COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri State Climatologist Zack Leasor works in an office divided by time. On the right sits the past – dozens of faded, scratched leather-bound books containing more than 100 years of handwritten climate data. One page – July 15, 1936 – shows a high temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit, the then-second-hottest day on record for the city of Columbia.
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Harshawn Ratanpal is with KBIA public radio in Missouri. This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.
