Heat in Maryland, July 12 to 19, 1997

The longest and hottest heat wave of the summer of 1997 brought up to 8 straight days of temperatures of 90 degrees or higher to the Maryland Eastern Shore along with oppressive humidity and limited rainfall. The heat wave started to end after a strong cold front moved through the region early on the 19th. In spite of lowering humidity levels, high temperatures on the 19th still made it into the 90s across most of the central and southern parts of the Eastern Shore. The hottest day for most areas was the 15th as high temperatures were near 100 degrees. This was also the day the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM) reported a record usage of 49,822 megawatts in their regional serving area. This surpassed the previous record of 48,524 megawatts set on August 2, 1995. Highest temperatures during this heat wave included 99 degrees at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport and 98 degrees at both Bridgeville (DE) and Salisbury. No widespread heat related injuries were reported. But, the lack of rain continued to stress crops, throughout the Eastern Shore, especially in Queen Anne's County. Rainfall totals for the month of July on a county weighted average were less than three inches which is about 1.0 to 1.5 inches below normal. By the end of the month, 15 of the 23 Maryland counties were suffering serious drought conditions. Governor Glendening asked the Clinton Administration to declare Maryland's drought ravaged farmland a disaster area.