Heat Wave of July 9-10, 1936

The Dust Bowl years of the 1930s brought on some of the hottest summers on record across much of the United States.   For much of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, the first few weeks of July proved to be the hottest temperatures of that period, including many record setting highs.  The string of hot weather also proved to be a deadly one with around 5,000 deaths nationally.  Temperatures of over 100° were very common across much of the Great Lakes and out East.


There were several factors that led to the deadly heat wave of 1936:
- A series of droughts effected the US during the early 1930s
- Poor land management across the Plains increased the impact of the drought
- Without any of the vegetation and soil moisture, the Plains really heated and almost took on desert qualitites
- A strong ridge of high pressure on the west coast kept the heat streaming in across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes.

(source: National Weather Service, La Crosse WI)