The United States had its hottest summer on record from June through August, with the average temperature across the contiguous states reaching 23.6C (74.4F), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday. The average was 1.7C (3F) above the 20th-century average and 0.2C (0.4F) above the previous record, set in 1936 and 2021.
August was also the hottest August in NOAA’s 132 years of weather records, with an average temperature of 24.2C (75.6F).
Heat and drought spread unevenly
Four of the five hottest US summers have occurred in the past five years, according to NOAA. The agency linked the broader warming trend largely to fossil-fuel burning, while the 1936 record occurred during the Dust Bowl, when extreme heat and drought combined with damaging farming practices across the Great Plains.
About 59 percent of the contiguous United States was experiencing drought on September 1, more than 10 percentage points higher than a month earlier. Conditions worsened across parts of the Great Plains, Midwest and South; Texas and Oklahoma received less than 30 percent of their usual August rainfall. For additional context, see “European Heat and Drought Put Olive Oil and Food Crops at Risk”.
The pattern was not uniform. Indiana and Ohio each recorded their wettest August on record, receiving roughly twice their usual rainfall.
What could happen next
The World Meteorological Organization said a strengthening El Niño could become one of the most intense events since monitoring began and persist into early 2027. The naturally occurring climate pattern can raise global temperatures on a planet already warming because of fossil-fuel burning, and the WMO warned it could bring more extreme heat, drought and flooding worldwide. A related part of this story is covered in “Ocean temperatures set a new record as El Niño intensifies”.
NOAA expects a warmer-than-usual September across much of the United States. Drought could persist or worsen in several regions, while parts of the Northwest, Midwest and South face a higher-than-usual risk of significant wildfires.
What happens next
NOAA’s September outlook will track the expected warmer-than-usual conditions, drought risks and elevated wildfire risk across parts of the country. The development of this issue can be followed in “How drought is testing farmers across the United Kingdom”.
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