# Learning from deadliest disaster in Minnesota history

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-cast-316665/learning-from-deadliest-disaster-in-minnesota-history
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-cast-316665/learning-from-deadliest-disaster-in-minnesota-history.md
Podcast: [Climate Cast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-cast-316665)
Published: 2026-07-10T20:59:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/07/10/learning-from-deadliest-disaster-in-mn-history
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/5/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VnCzW2iO9G8z4eDWfXCd/play.publicradio.org/podcast/o/minnesota/news/features/2026/07/17/071726_CC_heatwave1936_20260717_64.mp3?awCollectionId=apm-ClimCast&awEpisodeId=01KX6Z8M7EHNSN23W2V4EGPQKX
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/climate-cast-316665/episodes/learning-from-deadliest-disaster-in-minnesota-history
Duration seconds: 257

## Resource

What would you guess is the deadliest disaster in Minnesota history? A wildfire? Blizzard? Tornado? It was none of those. In 1936, a long-term heat wave killed at least 900 across Minnesota . Heat is America’s top weather killer, even in the age of air conditioning and community pools. For the return of the long-running Climate Cast, we wanted to revisit the terrible cost of the 1936 heat wave that hit 90 years ago this month. On July 14, 1936, experts estimated a person was dying every three minutes in Minneapolis alone as a direct result of the heat. In this episode, MPR News chief meteorologist Ben Cathey speaks with with Geoff Williams, the author of a new book, “ The Summer of Death .” Williams calculates that at least 12,000 people died across America. He thinks Minnesota’s official death toll is likely severely under-calculated. Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

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## Transcript

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