July Broke Records For Hottest Month In U.S.

Living in Las Vegas, I’m accustomed to hotter summer temperatures than most of the U.S., but July totally felt off the charts.

Turns out the lower 48 states set a record for the hottest  month on record (1895–present) in July, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

July was the hottest month ever in the contiguous United States, according to the NOAA. https://t.co/COzPwA4yl2

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 10, 2026

From AP News:

Last month averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree.

Although it was unusually cool in Alaska, hotter than normal conditions blanketed the Lower 48, with the most excessive heat in the Mountain West, Southwest, Northern Plains and Southeast.

The biggest driver of the heat was at night. Nighttime lows, which are crucial for people and agriculture to recover from hot days, smashed the old record for hottest minimums by 0.7 degrees, NOAA said.

Hotter nights are a classic sign of human-caused climate change, according to scientists.