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Good morning, Wichita!

With a projected high of of 106 today, it seemed appropriate to try to put it in perspective for both newcomers and life long locals. Is this normal? Is it hotter than Hell?

Let’s find out.

- Landon Huslig

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Wichita’s Hottest Days Ever

It’s hot in Wichita.

But there's "don't touch the steering wheel" hot, and then there's 114 degrees.

As we continue our journey through the dog days of summer, we wanted to dig through weather records (dating back to 1888) to find the hottest days Wichita has ever experienced, the summers that seemingly never ended and a few of the strangest weather events in city history.

And maybe more importantly: How does 2026 compare?

The hottest Wichita has ever been

The year is 1936. Jesse Owens just won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics last week.

But back on the ranch in Wichita, the temp hit a blistering, record-breaking 114°F on August 12.

That's the highest official temperature ever recorded in Wichita.

And the timing of this story couldn't be much better:

August 12, 2026 (today) marks exactly 90 years since Wichita set the record.

To put that in perspective, Wichita's normal high during the hottest part of summer is around 93°F. That record afternoon was more than 20 degrees hotter than normal.

The heat didn't exactly disappear when the sun went down, either.

On August 13, 1936, Wichita recorded its warmest daily low ever: 86°F.

The hottest temperature so far in 2026 was 107, just a few days ago on August 9th.

Which Wichita summer had the most 100-degree days?

Okay so a one off hottest day ever can be pretty brutal, but what a 100-degree day isn't particularly unusual around here especially in July or August.

Wichita averages 12.4 days of 100°F or hotter every year.

But then there was 2011.

Fifty-three days.

That's more than seven and a half weeks worth of triple-digit temperatures packed into one year.

Even the infamous Dust Bowl summer of 1936 couldn't quite match it, finishing with 50.

For 2026, we’re currently at 9 days including yesterday 8/11/2026.

Since 1888, only 7 years failed to reach 100 degrees: 1889, 1891, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1915, 1927.

What about the longest 100-degree streak?

There's having a hot week. And then there's August 1936.

From August 7 through August 26, 1936, Wichita reached at least 100°F 20 consecutive days.

For nearly three weeks, there wasn't a single day high below triple digits.

But 1980 has an even better "what if?"

Wichita had an 18-day streak from July 3 through July 20. The nine days immediately before that streak were also 100°F or hotter...

Except July 2.

The high that day? 98°F.

Two measly degrees separated Wichita from what would have been an almost unbelievable 27 consecutive days at 100°F or hotter.

The streak this year is currently 3 days and looking to go to 4 if today sticks to the forecast.

How early can Wichita hit 100?

Apparently May.

The earliest Wichita has ever reached 100°F was May 4, 2014, when the temperature soared to 102°F.

On the other end, Wichita has managed to hang onto summer almost until October.

The latest 100-degree temperature occurred September 28, 1953, when Wichita reached 103°F.

So our historical "100-degree season" stretches nearly five months.

Normal first 100°: July 1
Normal last 100°: August 17
Earliest ever: May 4
Latest ever: September 28
2026 first: July 20

Okay, but what about "feels like"?

This gets a little tricky.

The heat index combines temperature and humidity to estimate how hot conditions feel to the human body. Unlike temp, Wichita doesn't have a nice, continuous "all-time heat index" record stretching back to 1888.

So pulling a straight and simple "highest feels-like temperature ever" is tough.

For the sake of I’m too lazy time, the easiest number to find was comparing yesterday’s 103 temp around 2:30pm with a heat index of 108.

This is also why a lower actual temperature with oppressive humidity can sometimes feel considerably worse than a hotter but much drier afternoon. Compare Kansas to the desert.

Now for the weird stuff

Just extreme heat isn't even close to the strangest weather Wichita has experienced.

From 114° to 22 below zero

Wichita's hottest temperature: 114°F

Wichita's coldest: -22°F on February 12, 1899.

That's a 136-degree range between the city's all-time temperature extremes.

But the low temperature isn't even the craziest part of the 1899 cold snap.

One day earlier, on February 11, the high temperature was -11°F.

Not the overnight low. The high.

At the warmest point of the entire day, Wichita was still eleven degrees below zero.

102 mph wind...at the airport

On June 17, 2025, a powerful line of storms ripped through Wichita.

Eisenhower National Airport recorded a 102 mph wind gust, the strongest official gust in Wichita's weather records.

The previous airport record was 101 mph from July 11, 1993. NWS also lists a 100+ mph gust from July 14, 1948.

For comparison, 102 mph falls within the sustained wind range associated with a Category 2 hurricane.

Obviously Wichita wasn't experiencing a hurricane, but it gives you some perspective on just how violent that gust was.

When nearly a third of a year's rain fell in a day

Wichita normally receives 34.31 inches of precipitation in an entire year.

On September 12, 2008, Wichita recorded 10.31 inches in 24 hours.

That's roughly 30% of a normal year's precipitation in about one day.

And Wichita has experienced some incredibly intense shorter bursts, too.

In September 1999, Wichita recorded:

3.95 inches in one hour, 5.01 inches in two hours, 5.75 inches in three hours

And then Wichita hit 102°...after midnight

This might be the weirdest of them all. Shortly after midnight on June 9, 2011, Wichita was sitting at 85°F.

Then something bizarre happened.

At Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, the temperature jumped from 85°F at 12:22 a.m. to 102°F at 12:42 a.m.

That's a 17-degree increase in 20 minutes. In the middle of the night.

Winds gusted around 45 mph while the dew point plunged from the 60s into the 20s and 30s.

It was a rare phenomenon known as a heat burst.

Dying thunderstorms above Wichita caused air to rapidly descend toward the ground. As that air compressed, it warmed dramatically and produced what essentially amounted to a blast of extremely hot, dry air across the city.

By 1:53 a.m., the airport was already back down to 81°F.

Wichita went from 85° to 102° to 81° in about 90 minutes.

Because apparently regular Kansas weather wasn't weird enough.

It's certainly been hot lately, but Wichita's historical bar for a truly extraordinary summer is very, very high.

We're talking about a city that has reached 114°F, endured 53 triple-digit days in a single year, survived 20 straight days above 100°F and once somehow hit 102°F after midnight.

So when someone tells you this is the hottest Wichita has ever been, you can tell them:

Not yet.

But maybe don't tempt August.

What do you want to see us go deep on in a future deep dive?

Let us know!