High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 2006 North American heat wave spread throughout most of the United States and Canada beginning on July 15, 2006, killing at least 225 people. That day the temperature reached 117 °F (47 °C) in Pierre, South Dakota, with many places in South Dakota that hit well into the 120s. A 130 degree temperature (54 °C) was reported at a remote farm in South Dakota. The heat wave went through several distinct periods: