I was having breakfast a local diner a few days ago when I happened to overhear part of the conversation in the booth behind me. The people were going to visit relatives in Des Moines the next day and they were checking the local weather. “Holy Polar,” one person exclaimed. “Says it’s 72 right now but feels like 90.” “What’s the full prediction?” asked another. “Holy Polar,” he said again. “Says it’ll be high 92 but feel like 111.” I could identify because right now we were going through a heat wave of our own here in New York – caused as much by humidity as high temperatures. Even so, it got me to thinking. Were there ever times in the heartland where the temperature got as high as 111? Turns out there were. I looked up in Infoplease and discovered that the highest Iowa temperature ever was in Keokuk on July 20th 1934. They were not alone. That same day in East St Louis, Illinois it was 117. And then a little later on July 24th in Minden, Nebraska, it was 118 and on the same day in Alton, Kansas, it topped off at 121. Truly hot times in the heartland.