THE “GRAND DADDY” OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN HEAT WAVES
Though heat waves or hot spells generally occur nearly every summer, no heat wave compares in intensity nor in duration than the heat wave that occurred across Southeast Lower Michigan in the summer of 1936. For many of us, it was when our grandparents were in their young or middle-age adult years. Little, if any, exaggeration would accompany their tales of the oppressive heat experienced sixty years ago, back in July 1936.
The last week of June into the first week of July 1936 was quite variable with afternoon highs ranging from around 70 to near 90. Evidently, weather patterns were quite progressive. After a day or two of heat build up, a cold front would push through the area and sweep the heat to the south and east on a regular basis. A change in the weather pattern was heralded by a strong but dry warm front that pushed across the area midday on July 6th. Very warm air rushed north into Southeast Lower Michigan, causing the mercury to rise up to near 90 on the 7th, but this was merely a hint of the heat to come.
On the afternoon of the 8th, the temperature soared to just shy of 105 (104.4) degrees and thus, the unprecedented heat was on. For the next seven consecutive days, the mercury would “bubble” above the 100 degree mark (see Table 1). The oppressive heat was compounded by humidity levels generally ranging in the 30s and 40s during the afternoon hours. While those levels are relatively low any other time, when combined with temperatures 100+, the heat index or, how hot it really felt, ranged roughly from 110 to 130 degrees. Little, if any relief was found during the evening hours into midnight with temperatures ranging from the mid and upper 90s at the start (6 to 7 pm) to hovering still in the mid 80s at midnight. For a few hours before dawn, overnight low temperatures “cooled” into the mid 70s. Desert-like conditions were exaggerated by the non-existence of rain. The thirst of the parched land was left unquenched as not one drop of rain was officially recorded at the Detroit downtown office through the period.
Since this was 1936, the residents of Southeast Lower Michigan did not have the luxury of air conditioned homes, businesses or shopping malls to take refuge from the heat. Most people had to make do with the old standbys such as fans, blocks of ice from the Ice Man (the Ice Man cometh’) or maybe by just taking a swim. While other heat waves in Southeast Lower Michigan have lasted longer, none had been longer accompanied by the fierce heat of this one. I was unable to find any documentation of heat related deaths (I’m not sure it was even done at this time), but with this intense of a heat wave, I’m sure there were cases.
The break in this torturous heat wave came without fanfare (storms). Not even a shower was noted in the log. Looking at the observations on the 14th…the wind shifted from the southwest to the northwest and then to the northeast. A lot of the characteristics of a “backdoor” cold front pushing south- southwest out of southern Canada. Occasionally these fronts will come through dry with an abrupt wind shift and falling temperatures. The temperatures fell from 104 at 200 pm…to 85 at 400 pm to a relatively chilly 69 by midnight. The heat wave started with a 104 degree reading on the 8th and ended with the same on the 14th. The first drop of rain was long in coming and not observed until a measly .08 fell on the 23rd.
Table-1 - Summary of the daily highs, lows and resultant means
------- for July 8th - 14th, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan.
Date High Low Mean
July 8th 104 * 72 88
July 9th 102 75 89
July 10th 102 77 90 **
July 11th 101 77 89
July 12th 100 76 88
July 13th 102 73 88
July 14th 104 69 87
* Second highest all time temp
** Second highest all time mean
Another, very notable heat wave that baked the area for a longer period of time but was not quite as hot, occurred in the late summer of 1953 from August 26th – September 3rd. An eleven day string 90 degrees or better, cooked the area. What’s worse, nine of those days were 95 degrees or higher, with two of those hitting the century mark. Those two 100 degree days occurred near the end of the heat wave on September 2nd and 3rd, and with the exception of one other day, were the latest 100 degree days ever reported in Detroit (the latest 100 was also back in the “dust bowl” 1930s, on September 15th, 1939). Still another heat wave, in the Summer of ’64, was one day longer (12) than the one in 1953 and has the “honor” of the longest heat wave on record when looking at just consecutive days of 90 degrees or greater. This heat wave extended from July 17th – 28th, 1964. There were no 100 degree days during this period, with the highest temperature being “only” 95.
On a more recent note and better in the memory of Southeast Lower Michiganders, is the hot summer of 1988, when a record amount of 90 degree or better days, 39 to be exact, produced one hot, sultry summer. The previous record was 36 days which again, occurred in “Dust Bowl 30s” (1934) when also, the hottest temperature of all time, (105 July 24th, 1934), occurred in Detroit. In addition to the record amount of 90-degree days in 1988, we topped the 100 mark 5 times, with the highest at 104 on June 25th. We missed the all-time high by just a degree, but for those who remember, a hot, desert-like wind blew across the area that day as dew points dropped into the lower 60s, and humidities fell into the 20s.
The summer of ’88 became the third hottest summer (Jun-Aug) ever recorded in Detroit with a average of 74.2. The “silver” medal for the second hottest summer goes to 1955, with an average of 74.4 degrees. During that hot summer, the month of July set the record for days of 90 degrees or greater in a month with 17. This was the primary reason why July 1955 became our hottest month ever in Detroit, with an average temperature of 79.1. We now come to our hottest summer, at least in the last 126 years (1870). The “gold” medal goes to 1995! That’s right, just last year during the 3 month summer period (Jun-Aug), Detroit averaged 74.5 degrees. Strangely enough though, July 1995 didn’t even place in the top 10 hottest months. The hot month last year was August, with an average temperature of 77.1, making it the hottest August on record. June also placed in the top 10, by tying for the eighth hottest.
Other Weather History
1934: A brutal heat wave peaks during the Dust Bowl summer with a high of 104 degrees at Grand Rapids, second only to the 106 and 108 degree readings from July 1936. Temperatures reach the mid and upper 90s even right along the Lake Michigan shore.
1983: One person drowned on the Kalamazoo River as a tornado struck Saugatuck then crossed the river, generating a large wave of water.
On July 21, 2011, the peak of the heat wave was reached when high temperatures reached 100 degrees at Detroit, Monroe, Adrian, Grosse Isle, and Ypsilanti. The 100 degrees at Detroit was a record for the date and was the first 100 recorded in Detroit since 1995. This hot day was in the middle of a stretch of heat that saw highs reached 90 or greater at Saginaw for 5 days in a row, 6 days in a row in Flint and 7 days in a row at Detroit. The heat wave was the longest and strongest heat wave to hit Southeast Michigan since July 1987. It also help to make July 2011 the warmest month on record for Detroit, the 3rd warmest month for Flint and the fourth warmest month in Saginaw.
Also on July 21, 1998, during the late afternoon and early evening, a broken line of severe thunderstorms moved through metro Detroit as well as Lenawee and Monroe Counties. This squall line produced a wind gust to 75 mph at the Ann Arbor Airport, widespread wind damage across the metro area especially in Dearborn, hundreds of thousands of power outages, and unfortunately 2 deaths in Woodhaven as severe winds brought down a video store awning. There were also two other injuries at the video store and one injury at Michigan International Speedway (MIS).
NWS Forecast
Forecast Discussion
- Chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and Monday afternoon Little if any change expected to the current forecast. A weak cold front is moving south over northern Lower and will move over the northern cwa this afternoon. The modest convergence associated with it coupled with 800-1k j/kg SBCAPE probably will be enough to generate scattered storms, mainly north of I-96 this afternoon. Once we lose the instability late in the day, the storms will wane as well. A similar situation will play out tomorrow. However with the boundary farther south and more washed out, most of the cwa will be in place for isolated to scattered showers/storms. Very weak shear will render the convection non-severe, but precipitable water values near 1.5 inches suggest that a few storms could produce heavy rainfall. - Chances for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday A shortwave trough diving southeast from Canada moves across the Great Lakes Tuesday and Wednesday. Moist return flow in advance of a cold front on Tuesday will result in scattered showers which increase on coverage Tuesday night and Wednesday. Model soundings for Wednesday afternoon show some potential for strong storms with deep layer shear of 30 knots and sfc-based instability of 500 to 1000 J/kg of CAPE...so we will continue to watch how this evolves. Expect drying behind the front with sfc and upper ridging bringing fair weather for Thursday into the weekend.
Nice write up on some of the past heat waves in SE Michigan. July 1921 was the hottest month here in west Michigan and the 2nd hottest in SE Michigan with 2011 warmer. 2012 was the 2nd hottest at both locations
Slim
I definitely remember the 1988 heat. Spent most of the Summer at Holland beach on the days I didn’t have to work. Worst part was having a black car without AC.
All we had were the old window wings for ventilation in cars. I never had car air conditioning until 2006 (I think).