Glen Conner
State Climatologist Emeritus for Kentucky

The summer of 1930 is the period against which all other hot spells are measured. Beginning on 5 July, Lovelaceville in McCracken County, observed nine consecutive days of over one hundred degree readings. But the worst was yet to come! During the fourth week of July, a wave of excessive heat arrived for the third time during the month. After consecutive days of 103°F, 106°F and 110°F, Greensburg established a Kentucky record high temperature of 114°F on 28 July 1930. Among the other high temperatures that day were 113°F at Bowling Green, 112°F at Bardstown, Lovelaceville and Middlesboro, and 111°F at Anchorage and Franklin. Of all the stations reporting that day in Kentucky, only Pike County's Dorton with 99°F failed to reach triple digits. The heat wave continued through 9 August raising Lovelaceville's total days above 100°F to thirty!

What the 1952 heat wave lacked in intensity, it made up for in duration. Princeton experienced thirty-five consecutive days with temperatures 90F or higher. Their final 90F of the year occurred on 1 October and brought their summer total to an incredible 95 days of 90°F or higher. However, residents of Hopkinsville from 27 August through 9 September 1952 could argue that their fourteen consecutive days at or above 100°F should be considered the hottest of the hot.

Warm weather in November may be called Indian Summer and, in January, the January thaw. Compared to those in summer, warm spells in winter are generally more welcome. Nevertheless, record highs in winter seem aberrant. Pikeville's December record of 87°F, Loretto's 83°F in January and Princeton's 86°F in February are records that result from wintertime warm spells. The warm humid air masses originating over the Gulf of Mexico produce both the warm relief during winter and the heat stress during summer.