Summer Heat of 1980 (Dallas, Wichita Falls: apartment, house, landscaping)

[Rakin]

How many of you guys were in TX during the heat wave of 1980? Daytime Temps were between 107-112 almost everyday for 60-80 days and it's still the gold standard of hot TX summers.

I recall putting a water sprinkler on our roof trying to cool off the house and the AC units running 24 hrs a day.

Swimming pool water got so warm you couldn't enjoy a swim.

It would be 102 degrees at 10pm at night.

That was one hot summer.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by Rakin

How many of you guys were in TX during the heat wave of 1980? Daytime Temps were between 107-112 almost everyday for 60-80 days and it's still the gold standard of hot TX summers.

I recall putting a water sprinkler on our roof trying to cool off the house and the AC units running 24 hrs a day.

Swimming pool water got so warm you couldn't enjoy a swim.

It would be 102 degrees at 10pm at night.

That was one hot summer.

Been there...done that...interesting you brought this up...are we in for a repeat this year?

My new wife and I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment over by Kelly AFB with one small window A/C.

[Cowboybootnut]

You mean we had global warming way back in 1980???

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by Cowboybootnut

You mean we had global warming way back in 1980???

Don't know, but we definitely had Texas warming back then.

[MaryS80]

I was in my moms belly that summer. I feel bad for her, it was the last trimester of her pregnancy and her and my dad had just moved her from a much cooler climate.

[atxcio]

The funny thing was, 3 years prior to that in 1977 (I think), we had record snowfall in DFW.. that's the year I moved to the Dallas area from the east coast. At first I thought, hey, just like home! Snow everywhere... soon I learned otherwise

Also, IIRC, as bad as we had it in DFW... every day on the news, they would mention Wichita Falls. I guess they have since become the awful weather capital of the US, but during the '80 heat wave we'd always hear on the news about deaths and 110+ temps in Wichita Falls. Seems like they got the worst of it.

[tycobb2522]

I was in high school at that time, and working my first job - LANDSCAPING! I played football, and wanted a job that would keep me in shape; boy did my wish come true! I will not forget that summer as long as I live.

[lonestar2007]

Ouch! That was the most miserable summer I've ever encountered. Worked at an asphalt plant, ran the scales, the window a/c would kick off about 10:00 am, spray water on it, trying to revive it, nothing. Just drank tons of water and stayed drenched in sweat. No a/c in the truck and the floorboard would burn your feet right through your shoes when stopped at a red light. No central air at home, just a window unit which I would turn off when I left for work in the mornings to try and save on the electrical bill, but coming into that house in the afternoons after work was just like walking into an oven, this with leaving windows open. Turn on the window unit, go outside and spray water on the roof and the west side of the house, go back inside and run a tub of 'cold?' water and stay in it with a glass of ice water until cooled down some. Not a good year, that 1980. It certainly gives you an appreciation of just one of the many sacrafices our soldiers are going through over in Iraq and other areas.

[Rakin]

The funny thing was, 3 years prior to that in 1977 (I think), we had record snowfall in DFW..

And in 1983 we had the Christmas cold spell that lasted 2-3 weeks where the temps never got above 22 and went as low as 6-8 or so for about 2 weeks. It's the only time I've ever seen our lakes start freezing over.

[Delta Planter]

I was in Colorado at the time, going to court reporting school in Denver. The central a/c broke down, most everyone opted to begin classes at 0700, packed as we were in a small classroom with no opening windows, for dictation. Breaks were taken outside, obviously. But the smog would nearbout drive one back inside. Miserable, but not quite as bad as y'all had it.