Record Heat? Try 1936. Or 1901. Or 1988.
It’s called summer, and it’s always been hot.
As temperatures rise across much of the U.S., the eco-left is already preparing their favorite refrain: “It’s never been this hot, and it must be because of fossil fuels!” But before we drown in hysteria, it’s worth remembering one thing: it has been this hot before, and it will be this hot again.
Let’s take a quick tour through history:
- New York City, June 1901: A prolonged early-summer heatwave pushed highs into the mid-90s and kept overnight lows stifling near 76°F. This wasn’t during a “climate crisis;” it was before airplanes, before widespread electricity, and long before fossil fuel production surged.
- Summer 1930: Washington, D.C. hit its all-time heat record on July 20th at 106°F. This record was set nearly 100 years ago and that recorded high has held up despite what apocalyptic fanatics will have you believe. It beat out the previous record set in 1918, also 106°F.
- Summer 1936: Central Park hit 106°F on July 10 during the infamous North American heat wave. Even early July saw temps topping 102°F. This remains one of the most extreme heat events in recorded history, and it occurred long before the first EPA regulation.
- June 1988: Washington, D.C. hit 101°F on June 22, still a record for that date. That summer, hot stretches scorched much of the East Coast.
- June 2010: Both NYC and D.C. recorded some of their longest, most intense hot stretches. D.C. experienced 14 straight days of blazing heat. NYC logged 37 days above 90°F that summer: the most in recorded history at the time.
- June 2012: D.C. set its all-time June record at 104°F on the 29th. This was in the heart of the Obama presidency, and no one blamed him.
As we brace for what will certainly be hot temperatures, a dose of reality is warranted. High temperatures in the Northeast aren’t unprecedented, and they do not mean we’re headed for a climate apocalypse.
Weather is not new. History didn’t start when Trump became President. And summer heat in places that get hot in the summer should not come as a surprise.
If this week hits the 100s, it won’t be a harbinger of the end times. It’ll be just one more chapter in a long, well-documented pattern of summer heat that existed long before the political climate-industrial complex took hold.
The real worry should be whether our grid is able to support America’s power demands to keep our homes cool, as we have warned over and over again. It’s not heat that kills people in the 21st century. It’s incompetence.
June 23, 2025