Hot temperatures were the rule last week, but nowhere near the hottest that has been seen in the state. July 24th marks the anniversary of the highest temperature ever recorded in the state: 121 °F near Alton, KS in 1936. Amazingly, that is just the latest occurrence. Six days earlier, on the 18th of July, 1936 Fredonia also recorded 121 °F. What is even more astonishing is that July of 1936 was only the third warmest July of record. The statewide average temperature that month was 85.1 °F. That was beaten by the 85.5 °F set in 1980 and the 86.8 °F set in 1934.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu