History Main / HeatWave

* The ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' episode "Swelter Skelter" has this premise. [[RascallyRaccoon Lifty and Shifty]] decide to solve the issue by "kidnapping" [[HumanPopsicle Cro-Marmot]] and using him as air conditioning, only to get the exact opposite problem.

* A particularly bad heat wave hit much of the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, and the Canadian province of British Columbia, in the summer of 2021. Lytton, a small town in British Columbia, broke the all-time hottest temperature record in Canada for three consecutive days (culminating with an all-time high of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F)) on June 29...and then a day later, was largely destroyed by an extremely fast-moving wildfire.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E75TheMidnightSun The Midnight Sun]]" features a catastrophic heat wave caused by the Earth moving closer to the sun. It turns out in the CruelTwistEnding 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]].

Of course, the heat can also serve as a good excuse for having characters [[GettingHotInHere walk around in skimpy or soaked-to-the-skin clothing.]]

** In battle, Pokémon with the move Sunny Day or the ability Drought can cause harsh sunlight to shine down for up to five turns, causing various effects (such as strengthing Fire-type attacks, weakening Water-type attacks, and cutting out the charge time of the Grass-type move Solar Beam).

* [[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2569097 One study]] showed that incidence of mental disorders with violent presentations increased when the temperature rose above 80 degrees Fahrenheit / 26.6 °C. Also, the FBI found an average increase of between 35-40% in the murder rate in urban areas from February to July over a span of five years of records.
** Another [[https://www.nber.org/papers/w20598 study]] shows that with each degree of temperature rise, violence increases by up to 20%.

* The period of late 2012 - early 2013 is often referred to in Australia as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Summer "Angry Summer"]], where over 123 weather records were broken in Australia's hottest summer on average, and may have contributed to the rise in violence (particularly gang-related incidents in Sydney) throughout the rest of the year. It also brought about nature's anger with bushfires across Tasmania and floods in coastal Queensland.

* ''[[Literature/NikkiHeat Heat Wave]]'', the first book [[Series/{{Castle}} Richard Castle's]] [[{{Defictionalization}} first Nikki Heat book]] takes place in the middle of one in NYC.

* A native informs the military that the titular creature in ''Film/{{Predator}}'' only appears during the hottest years. [[Film/{{Predator 2}} The sequel]] has another one stalk the streets of Los Angeles during a heat wave. Possibly justified in that yautja usually wear a bodysuit made of thermal netting, meaning they might be ectothermic and would feel more comfortable in hot environments.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had an episode entitled "Heat Wave," in which the babies visit the park on a sweltering summer day. After the water fountain breaks down, they befriend another baby and set out on an adventure to find "the land of many waters" (ie, the sprinklers on the other side of the park).

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E75TheMidnightSun The Midnight Sun]]" features a catastrophic heat wave caused by the Earth moving closer to the sun. It turns out in the CruelTwistEnding that [[spoiler:[[FeverDream it was]] AllJustADream, but reality isn't much better: the Earth is moving ''away'' from the sun, resulting in the Earth gradually freezing]].

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' 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:[[FeverDream it was]] AllJustADream, but reality isn't much better: the Earth is moving ''away'' from the sun, resulting in the Earth gradually freezing]].