July 12, 1980: Great Heat Wave
Headlines on Saturday, July 12, 1980 focused on the Iranian hostage crisis, which was in its 292nd day, The GOP was putting the finishing touches on its platform prior to their national convention in Detroit. There were fears that Mt. Hood in Oregon was getting ready to erupt, a la Mount St. Helens, since quakes had been shaking the area. A hijacker in Seattle had been given $100,000 and a parachute as he seemed destined to be the next D.B. Cooper. The economy was in the tank, with talk that the extended recession was comparable to the Great Depression in many ways. Sound familiar?
But the big news across the southern United States was the heat. Birmingham was in the middle of a thirteen day heat wave, with temperatures 90F or higher for those thirteen days. The high temperature at the Birmingham Airport topped out at 104F on that Saturday, the hottest it had been so far in the hot spell. Air conditioning repair companies were doing a land office business. Bank managers resorted to putting blocks of ice in front of electric fans to “cool off the girls” in the drive-thrus. The local Coca-Cola bottler reported that soft drink sales were up 35 percent. The weather page in the Birmingham News wistfully noted that it was midwinter in Australia.
The toll was beginning to rise across Alabama. At least four deaths had been reported so far. Before it was over, at least 120 Alabamians lost their lives to heat related illnesses. 200,000 chickens also succumbed to the extreme heat.
The June-September 1980 Heat Wave is the first billion dollar weather-related disaster in U.S. history. Damage to agriculture and related industries was estimated at $20 billion. The sweltering weather claimed the lives of over 10,000 Americans.
– Bill Murray
bill.murray@theweathercompany.com
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July 12th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I was 13 BUT I remember that summer/heat wave quite well! We were living in Marion Co at the time (between Hackleburg and Hodges), the house was new but the central heat and a/c had not been installed. We had one a/c unit in the window of the living room. My Mama, brother and I sat in his baby pool for most of the evenings that summer to stay cool. What was even more fun is he kept putting sand in the pool!! I didn’t realize so many people had died….
July 12th, 2009 at 9:58 am
I remember that heat wave. My husband and I were newlyweds and living in a third floor apartment. Apartments are notorius for having lousy maintenance and this one was no different. The AC wouldn’t keep the apartment temp below 100 degrees, so we bought a small window unit, put it in our bedroom and basically lived in that bedroom for a month. I remember elderly people were dying daily and it just broke my heart.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:31 am
…..I was in summer school at Auburn, that year. One day when it was 106, I walked to the mall on Opelika Road, and back. That was a good day to stop in, and drink about three glasses of Toomer’s fresh-squeezed lemonade!
…..It was a rough summer. The little window unit couldn’t keep up, and it would STILL run the electric bill up to triple digits! To sleep at night, I’d take a cold shower, and go to bed soaking wet. It would work well enough to get to sleep, at least.
July 12th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I was pregnant with my 3rd son, living in Mobile, only had 1 window unit..I was miserable!! Couped up in the house with my other sons, ages 4 and 2..I’ll never forget that summer!!!
July 12th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I was living in Midwest City, OK at the time. Unofficially we had 75 days that summer of 100 degree heat with one stretch of 50 straight….and no rain. We went on vacation towards the end of that streak, and ran into some rain at Little Rock. All five of us got out of the car and danced in the rain. Everybody driving by must have thought we were crazy. I had an unofficial high that summer of 114.