"The heat wave that smothered much of the United States in 1988 was simultaneously in-your-face extreme almost daily and yet beyond nightmarish imagination.
It included the largest fire in Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, as the park experienced almost no rainfall from June through August.
The heat wave and drought that year blistered a large swath of the country and pushed temperatures consistently into the 90s and 100s from the Midwest to the East Coast.
The extent of the extreme conditions were laid bare in the dramatic open to the June 24 edition of ABC's "World New Tonight."
Just three days into official summer, Peter Jennings opened that evening's broadcast by recounting the deadly impacts and describing the frustrations some Americans were suffering as the hot, dry weather tightened its grip on an expanding portion of the country.
Some Midwesterners, he told viewers, were "so distraught, they've told their congressman, 'God is against us,'" as he tossed to ABC News correspondent Chris Bury for a deeper look at how the heat wave was wreaking havoc.
The deaths in the thousands resulting from the heat wave and drought were hard to count then and hard to fathom now more than 30 years later.... it is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 people died as a result of extreme heat that begin in 1988 and lasted into 1990 in some places.
The heat wave and drought of 1988 was a mere 31 years ago, though the details surrounding it seem more like a surreal echo of the landscape-altering Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. But it is not merely a memory; the 1988 heat wave is also a reminder.
Could it happen again?
“Sure, no doubt about it,” said AccuWeather Expert Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek."
AccuWeather
1988- Just a Taste of what will come one day---And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. Revelation 16:8-9 ....the cry will be raised again 'God is against us'
It included the largest fire in Yellowstone National Park’s recorded history, as the park experienced almost no rainfall from June through August.
The heat wave and drought that year blistered a large swath of the country and pushed temperatures consistently into the 90s and 100s from the Midwest to the East Coast.
The extent of the extreme conditions were laid bare in the dramatic open to the June 24 edition of ABC's "World New Tonight."
Just three days into official summer, Peter Jennings opened that evening's broadcast by recounting the deadly impacts and describing the frustrations some Americans were suffering as the hot, dry weather tightened its grip on an expanding portion of the country.
Some Midwesterners, he told viewers, were "so distraught, they've told their congressman, 'God is against us,'" as he tossed to ABC News correspondent Chris Bury for a deeper look at how the heat wave was wreaking havoc.
The deaths in the thousands resulting from the heat wave and drought were hard to count then and hard to fathom now more than 30 years later.... it is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 people died as a result of extreme heat that begin in 1988 and lasted into 1990 in some places.
The heat wave and drought of 1988 was a mere 31 years ago, though the details surrounding it seem more like a surreal echo of the landscape-altering Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. But it is not merely a memory; the 1988 heat wave is also a reminder.
Could it happen again?
“Sure, no doubt about it,” said AccuWeather Expert Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek."
AccuWeather
1988- Just a Taste of what will come one day---And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. Revelation 16:8-9 ....the cry will be raised again 'God is against us'