90 years ago today

[acem]

90 years ago today the highest temperature ever recorded in Arkansas was 120F in Ozark 

Ozark is the country seat of my county.

 

[lotsaIHCs]

1936 was a wild weather year. North Dakota recorded its highest ever temperature the same year on July 6th at 121°F. in Steele ND, a bit southeast of me. That year also saw our coldest at -60°F. on February 15th in Parshall ND, about 120 miles northwest of me.

[TomH]

I bet that's when global warming started.......🫠  The hottest temperature in PA was also during the historic heat wave of 1936, 111 degrees in Phoenixville PA which is where the farm where my father grew up was located.

[augercreek]

Duluth Mn. set a record of 106* 1936. Record snow and cold that year too!

[FarmerFixEmUp]

How old were you then Ace?😆😅

I didn't know there was an Ozark AR and an Ozark MO. 

 

Google AI says, 

 Sioux City, Iowa was 111°F on July 17, 1936. Other historic extreme heat events in the area have reached 108°F, notably on July 12, 1995, and during the severe heat waves of July and August 1936. [1]

[Alan Dinan]

July 14, 1954 was the hottest day on record here at 117. Dad had just graduated from high school and he helped grandpa dig a hole into a bank near the barn that was about 6’ deep and 10’ wide and 20’ long for the whole corn crop that year. About 40 acres of corn silage fit without filling it.

[acem]

1 hour ago, FarmerFixEmUp said:

How old were you then Ace?😆

Wasn't even a gleam in my dad's eye yet.  Dad was 10 and lived in El Paso Texas. He saw a measly 112F with low humidity in El Paso that summer. They probably had electricity but not AC. Probably didn't even have fans 

Mom was 3 in 36 and lived just north of Ozark. No electricity where she lived until the  40s.

Much of the US had a terrible heat wave and drought that year. 

https://www.kait8.com/story/5264363/70-years-ago-today-highest-temperature-in-arkansas-recorded/

We are expecting a high of 102F today.

 

 

[acem]

In 2011 the official high was 117F.

We had 35 days in a row with highs over 100F.  49 total days with highs over 100F.

It was terrible dry that summer. Irrigating crops as best I could but i was unable to completely keep up with the crops.

I remember pouring a concrete slab in that 100F+ heat. Ran sprinklers during  the day on it for a week to keep it cool.

 

[Reichow7120]

1 hour ago, acem said:

In 2011 the official high was 117F.

We had 35 days in a row with highs over 100F.  49 total days with highs over 100F.

It was terrible dry that summer. Irrigating crops as best I could but i was unable to completely keep up with the crops.

I remember pouring a concrete slab in that 100F+ heat. Ran sprinklers during  the day on it for a week to keep it cool.

 

Did the sprinkler on the concrete pad thing in 2012. Building our 15,000 bushel bin.

I remember looking at Dad and remarking. " Anyone that's driving by here and see's me watering this concrete is going to think I've lost my damn mind. Corn is burning up in a drought and im watering the concrete "

[Gearclash]

3 hours ago, FarmerFixEmUp said:

How old were you then Ace?😆😅

 

Google AI says, 

 Sioux City, Iowa was 111°F on July 17, 1936. Other historic extreme heat events in the area have reached 108°F, notably on July 12, 1995, and during the severe heat waves of July and August 1936. [1]

My dad was born in 1944.  He related more than once that as a child he heard the adults talk about the summer of 1936. If I remember right he said that they said there was no real rainfall from Memorial Day to Labor day.  There was no corn to harvest in Sioux County that year, it all withered to nothing in July.   

[Lars (midessa)]

My later Father was born in 1929, he recalls Grandpa & Grandma doing chores early in the morning, the dairy cows back then were all ‘dry’ during the summer months, then the 3 of them going into the basement for most of the day. 
1936 was not the only drought year, although 1936 was the worst. It got dryer and dryer leading up to 1936, and slowly ‘less dry’ every year, for a few years afterwards.

[FarmerFixEmUp]

2 hours ago, acem said:

Wasn't even a gleam in my dad's eye yet.  Dad was 10 and lived in El Paso Texas. He saw a measly 112F with low humidity in El Paso that summer. They probably had electricity but not AC. Probably didn't even have fans 

Mom was 3 in 36 and lived just north of Ozark. No electricity where she lived until the  40s.

Much of the US had a terrible heat wave and drought that year. 

https://www.kait8.com/story/5264363/70-years-ago-today-highest-temperature-in-arkansas-recorded/

We are expecting a high of 102F today.

 

 

My dad was born in 1927 so he would have been 9. He had 2 younger brothers and 3 younger sisters all born within 10 years of each other. 

I can remember dad saying one year he was farming probably in the 60's they got rain late in the season. He had 40 bushel corn and 40 bushel beans. 

[mrfred54]

Drought here this year in our area. Rain all around us but not here. Less than 3/10th. since mid June. Corn is turning yellow and soy beans are only bout 16-18 inches tall with only a couple pods per stalk. Haven’t mowed grass all summer, it’s all brown and burnt up. Go 4 to 5 miles in any direction and everything looks good and even green grass

[ray54]

Aug 13, 1933 was the hottest day in Paso Robles history. 1936 did not make the top 30 for hottest days. We have a thing for 112 has been the hottest temp in 17 years. My dad was born in 1912, so was an adult during the 1930's. I know he said some of them were poor years. But this quick search says 1936 was a bit above normal rain, with a high of 108.

Weather here has always had a lot of variability. Wet years of over 50 inches are more in my mind than years of 10 inches or less. But 7 inches to 65 in my 70+ years. Every year since records started in 1894 we have had 36 or more days above 100. 1894 has had the most at 116 days over 100.

[acem]

I row water soybeans.

My crop ground is mostly laser leveled. Slope is typically 0.1% or less. Works great for rice but kinda flat for beans.

[acem]

I remember some hot dry summers in the early 80s. 1980 was terrible. We lost most of our crops.

I'm told there was a bad multi year drought in the mid 50s.

[acem]

I think southern summers are in some ways like northern winters 

You can work outside but it's uncomfortable and it slows down getting things done 

I try to spend my afternoons on a tractor (ideally AC cab) or some other non physical activity.  

And stuff don't work right in the heat. Engines run hot. Cordless tools overheat easily. My phone stops charging after just a bit and says it's too hot to charge., etc...

It really tests your AC when the temperatures get over 100F.

I get annoyed when everything in the sun gets so hot you can't touch anything without gloves...

It's almost hot enough to cook eggs on the asphalt...

 

[Lars (midessa)]

For us in our little Bo-hunk town with the water pipes barely 12 inches under the streets, you take a shower without touching the ‘hot water’ tap.

[from H to 80]

11 hours ago, acem said:

I remember some hot dry summers in the early 80s. 1980 was terrible. We lost most of our crops.

I'm told there was a bad multi year drought in the mid 50s.

1980 was hot a dry here also,Dad put up a new 20' x 80' silo that year and we chopped all but 10 acres of our corn for silage,

 

[pt756]

In central wis back then my Grandpa told me that they moved their dairy cows up north and took care of them there, In the 30,s, wasnt around then always just told me,

[clay neubauer]

These graphics should really make clear just how oppressive the summer of '36 was.

 

[Board Shortener Tom]

On 8/10/2026 at 11:11 AM, TomH said:

I bet that's when global warming started.......🫠  

I nearly spit out my coffee when I read this! 😅

[dads706]

My neighbor told me about '36. He said they picked (by hand) a 40 acre field and didn't get enough corn to cover the bottom of a 60 bushel wagon. He also said a lot of the farmers let their fences down and just let the cows graze the crops and eat what they could. They butchered a couple of their hogs and sold the rest, there was no feed. (he passed about 20 years ago. I miss talking to him.)

[acem]

It's just hot and dry here. Nothing historic or anything but 110F+ all week.