Worst heat wave ever? Washington, D.C
The worst heat wave ever? The graph below shows all 95+ degree days in Lincoln, Virginia since 1900. (Lincoln is the closest USHCN station in Virginia to DC.)
Heatwaves were much worse in the past, and 95 degree days were far more common prior to 1960.
U.S. Historical Climatology Network
1936 had 33 days over 95F, including this remarkable stretch of consecutive days, which included 109F on July 10, 1936.
Jul-08 98 Jul-09 107 Jul-10 109 Jul-11 104 Jul-12 97
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Washington Post told the truth, once in a while? The 1930s were much hotter, period. Rewriting the history of the 1930s used to be the work of Holocaust deniers, but they have been joined by climate alarmists.
As the evidence gets weaker and weaker the claims get more and more bizarre.
It is a bad heatwave, but the official thermometer at Reagan National is not representative of the area and consistently reads at least a couple degrees higher than surrounding areas on most days. If you look at Andrews AFB temperatures, for example, you will immediately notice the difference. If you have ever been by there, you will note that the entire area is covered by a square mile of cement and asphalt without any trees or vegetation remotely close to the area. A very busy airport with planes always taking off, creating jet exhaust constantly.
Here are the official readings from a heatwave in Washington, DC during July 1930. At that time DC’s official reading was taken at 24th and M Sts. NW, where there actually was a lawn, trees and no jet exhaust. Also, no agenda.
July 19 102
July 20 106
July 21 103
July 22 100
July 23 94
July 24 93
July 25 100
July 26 100
But then there is more! The heatwave in 1930 got re-established in August:
August 3 100
August 4 102
August 5 102
August 6 88
August 7 97
August 8 104
August 9 102
Source: Washington Weather (2002)
Also, in September 1881, the Naval Obseratory in Washington, DC reached 108!
I worked in DC for three years. The summer of 1980 hit 21 consecutive days of over 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I worked down by the White House. Worked until 8-9 pm, walked the bars to the Metro and then back to Arlington. Bad.