US Experiences Hottest Month on Record
July 2026 breaks the Dust Bowl record from 1936, with scientists warning that climate change is the primary culprit behind the extreme heat affecting much of the country.
July 2026 breaks the Dust Bowl record from 1936, with scientists warning that climate change is the primary culprit behind the extreme heat affecting much of the country.
The U.S. government agency for oceans and atmosphere (NOAA) confirmed on Monday what millions of Americans felt firsthand: July 2026 was the hottest month on record for the continental United States. The average temperature across the 48 states reached 24.9 degrees Celsius, breaking a 90-year-old record.
The record heat surpassed July 1936, which during the Dust Bowl era held the title of the hottest month with an average of 24.8 degrees. This year's July was warmer by one-eighth of a degree, according to NOAA data. Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein reported that the biggest warming factor came at night, where minimum temperatures shattered the old record by as much as 0.7 degrees. It is precisely these warmer nights, as experts point out, that are a clear signal of human-induced climate change because they prevent organisms and crops from recovering after hot days.
A particularly dramatic situation was recorded in the state of Wyoming, which experienced its hottest July and its hottest month ever. Temperatures there were 2.8 degrees Celsius above average and nearly half a degree warmer than the previous record from 2007. Above-average temperatures were recorded across the country, with the most intense heat hitting the Mountain West, Southwest, Northern Plains, and Southeast.
While the continental U.S. sweltered, Alaska experienced unusually cold weather, an exception to the global trend. Hot and windy conditions also created an increased risk of wildfires, especially in the western part of the country, which has been battling unusually dry conditions and drought for years.
The scientific group World Weather Attribution released an analysis showing that the hot and humid conditions that marked the heat wave in the eastern U.S. would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change. July began with that very heat wave, which hit the densely populated eastern part of the country as Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of independence and hosted the final of the World Cup in soccer.
The natural climate pattern El Niño, which began in June and is expected to peak between November and February, also contributed to a multi-week heat dome in the northwestern states. Record-warm sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific disrupted the jet stream over the western U.S., trapping hot air in one place.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the strengthening El Niño is "pouring fuel on a planet already in flames" and pushing the world into "uncharted territory." According to data from the European Union's Copernicus, regions home to about 900 million people experienced their hottest July on record in 2026, including the Sahel, Central America, France, and Spain. Additionally, the Copernicus service reported that Western Europe just went through the "hottest June-July period ever recorded," marked by consecutive heat waves, widespread drought, and dramatic wildfires. Sea surface temperatures across the globe also broke a new record for July, surpassing the unprecedented levels of 2023 when the average reached 20.89 degrees Celsius.
Scientists predict that 2026 will globally be the second hottest year on record, while 2027 is expected to become the hottest year in history. By then, the full effects of El Niño will be felt, as its impact on global temperatures typically lags behind the peak of the phenomenon itself.
