July 18th marks one of the two dates on which the highest temperature ever record in Kansas was observed. That was 121 °F at Fredonia on July 18, 1936. That same extreme – 121 °F – was reported again on July 24th near Alton. These were among 46 records for July established that year that still hold today. No other year has as many July records. The next closest year is 1954, when 20 records were established. What might come as a surprise is that neither of these years holds the record for the highest state average temperature in July. That honor goes to 1934 when the statewide AVERAGE temperature for July was 86.4 °F and the average HIGH temperature was 102.2 °F! Now those are records that I don’t want to break.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu