Remembering DC’s most extreme heat waves

 

Excessive Heat Warnings on July 3, 2026 (Source: NOAA)

DC’s highest number of consecutive days with triple-digit heat is four. That’s happened three times since official NOAA weather records began in the 1870s. There has been another four instances that triple-digit heat occurred on three consecutive days. Today could be the second of three consecutive days of triple-digit heat in Washington, D.C.

2024: The signature event of DC’s third hottest summer occurred from July 14 – July 17. For only the third time on record, the nation’s capital experienced four consecutive days of triple-digit heat. DC’s average daily high/low temperatures during these four days was 102°/79.5°. The hottest day was July 16, my birthday, with a record-tying high of 104° and a low temperature of 80°. Triple-digit heat occurred in June, July and August that summer for the first time in the nation’s capital since 2011.

2016: DC residents sweat through its fourth hottest summer a decade ago. The hottest stretch of weather occurred from August 13 – August 15 with three consecutive days that high temperatures reached 100°. This was DC’s first stretch of three or more consecutive August days of triple-digit heat since 1930.

2012: Those living in the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) at the time will remember this summer for the infamous June 29 derecho and the extreme heat that followed. What made the intense heat even more dangerous was that many DMV residents lost power for up to a week after the derecho. That meant no air conditioning during a dangerous 11-day heat wave. The hottest stretch of triple-digit heat was on July 5 – July 8 when DC’s average daily high/low temperatures were 101.8°/80°. The hottest day was July 7 with high/low temperatures of 105°/82°.

1993, 1988: Each of these July’s saw a stretch of three consecutive days of triple-digit heat in the nation’s capital. DC’s hottest day in 1993 was July 10 with a high/low of 100°/81° while in 1988 it was July 16 (104°/77°).

1930: This year produced DC’s highest number of 100-degree days (11). Six of those 11 days occurred that July, including four consecutively from July 19 – July 22. The hottest day was July 20 when DC had high/low temperatures of 106°/76°. In fact, that was one of only two times the nation’s capital was at hot as 106°, along with August 6, 1918. DC’s average high/low temperatures during this four-day period were 102.8°/75°.