on July 10, 1980, the high temperature at the Birmingham Airport reached 101F, the first of eight straight days where the mercury reached the century mark or higher. It would be the longest streak of consecutive 100 degree plus days in Birmingham history until the 2007 heat wave. Before the sweltering July—September 1980 heat was over, it is estimated that 120 Alabamians lost their lives. Nationally, the toll was even more staggering. An estimated 10,000 people lost their lives to heat related conditions.
JULY 1980 HIGHS
6 98F
7 95F
8 96F
9 98F
10 101F
11 102F
12 104F
13 106F
14 103F
15 102F
16 105F
17 105F
18 99F
19 96F
Every day that it was 100 or higher, we did not have a drop of rain. The 106F high on July 13 was only one degree below Birmingham’s hottest in history which is 107 on July 29, 1930.
