On July 4, 1989, the high temperature in Fargo Moorhead was 97 degrees. It was a new record high for the day, besting the previous record of 95 degrees from 1948. Too many, it was likely just another hot day in a series of hot summers during the drought in the late 1980s. Little did anyone know at the time that it would be the last 90 degree reading on the 4th of July until 2011.
Last year the high on this date was 93 degrees which was only the 8th Independence Day since 1881 to record a high at or above 90 degrees. Through the years, the high temperature has been in the 60s more frequently than the 90s for our Independence Day celebrations. In fact, July 4 has the fewest number of 90 degree days of any day during July.
Although 90 degree temperatures have been rare on this day, we did hit 90 degrees today for our 9th such occurrence on record.