INTENSE HEAT WAVE

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1930, Page 12

INTENSE HEAT WAVE

'. ■> TWENTY-TWO PERSONS DIE. RECORDS IN UNITED STATES. An oppressingly hot day in New York and other parts of the United States at the onset of the American drought was experienced on Sunday, July 20. Some details of the high temperatures, which resulted in 22 deaths in the eastern States, were published by the New York Herald Tribune. With the temperature at 96, marking the hottest day of the year and a new record, for that day of the year, New York, city suffered with the rest of the United States under a nation-wide heat wave. Philipsburg, Kansas, in the path of the hot winds which were parening the Middle West, reported 113 degrees and 100 or more was recorded in many places.' Th© humidity kept the heat toll down in the city and only two prostrations were reported. Week-end crowds were augmented by the heat sufferers, however, as hundreds of thousands flocked to beaches and country resorts seeking breathing space. By the time the heat record, which had stood at 95 degrees since 1876, had been passed at ,9 p.m., the shimmering <»ity streets were well nigh deserted. . ' Starting at a a.m., the mercury climbed steadily for eight hours. At 4 p.m. it had advanced 22 degrees to 96, one degree above the old record for July 19. For more than an hour the record was maintained. The temperature was six degrees hotter than the previous warmest day this season, which was on June 5. The normal for the date is 74.

High temperatures were reported in many sections of the country, with the Middle West and the East bearing the brunt. Baltimore recorded a new height of 99 degrees. At 2 p;ni. it was 100.03 in Chicago and 96 iu Washington. Omaha, Nebraska, sweltered in 107 degrees. The Roman Catholic bishop at Omaha asked that prayers for rain be said in every church of the diocese. The coolest section of the nation was in Michigan’s upper peninsula, where Marquette enjoyed a maximum of 62. ■St. Paul and Minneapolis were in the SO’s. The Pacific Coast, which was just recovering from a long period of heat, also was comfortably cool,, although Fresno, California, reported 98 degrees, and there were other hot spots. Warm weather was general in th© South, but record temperatures were few. In spite of the high temperatures; nothing like the 150 deaths which occurred in the recent heat wave in the Mid-West were reported. There were five persons dead in Cleveland and ten in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with the heat centring around Altoona at 103 degrees. Five died in Massachusetts and eight persons were drowned in New England. Boston’s temperature was 94. Two died in New York State, one iu Albany and one in Auburn. No deaths were reported in New York city.