On this date in 1936, the temperature soared to a calendar-day record of 105 degrees, which is tied for the second-highest temperature observed on any date in D.C. The previous day, it hit 104 degrees, also a calendar-day record. The front page of The Washington Post reported that two people died amid the swelter. The Post said the heat wave, which affected a sprawling area from the East Coast to the Midwest, killed 420 people nationwide.
Sidewalk thermometers climbed as high as 124 degrees in D.C., The Post said. But a late-day thunderstorm offered relief. “The rain cooled parched roofs and was accompanied by a cooling breeze that came from the river,” The Post wrote.
Here are other notables from this day:
- Average high: 90
- Average low: 72
- Record high: 105 (1936)
- Record low: 54 (1894)
- Record rainfall: 2.98 inches (1888)
