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Weather... in the Extreme - June 24, 2016

(Photo Illustration by Joanna Fewins)
(Photo Illustration by Joanna Fewins)

Q: According to the National Weather Service, two Kansas communities share the record for the hottest temperature in state history. Fredonia, in southeast Kansas, reached 121 degrees on July 18, 1936. What other Kansas community reached 121 degrees just six days later?


A: Alton, in Osborne County, in north-central Kansas

You think it's hot in Kansas now? Just talk to Kansans who were alive during the Great Depression (before air-conditioning) and lived through the Dust Bowl days. The city of Fredonia, in southeast Kansas, and Alton, in north-central Kansas, share the record for the hottest temperature in state history, which occurred during the Dirty Thirties. 

On July 18, 1936, the mercury reached 121 degrees in the Wilson County town of Fredonia. Just six days later, on July 24, 1936, the Osborne County town of Alton matched that same record high of 121 degrees. 

It's really too hot to talk about any further. So, let's go the other direction. Which Kansas community holds the statewide record for the COLDEST temperature? Again, it's another tie! Manhattan recorded a temperature of 35 degrees below zero on February 12, 1899. Not to be outdone, Clay Center's temperature also hit 35 degrees below zero a few years later, on February 14 (Valentine's Day) in 1905. Try to stay cool during these hot and humid summer days of 2016 but remember, things could be worse and, in fact, they have been.