will be broken. 96 degrees are higher. The record was set in 1980 which had 78 days followed by 1993 with 49 days. So far this year we have had 44 days. See Table on Page 4.
Heat waves are nothing new and have plagued the United States for centuries.
Today we deal with heat waves with air conditioning. 1930 - July 20, Washington D.C. reached 106 degrees. 1934 - July Heat wave across the Great Plains. 1955 - September 1, temperature hit 110 degrees in Los Angeles. 1955 - 14 days with 110 degrees or higher in Yuma.