Sweltering heat waves

 

The nation's capital

The nation's capital recently experienced only its second ever stretch of four consecutive days of triple-digit heat as measured at Reagan National Airport. There have been just five instances of at least three consecutive days of triple-digit heat since 1980.

2024: From July 14 - 17, Washingtonians saw daily high temperatures of at least 101°. The July 16 high temperature of 104° not only tied a record high for the date, but was DC's hottest temperature in more than 12 years since July 7, 2012 (105°). The average daily high/low temperatures for this four-day stretch was 102°/79.5°.

2016: High temperatures were at least 100° from August 13 - 15 and produced an average daily high/low of 100.33°/78°. The hottest temperature during this stretch was 101° on August 13.

2012: This July was DC's second hottest on record with the hottest stretch being from July 5 - 8 when highs were all in the triple-digits. The average high/low temperatures for this period were 101.75°/80°. High temperatures reached 100° a total of seven times this month with the hottest temperature being 105° on July 7.

1993: The stretch in July 2012 was DC's first of at least three days of triple-digit heat in almost two decades since this July 8 - 10. High temperatures reached 100° on all three days with an average low temperature during this stretch of 78.33°

1988: The 1988 summer was another hot one for Washingtonians with a seasonal total of seven days of triple-digit heat. The three-day period of July 15 - 17 produced almost half of that total with a rare streak of 100° days. The hottest temperature of the year was 104° on July 16 that broke the daily record high of 103° from 1980. The nation's capital tied the July 16 record high of 104° on my birthday last week.