80th Anniversary of the July 1936 Heat Wave

Eighty years ago this month, the Red River Valley endured one of the most trying times in its weather history.

The weather for this week is looking to get pretty warm but go back in time 80 years and you’ll find a heat wave unlike any the state has seen since.

People in the Red River Valley in 1936 tried in vain to cool off during a heatwave that brought a hundred degree mark…with no relief in sight.

“But I know it went on for so long. It just didn’t end,” explained Beth Dille of Moorhead.

It all started July 5th, 1936.

Independence Day celebrations were finished for the year, but the Red River Valley was just heating up.

The hottest day was July 6th, 1936.

The town of Steele hit the all–time record for the Peace Garden State at a sweltering 121 degrees.

Fargo hit 114 whereas across the Red River, Moorhead hit 113 on that brutal day.

And with those hot temperatures come fatal results.

Some, unfortunately, were not able to take the heat.

“At least nine people died in Clay County alone as a heat result of heat exhaustion. All of them over the age of 64. It was tough on the elderly,” said Mark Piehl, Archivist at the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County.

It was extremely tough on agriculture in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Potatoes and wheat yielded about 10 percent of what was planted.

“So they got some crops, but it was pretty horrendous,” explained Piehl.

Other economic sectors like factories and shipping along the river suffered as a well, but not as much as the workers themselves.

“It was during the Great Depression. People have to work…have to work outside,” Piehl said.

And the people who lived here, like Beth Dille of Moorhead, couldn’t get any relief.

Some nights when it didn’t get under 90…she says they could barely even get any rest.

“They slept on the floor.  They didn’t want anything under them. It was literally the coolest place they could find,” said Dille.

And even for Dille, some mysteries still remain.

“I don’t know how the creameries kept going or if they had any way to keep their ice cool in order to make ice cream,” Dille explained.

If you look at the almanac, almost every day in the first half of July still has 1936 as its hottest day on record.

And while this coming week will be heating up in 2016, you don’t have to worry.

The Weather Authority doesn’t expect to see temps quite like this.

*Special thanks to the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County and the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network for Images and Videos.