July 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded in the US, NOAA confirms

The contiguous United States sweltered through its hottest month on record in July, according to a climate summary NOAA released Monday, edging out marks set during the Dust Bowl summer of 1936 and again in 2012.

The Lower 48 states averaged 76.9 degrees Fahrenheit for the month, 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average and roughly one to two tenths of a degree warmer than the previous record holders. NOAA has tracked national temperatures since 1895.

Every one of the 48 contiguous states came in at least 1 degree above its 20th-century July average, and none ranked near or below average, NOAA said. Thirteen states ranked among their five warmest Julys ever. Wyoming had both its hottest July and hottest month of any kind on record, with the statewide average running 5.1 degrees above normal, about 0.4 degrees above the previous record set in 1936. “I know people who went out and bought AC units for their windows just to keep up with it,” said Tony Bergantino, director of the state climate center at the University of Wyoming.

More than 200 all-time high-temperature records fell at weather stations scattered across the Lower 48 during the month, according to meteorologist Guy Walton’s tracking of NOAA data, with daily record highs outpacing daily record lows by roughly seven to one. Several locations in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana saw all-time high temperature records set for the first time since NOAA began keeping data in 1895.

It wasn’t just daytime heat driving the record. Daytime highs averaged 89.5 degrees, the sixth-warmest on record, but overnight lows averaged 64.2 degrees, a record in their own right and 0.7 degrees above the previous mark set in July 2022. Yale Climate Connections meteorologist Jeff Masters said the elevated nighttime lows are especially dangerous because they deny the body a chance to recover from daytime heat. “If you’re talking heat waves, that nighttime low is incredibly important for determining total heat stress,” Masters said. “So if it doesn’t cool off at night, your body doesn’t have time to readjust to all the heat.”

A heat wave that began in early July placed more than 185 million people under heat alerts at its peak, including residents of Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Denver and Salt Lake City recorded their warmest Julys ever, as the Intermountain West saw the most significant heat relative to average, while cities including Miami and Los Angeles ranked among their top-five warmest Julys.

The heat coincided with widespread drought. Six states experienced their most severe July drought on record, and 13 others ranked among their 10 worst July droughts, even as isolated regions saw catastrophic flooding. Minnesota’s lakes are also seeing decreased levels due to less snow and rainfall. Slow-moving storms dumped more than 28 inches of rain near Knippa, Texas, from July 13-17, and nearly 12 inches fell over eastern New York from July 28-30. Large wildfires burned through the Pacific Northwest and Canada by month’s end, echoing conditions in Europe, which is having its hottest summer on record. Alaska was the lone outlier, posting its coldest July since 2008.

The year-to-date national average now ranks as the second warmest on record, behind only 2012.

Masters said the record shouldn’t be read as an aberration. “This may be one of the coolest years we’re gonna experience for the rest of our lives,” he said, pointing to continued fossil fuel use as the underlying driver. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting an elevated chance of above-average temperatures across most of the continental U.S. through August, and 2026 could still finish as the hottest year on record globally.