History Main / Heatwave

** And also during the infamous blackout of 1977, described as the "summer that New York lost its mind". Temperatures were skyrocketing, corruption was rampant, and the SerialKiller Son of Sam had made the city his personal hunting ground. The blackout capped everything off, leading to riots and looting--it took DECADES for some neighborhoods to recover.
* The summer of 2011 was a bit of an aversion. Despite breaking records all across the U.S. with many cities reporting 50+ (and even 90+) days of serial 100+ temperatures. Several states also recorded the hottest months of June, July, August, and September ever, with similar drought records being set. Despite this, crime was actually a lower compared to years previous. Presumably, it's not worth the energy to commit high crime in sizzling temperatures.

** Somewhat subverted in the England Riots of 2011. Despite taking place in August, the temperatures around England, and London in particular, had actually been rather cool. The days the riots took place had not been especially hot either.

* Groudon causes a supernatural heat wave when awakened in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Ruby]], visually indicated by the area around Sootopolis City becoming brighter. In the remakes, the visual effects include a sun-like light in the sky regardless of the time of day, which suggests that Groudon accomplishes this by ''creating a miniature sun inside the Pokémon world's atmosphere''.

* The RayBradbury short story "Touched With Fire" (in the anthology ''The October Country'') has its main characters theorizing about heat and its effects on people: one character asserts that the most murderous temperature is 98 degrees Fahrenheit (cooler than that you can cope with; hotter than that and you don't want to expend energy in violent behavior).

* The above mentioned story by RayBradbury was adapted into an episode of The Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hour.

->''"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge]]."''

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* The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City."
-->All around, people looking half dead\\
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
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* The ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' episode "The Midnight Sun" featured a catastrophic heat wave caused by the Earth moving closer to the sun. It turns out in the KarmicTwistEnding that [[spoiler: it was AllJustADream, but reality isn't much better: the Earth is moving ''away'' from the sun, resulting in the Earth gradually freezing]].

* In the Literature/LeftBehind book ''The Remnant'', one of God's Trumpet Judgments cranks up the sun's temperature to lethal levels, causing painful burning death to animals, Nicolae Carpathia loyalists, and the undecided who are exposed to the sun during daylight hours. For the believers, though, the temperature is only a bit uncomfortably high. This judgment lasts for several months, and then it was lifted only for God to cause New Babylon to be enveloped in complete darkness immediately afterward.

* Spike Lee's ''DoTheRightThing''. Racist attitudes collide on The Hottest Day of The Year.

* ''TwelveAngryMen''. A jury deliberates the fate of a young man accused of murder on The Hottest Day of The Year.
* ''Body Heat'' takes place during an especially hot Florida summer.
* ''FallingDown''. A man having a mental breakdown wanders the streets of Los Angeles and, alienated by his experiences, turns to vigilantism on The Hottest Day of The Year.

* ''RearWindow'': At the beginning of the film, the camera lingers on a thermometer showing the temperature as 90 degrees. The same day, one of the characters remarks that trouble seems to be brewing. Sure enough, it is. At the end of the film, the thermometer is shown again--[[spoiler:and it reads 70 degrees, showing that things have cooled down in the neighborhood now that the murderer has been caught.]]

* ''BartonFink'' takes place in a heat wave as oppressive as the protagonist's mental state.

* In the EalingComedy ''PassportToPimlico'', the rebel state of Burgundy is established in central London during an un-British [=heatwave=]. When the more traditional London rain returns, so does normality.

* A [=heatwave=] is mentioned at the start of ''Resident Evil: Apocalypse''; behind the scenes, the film-makers decided to bring it up as an excuse to get the characters (especially Jill Valentine) in summer clothes, even during the night. Unfortunately for the actors, filming took place in Vancouver, during the winter.

* Creator/AkiraKurosawa's ''Stray Dog'' (Nora Inu) has an [[EmpathicEnvironment empathic heat wave]] going on throughout the movie.

* The events recalled by Leo Colston in LP Hartley's ''{{The Go-Between}}'' take place in the long hot summer of 1900. The temperatures rise as the plot unfolds, but the weather breaks at the climax with a thunderstorm.

* ''ATimeToKill''. Matthew [=McConaughey=] defends a Mississippi black man played by Samuel L. Jackson who has killed his daughter's murderers during a [=Heatwave=]. See any Southern summer courtroom scene, really.

* A native informs the military that the titular creature in ''Film/{{Predator}}'' only appears during the hottest years. [[{{Predator 2}} The sequel]] has another one stalk the streets of Los Angeles during a heat wave.

* ''AStreetcarNamedDesire''. You can feel the sweat pouring off MarlonBrando. It's set in TheBigEasy of course, where it's like this 9 months of the year.

* Meta example: In ''Throw Momma From The Train'', the [[MostWritersAreWriters writer protagonist]] spends the entire movie trying to find a synonym for [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight "It was a hot night"]] as an intro for his new thriller, only to be informed by Momma that the night was ''"sultry. It's too goddamn'' sultry ''in here!"'' He then attempts to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin strangle the poor lady]].

Not to be confused with ItWasADarkAndStormyNight. Unless the night was ''sultry''. See also [[FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit The Boss Hogg]].

AKA LongHotSummer (media shorthand for the urban riots of the '60s-70s) or TheDogDaysOfSummer.

Not to be confused with ItWasADarkAndStormyNight. Unless the night was ''[[Film/ThrowMommaFromTheTrain sultry]]''. See also [[FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit The Boss Hogg]].

* Meta example: In ''Film/ThrowMommaFromTheTrain'', the [[MostWritersAreWriters writer protagonist]] spends the entire movie trying to find a synonym for [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight "It was a hot night"]] as an intro for his new thriller, only to be informed by Momma that the night was ''"sultry. It's too goddamn'' sultry ''in here!"'' He then attempts to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin strangle the poor lady]].

It's the HeatWave, a common device employed by writers to increase irritability and stress among characters LockedInARoom, in a HostageSituation, in a [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard Plot]], or in a climactic Courtroom Battle. In TV episodes and movies in which the entire plot takes place in one day, the HeatWave will be dubbed The Hottest Day Of The Year. Alternatively, or additionally, the HeatWave may serve as a symbolic metaphor for the tension or anger that builds up among the characters throughout the story.

Can also serve as a good excuse for people to walk around in swimsuits or soaked to the skin clothing.

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Escaping a HeatWave kicks off the plot of the 2nd movie. Needless to say it goes FromBadToWorse and HilarityEnsues.

* During the Confessor Arc of ''Comicbook/AstroCity'', a major heatwave heightens the amount of paranoia and short-fuses that accompanied a Serial Killing, with the narrator {{Lampshading}} this trope.

* ''DogDayAfternoon''. Al Pacino unsuccessfully robs a bank and winds up creating a hostage situation on The Hottest Day of The Year.
* ''ATimeToKill''. Matthew [=McConaughey=] defends a Mississippi black man played by Samuel L. Jackson who has killed his daughter's murderers during a Main/HeatWave. See any Southern summer courtroom scene, really.

* A heatwave is mentioned at the start of ''Resident Evil: Apocalypse''; behind the scenes, the film-makers decided to bring it up as an excuse to get the characters (especially Jill Valentine) in summer clothes, even during the night. Unfortunately for the actors, filming took place in Vancouver, during the winter.
* The New York heatwave in ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' not only inspires Richard Sherman to contemplate illicit things with The Girl in the upstairs apartment while his wife and kids are escaping the heat in the country, but also leads to the {{Trope Nam|ers}}ing MarilynManeuver.

* In the EalingComedy ''PassportToPimlico'', the rebel state of Burgundy is established in central London during an un-British heatwave. When the more traditional London rain returns, so does normality.

* An episode of ''TheTwilightZone'' featured a catastrophic heat wave caused by the Earth moving closer to the sun. It turns out in the KarmicTwistEnding that [[spoiler: it was AllJustADream, but reality isn't much better: the Earth is moving ''away'' from the sun, resulting in the Earth gradually freezing]].

* ''Wild Onions", the eighth episode of TheChicagoCode, takes place during a brutal Chicago heatwave, and references the statistical correlation of above-average heat and violent crime.
* ''BlackBooks'': All three main characters go insane during a heatwave. Fran can't sleep, partly due to the heat and partly because her landlord has moved her wall, shrinking her flat. Bernard is stalking Fran's new neighbour and trying to make her his summer girlfriend. If Manny's temperature exceeds 88 degrees it will trigger "Dave's Syndrome" and, naturally, Bernard does everything he can to set Manny off: insisting he wear a winter jacket, a hot water bottle and "Heat B Gone Booties", storing books in the oven.

* The ''HeyArnold'' episode "Heat," in which a heat wave caused the neighborhood children to rebel against a megalomaniac ice cream salesman.
* ''TheSimpsons''

** Occurred in another episode when the whole Springfield cranked up the air conditioners during the heatwave and one more electric output will cause a blackout. Unfortunately, it was Homer's fault for plugging in the dancing Santa Claus.

* 1973-74 ''SuperFriends''. One episode ("Too Hot To Handle") had a worldwide heat wave caused by alien interference. They used a satellite to draw the Earth closer to the Sun so it would be [[{{Terraform}} xenoformed]] to make it hotter and thus more comfortable for them when they arrived.

* An episode of ''TheMrMenShow'', appropriately titled "Heatwave."
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "The Coolest Heatwave Ever", when the gang search for the backup water valve during a heatwave.

Can also serve as a good excuse for [[FanService people to walk around in swimsuits or soaked to the skin clothing.]]

Not to be confused with ItWasADarkAndStormyNight. Unless the night was ''[[ThrowMommaFromTheTrain sultry]]''. See also [[FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit The Boss Hogg]].

* The New York heatwave in ''TheSevenYearItch'' not only inspires Richard Sherman to contemplate illicit things with The Girl in the upstairs apartment while his wife and kids are escaping the heat in the country, but also leads to the [[TropeNamer trope naming]] MarilynManeuver.

* Meta example: In ''ThrowMommaFromTheTrain'', the [[MostWritersAreWriters writer protagonist]] spends the entire movie trying to find a synonym for [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight "It was a hot night"]] as an intro for his new thriller, only to be informed by Momma that the night was ''"sultry. It's too goddamn'' sultry ''in here!"'' He then attempts to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin strangle the poor lady]].

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

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[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''PlantsVsZombies'', the DS version has a minigame set during a literal heat wave.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* During the Confessor Arc of ''AstroCity'', a major heatwave heightens the amount of paranoia and short-fuses that accompanied a Serial Killing, with the narrator {{Lampshading}} this trope.

* ''ToKillAMockingbird''. Atticus Finch defends an innocent black man on a brutally hot day, accused of rape on a brutally hot day.

* A frequent device in ''TheDresdenFiles''. ''Summer Knight'' makes the most use of the heat wave motif, feeding into Harry's irritability given his recent defeat and helping to highlight [[spoiler: how things are going seriously wrong with the Summer fae]].