D.C. Sets Record With 138 Hours Above 80°F During Brutal Nationwide Heat Wave

So even at night, it was warmer than 80°F

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/22/2334531/dc-sets-record-with-138-hours-above-80f-during-brutal-nationwide-heat-wave/

By Kiley Kroh posted from Climate Progress on Jul 22, 2013

The heat dome that enveloped Washington, D.C. for much of the last week, so miserable it even prompted Metro to temporarily lift its ban on passengers drinking water aboard its trains, also broke a long-standing heat record.

For over five and a half days, the temperature was least 80 degrees in D.C. This 138-hour streak is the longest on record, dating back to 1871, and besting the 128-hour streak of two years ago.

As Jason Samenow of the Capital Weather Gang notes, this record is just the latest in an “astonishingly long list” of heat-related milestones amassed over the past four summers, including: hottest three Julys, hottest three summers, most 100-degree days in a month, and longest uninterrupted stretch above 100 degrees.

Last week’s heat, combined with stifling humidity, also broke multiple records for highest minimum temperature and came close to matching the highest known dew point ever recorded.

D.C.’s warming trend over the past few years is remarkable. Capital Weather Gang found that “daily heat records have outnumbered cold records in the nation’s capital by a 7 to 1 ratio since the year 2000 and by nearly 16 to 1 in the past 3.5 years.”