UffDa
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- Sep 11, 1999
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June 17,1859. A day that shall live in infamy. Sort of.
In Goleta, California the temperature reached 133°F.
For a long time Goleta held the record for the hottest place in the United States. On this date back in 1859, it was between 75 to 80 degrees to start the day, by 1pm strong downslope winds picked up and by 2pm it was 133°F.
That was so long ago we'd probably not have an official accounting of it except that a US Coastal survey vessel happened to be in the waters just offshore and recorded it.
By 5pm temperatures fell to 122 and by 7pm it was back to 77 degrees.
US government report stated "Calves, rabbits and cattle died on their feet. Fruit fell from trees to the ground scorched on the windward side; all vegetable gardens were ruined. A fisherman in a rowboat made it to the Goleta Sandspit with his face and arms blistered as if he had been exposed to a blast furnace."
Locals took shelter inside.
This remained the highest ever recorded temperature in the United States for 75 years until the U.S. Weather Bureau recorded a temperature of 56.6°C(134°F) in Death Valley, California.
Sometime the event is referred to as a "simoom" similar to winds in the deserts of Africa but that is not a good label since those work differently. It was likely just an extreme downslope adiabatic compressional heating event (similar to but more severe than sundowners) as hot dry interior valley air was pushed over the local mountains and became super heated by high pressure near sea level.
In Goleta, California the temperature reached 133°F.
For a long time Goleta held the record for the hottest place in the United States. On this date back in 1859, it was between 75 to 80 degrees to start the day, by 1pm strong downslope winds picked up and by 2pm it was 133°F.
That was so long ago we'd probably not have an official accounting of it except that a US Coastal survey vessel happened to be in the waters just offshore and recorded it.
By 5pm temperatures fell to 122 and by 7pm it was back to 77 degrees.
US government report stated "Calves, rabbits and cattle died on their feet. Fruit fell from trees to the ground scorched on the windward side; all vegetable gardens were ruined. A fisherman in a rowboat made it to the Goleta Sandspit with his face and arms blistered as if he had been exposed to a blast furnace."
Locals took shelter inside.
This remained the highest ever recorded temperature in the United States for 75 years until the U.S. Weather Bureau recorded a temperature of 56.6°C(134°F) in Death Valley, California.
Sometime the event is referred to as a "simoom" similar to winds in the deserts of Africa but that is not a good label since those work differently. It was likely just an extreme downslope adiabatic compressional heating event (similar to but more severe than sundowners) as hot dry interior valley air was pushed over the local mountains and became super heated by high pressure near sea level.
