It was the kind of sun-drenched day that left sweat beads trickling down people's spines and turned the insides of their cars into ovens.
Fargo's temperature rose to 97 degrees on Sunday, tying the record high set in 1934, according to the National Weather Service.
The normal high this time of year is about 74 degrees. Last year, the temperature on Sunday was 54 degrees.
This year, an area of low pressure to the west kept winds blowing in from the south, said Jason Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, N.D.
"It's just a feeding frenzy that's going on from all the way down at the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to us," Anderson said.
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That left people in the Fargo-Moorhead area roasting, at least those who didn't escape to a lake.
Fifteen-month-old Tobi Puetz stood on a table outside Dairy Queen on Main Avenue in Moorhead. He looked at his dad with his mouth open, waiting expectantly for more ice cream.
His father, Troy Puetz, obliged. Troy and Cheri had driven to town from their Wolverton, Minn., home.
In addition to ice cream, they bought a baby pool and margarita mix.
"How's that for a combination?" Cheri Puetz said, laughing.
In Fargo's Lindenwood Park, 11-year-old Shane Stahl splashed his hands in a fountain and wiped cool water on the forehead of his mother, Marcy Fox.
"It's hot out," he said. "I had to get myself wet a lot of times."
Diann Fischer worked on some of the 20,000 flowers she plants each year for the Fargo Park District.
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"I plant when I have time," Fischer said. "If it's hot, it's hot."
Still, she found herself taking water breaks.
"I'm not moving as fast as usual," Fischer said.
The National Weather Service predicts partly-cloudy skies with a high near 76 today.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Andrea Domaskin at (701) 241-5556
