Heat wave in D.C. area is most intense on record this late in year

High temperatures at other local sites are also scorching. So far, it reached 100 degrees at Dulles International Airport, breaking its previous record of 99 in 1988. Baltimore’s BWI Marshall reached at least 101 degrees, breaking its 1988 record of 100.

This ends a 2,867-day streak without reaching or surpassing 100 degrees. It was the fifth longest streak in the modern record for the city, and the longest since an 8-year long run from 1969 to 1977. Other locations in the region had hit 100 more recently than Washington, for instance Dulles did so on Sept. 6 last year.

It becomes the city’s 122nd observed 100-degree day since modern records began in 1872. Roughly 16 percent of D.C.’s 100s have happened in June, 54 percent in July, 27 percent in August and 3 percent in September.

It’s also the sixth day with highs at or above 90, and the eighth of the last 10 reaching that mark, bringing the seasonal total to nine.

That’s about two days above average to date and a quick turnaround from a “90s season” that was running several days below average through the first third of this month. The city averages 40 such days over an entire warm season, seven of which might occur in June.

Although it has been a long while, 100s often come in clumps. In recent years, 2016 had four triple digit days, 2012 eight, 2011 five and 2010 four. In 1930, there were 11 — the most in a single year. Another attempt could be made Sunday and perhaps again Wednesday. This all comes before the city hits prime time for 100s, and as the Weather Service is forecasting a very good chance of a hotter than normal July.

The lengthy gap in 100s followed a historic flurry of them from 2010 to 2012, when 17 were tallied over the three-summer period. While they went missing from 2016 until now, the expectation is that there will be more days at or above 100 annually as the globe warms due to human caused climate change.

D.C.’s highest temperature for any date is 106, reached in July 1930 and August 1918.

DePape was also convicted of first-degree residential burglary; false imprisonment of an elder by violence or menace; threatening the life of a family member of a public official; and dissuading a witness by force or threat.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that the verdict “delivers justice and ensures that Mr. DePape will face consequences for his heinous crimes against the Pelosi family and our democracy.”

In a statement on behalf of the family, Aaron Bennett, spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said the family was “in awe of their Pop’s bravery, which shone through again on the witness stand in this trial just as it did when he saved his own life on the night of the attack.”

“For nearly 20 grueling months, Mr. Pelosi has demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude every day of his recovery,” the statement added.

DePape broke into the home of Nancy Pelosi, among the highest-profile Democratic officials in the country, and attacked her husband with a hammer on Oct. 28, 2022. Paul Pelosi, now 84, was hospitalized with a fractured skull and other injuries after the assault, which left him unconscious. He called 911 after the break-in and was attacked by DePape shortly after police arrived.

DePape, a carpenter who had been living in a converted garage in Richmond, Calif., had immersed himself in right-wing conspiracy theories online. He told the federal jury that he spent his time outside work playing video games and watching YouTube videos about politics.

When he was convicted in the federal case last November, the jury found that he carried out the attack because of Nancy Pelosi’s job in Congress representing a district that includes most of San Francisco. She was his intended target when breaking into the home and a focal point of his beliefs, which included the extremist ideology of the radical QAnon movement, The Washington Post reported.

DePape will be sentenced for the state crimes at a later date. His attorney, Adam Lipson, said he plans to appeal, the Associated Press reported.