25 Year Ago: 104 Degree Heat in Cleveland!

I remember the hot and dry summer of 1988 vividly. My lawn mowing business took a HUGE hit. After mowing lawn at a record pace in April and May, everything came to a stand still by June and never really recovered until September. By then, it was too late to re coop the losses.

That was also my first time experiencing 100+ degree heat. Sure, it was a "dry heat". But 100 degrees is 100 degrees! Today marks the 25th anniversary of the HOTTEST DAY IN CLEVELAND HISTORY when we reached 104 degrees that late afternoon on the 25th of June.

What is interesting about June of 1988 was not only the all-time recording setting heat which we all remember but the cold nights!

First, we set 4 record highs that month leading up to the 104 on the 25th...

Check this out: We had 7 nights in the 40s. The 2 nights in the 40s at the end of the month were RECORD LOWS!

The drought had a lot to do with this. Humidity levels that summer were low so large variations from day to night were more common.

Its an interesting case study. When you look at the occurrences of 100 degree heat in June---only two other times (1944 and 1934)--they featured no instance of record low temperatures! 

This really shows the severity of the drought during the summer of 1988.