history of weather

in Oklahoma, (and Texas) even the poor had airconditioners so having a day of 100 plus degrees is not a big thing.

So is the present heat wave new? Or is the news being manipulated because of the way they measure the temperature at ground level, not five feet in the air and away from buildings and cement as it was done until recent years?

The History guy has this report of a heat wave that has been forgotten:

and along with the heat, there is always a danger of fires: Mainly from lightning. I lived in New Mexico when half the state was on fire, and we had one near us that luckily (thanks to local fire fighters) didn't destroy our town. But the one in the northern part of the state destroyed part of Los Alamos and got most of the publicity.

Sort of like this fire, which few know about because it happened the same week of the great Chicago fire.

then we have the haze from the Canadian fires.

yes that has happened before:

then you have this. Yup he blames the drought:

just ignore what really caused the fire

sigh.

If you let the undergrowth grow unchecked, then the chance of catastrophic forest fires is worse. But if you burn it, you risk such secondary fires.

As for grass fires: they can go fast. So when I had bought a plot to build a house, I was told I had to irrigate it because dry grass was a fire hazard, but fresh green grass would lessen the risk of fires. But since unchecked growth would include weeds etc. that could spread seeds to the nearby farms...I was told I had to graze animals there to keep the grass and bad weeds down. So I bought some goats and a calf to do this.

Several movies show grass fires as part of the plot: This one in Return to Lonesome Dove shows how fast they can spread and destroy houses, crops, etc. Fast forward to 1:24,

Luckily now I live in the Philippines, where forest fires might happen in the mountains, but here in the plains our main danger is earhquakes, volcanoes, typhoons, floods and Dengue Fever.