There are those lovely sunny days where the sky is blazingly blue and the air wafts with the scent of barbecues. Then there are those days that are so stiflingly, throat-burningly hot that you daren’t even open a window. The kind of heat that can turn people into sweaty messes within seconds. Even the northernmost parts of the US have experienced such extreme heat. Now, as a heatwave grips the Pacific Coast, we reveal the record high in every state, from the (relatively) coolest to the hottest ever day in the USA.
It’s hardly surprising that the northernmost state has the ‘coolest’ of hottest days. But it is surprising that it’s quite this hot. The state hit the hundred mark in June 1915 in Fort Yukon, an Arctic Circle city on the banks of the Yukon River. It’s probably more recognizable when covered in a dusting – or blanket – of snow. But the area can actually be pretty hot in summer and basks under a midnight sun from June to September.
The Aloha State’s hottest day actually edged in right at the end of its winter, set in late April 1931 in Pahala on Hawaii (‘the Big Island’). There are just two distinct seasons in the state, with summer from May to October and winter from November to April. Though 'winter' is clearly relative, as the daytime average is a decidedly balmy 78°F (29°C).
June 2012 was a sizzler in many of the northeastern states, but DC sent the mercury soaring with a new record hottest day, on the 29th. It was a significant leap from the previously held record, which was 101°F (38°C) in 1934, and a scorching end to an unseasonably (and uncomfortably) hot month.
Anyone who happened to be in Providence in August 1975 enjoyed (or perhaps suffered) unseasonably hot weather. The record was set in the home of Brown University on the 2nd, and it’s only come close a couple of times since. The normal monthly average high in August is 81°F (27°C) – significantly more manageable.
The New England state is far more famous for fall colors, which dress its forests and line its roads in jewel-like shades of ruby and garnet. Winters tend to be pretty frigid, too. But it also has distinct summer months – and the days can get pretty hot, as this record proves. It was set on two separate days in July 1911, with the temperature taken in North Bridgton, a picturesque village northwest of Portland.
It’s been a long time since New Hampshire had its hottest day. The high was reached on 4 July – Independence Day – in 1911, recorded in the southern city of Nashua. Pretty impressive weather for a national holiday, though we’re not sure if we would have been brave enough to venture outside even in this leafy state.
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It’s known as the ‘Land of the Steady Habits’ and, with average July highs of 84°F (29°C) in the capital Hartford, that seems to apply to the weather, too. Yet summer temperatures have reached sweaty heights on occasion. Particularly in August 1916, when the record was set in Torrington, home to beautiful (and cool looking) Burr Pond State Park. It was equaled in July 1995, in Danbury.
The small, unassuming western town of Chester hit new highs in August 1975 when it registered a record-breaking temperature of 107°F (42°C) – significantly hotter than the town’s average high for that month, 82°F (28°C). The New England state is known for its distinct seasons – as well as its scenic coast, historic cities and lovely lighthouses – though this was a little more distinct than usual.
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Vermont is one of the most outdoorsy states, from its forests filled with maple trees (tapped for the famous syrup) to mountainsides zigzagged with trails and ski slopes. But on 7 July 1912 it was too hot for all but the hardiest sun-worshippers to leave their homes – and definitely too hot for skiing… The hottest place on that sweltering day was Vernon, a small town that was home to a now-defunct nuclear power plant.
New Yorkers are used to extreme weather, especially those with the added city heat in the Big Apple. The surrounding countryside and coastal areas offer some respite from sweltering summers. But, in July 1926, there was no escape from the squirmingly hot conditions. The mercury rose highest in Troy, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River and part of the so-called ‘Capital District’ that includes bigger Albany.
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It’s known as the Sunshine State but, while it enjoys some beautiful balmy days, the most sizzling thing about it is the scene at Miami Beach. The state actually falls relatively low on the scale when it comes to packing heat, though it did manage a pretty respectable scorcher of a day back in June 1931. The temperature was registered in Monticello, a small city in Jefferson County named after third president Thomas Jefferson’s estate.
It's a tale of two climates in Maryland, with summer temperatures in the continental west reaching sunny highs and the east more humid. The record, originally set in Boettcherville in July 1898, has been equaled thrice since: in Frederick, during the heatwave of July 1936, and in mountain-backed Cumberland – where George Washington once had his headquarters – on two consecutive August days in 1918.
Relatively tiny Delaware tends to have pretty moderate temperatures, thanks to its location on a peninsula and the cooling effects of the Atlantic, rivers and bays. With average July highs of 72°F (29°C), summers are pleasant enough to sunbathe on the lovely beaches and walk by the dunes, though the sand is unlikely to scald anyone’s toes. It probably would have in July 1930, though, when the as yet unparalleled high was recorded in Millsboro.
The Old Dominion State has hit its max (so far) temperature three times – twice in July 1900, when the tiny town of Columbia ‘enjoyed’ extreme heat, and then again in July 1954, when Balcony Falls – a station in Glasgow, known for its trails – sizzled in searing sunshine. Luckily both are on or near the Blue Ridge Mountains and the James River, though no amount of shade or water can completely counter heat like that.
The summer of 1983 was hot, hot, hot for much of the US. For North Carolina it was record-breaking, with Fayetteville hitting the state’s highest ever recorded temperature on 21 August. The city’s average high for that month is a far lower 88°F (31°C). We bet there were some wilting camellias – and wilting humans – in Cape Fear Botanical Garden, one of its most famous sites.
The 1936 heatwave – the hottest US summer on record – melted much of the country, and New Jersey was no exception. Its most sweltering day that summer, and ever, was registered in Runyon, Old Bridge Township on 10 July. Even the coastal breezes of Jersey Shore weren’t enough to escape the high temperatures.
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Phoenixville, PA is perhaps best known as the home of Valley Forge National Historical Park, where George Washington and his army camped during the winter of 1777 and 1778. That was probably pretty cold, too, and a far cry from the summer of 1936, when the city was one of many across the US to experience its hottest days on record (on 9 and 10 July).
West Virginia reached its hottest temperature during the country’s notorious 1936 heatwave, when the weather in Martinsburg, part of the Eastern Panhandle region, equaled the record set in Moorefield in August 1930. It’s hard to imagine when the state’s average high in July, generally the hottest month, is a relatively chilly 82°F (27.8°C).
Summers in Alabama aren’t known for being cold or even mild. They tend to be roasting, sending people flocking to the coast for a little breeze. Even by those sweltering standards, though, 6 September 1925 was blisteringly hot. The late summer record-breaker was registered in the small city of Centreville, known for historic homes and plantations.
One day in Louisville – Georgia’s former state capital – set the record for the Peach State’s highest temperature, in July 1952. It was equaled 31 years later in Greenville, a tiny city southwest of Atlanta. That 1983 summer saw heatwaves in many parts of the States, with the southeast particularly badly hit by droughts and temperatures in excess of 100°F (38°C).
Michigan was another state to be hit by insufferably searing temperatures in the summer of 1936, which remains the hottest summer on record in the US. The highest temperature was registered on 13 July in the verdant, sparsely populated village of Stanwood, close to Grand Rapids.
The village of Gallipolis clings to the banks of the Ohio River in the southeast of the state. But even the cooling effects of the water weren’t enough to temper the extreme heat on 21 July 1934, which remains a statewide record. Much of the country suffered a heatwave that year, kicking off the ‘Dust Bowl’ years with extreme drought affecting much of the US.
The summer of 2012 broke several records, and the year as a whole is the hottest ever on record in the US. It also gave South Carolina its hottest ever day, registered at the University of South Carolina in Columbia on 29 June.
Perryville broke the record on 29 July 1930, and equaled it 11 days later. The town is located on the banks of the Tennessee River, and we imagine lots of people felt tempted to jump into the water on those searing hot days. The state does tend to have balmy summers, but this was something else: average highs are usually around 92°F (33°C).
This one’s yet another victory for the infamous 1936 heatwave. Wisconsin’s record was set on 13 July that year, with temperatures reaching a pretty unbearable 114°F (46°C) in Wisconsin Dells, in the south of the state. The city is popular for its water parks, though unfortunately they were decades away from opening back then.
Kentucky generally has pretty moderate temperatures and plenty of rain, but on 28 July 1930 it was a very different story. A very hot story. Summer averages are around 87°F (31°C) – almost chilly compared to the record set that day in Greensburg, a small city south of better-known Louisville.
Louisiana isn’t a stranger to humid days and heady nights, especially in the sometimes unbearable summers. But just thinking about the record high makes us melt into a puddle of sweat. It was registered in August 1936 – at the height of the country’s worst and most ravaging heatwave – in the tiny northwestern town of Plain Dealing.
No, the hottest temperature wasn’t recorded next to Yellowstone’s bubbling, turquoise-and-gold caldera, but in the small town of Basin, to the east of the national park. That was in August 1983, and it was equaled in Kinnear in July 1988. And, while summers do tend to be warm, they rarely stray above the mid-90s, let alone shooting way into triple figures.
Mountainous Colorado has delightfully distinct seasons, making it equally popular with hikers and general outdoorsy types, who head into the Rockies in the summer, and skiers who flock to the posh resorts when blanketed with snow. It rarely gets extremely hot, but an early record of 114°F (46°C) – set in July 1933 and equaled in July 1954 – was broken by the tiniest margin in July 2019, with the new top temp registered near John Martin Reservoir.
This upper Midwest state is pretty accustomed to hot summers, but perhaps not quite this hot. A high of 115°F (46°C) was hit in the western city of Beardsley in July 1917. It was thought to have been equaled during the sweltering heatwave of 1936, but the reading was proven to be inaccurate – so Minnesota is still to reach those heady heights again.
The birthplace of the blues often basks (or burns) under humid summer temperatures, but the days aren’t often red hot. The average summer high in Jackson is 92°F (33°C). So even those used to heat must have retreated to the nearest shade on 29 July 1930, when a sizzling 115°F (46°C) was registered in Holly Springs, close to the border with southern Tennessee.
The southern portions of Indiana have a subtropical climate, so summers are typically hot and humid. But the average yearly high, of 86°F (30°C) in July, comes nowhere near the hottest ever day. The state recorded a top temperature of 116°F (47°C) during the 1936 heatwave that scorched swathes of the country. The high was registered on 14 July in the small, centrally located community of Collegeville.
The extreme weather in Illinois often sends people heading for cover, especially in densely populated cities like Chicago. Winters are frigid and summers are roasting. But even the hardiest residents of the Prairie State surely would have suffered in July 1954, when the temperature in Cahokia, close to the Mississippi River, soared way above its average high for that month.
Montana’s nickname is Big Sky Country but perhaps Scorched Earth Country would have been more appropriate on 20 July 1893, when this blisteringly hot record was set in the city of Glendive, which stretches by the banks of the Yellowstone River. The heat was on again in July 1937, in the small, northeastern town of Medicine Lake.
The day after Independence Day 1985 was a scorcher, with a sweltering high of 117°F (47°C) in St. George, on the outskirts of the popular red-rock landscapes of Red Cliffs and Pioneer Park. An ever-so-slightly higher temperature of 118°F (48°C) was recorded on Independence Day – 4 July – in 2007, just south of St. George, but its validity is yet to be confirmed.
The northwestern state of Washington is known for vast, verdant national parks, wine regions and a coastline laced with islands. It certainly isn’t the first place that springs to mind in relation to extreme heat. Yet, June 2021 saw it in the throes of a major heatwave and, in July 1928 and again in August 1961, the mercury bubbled up to an unprecedented 118°F (48°C) in the state’s drier, hotter east.
Idaho reached its dizzying high of 118°F (48°C) in July 1934, when what became known as the ‘Dust Bowl’ – the Southern Plains – region entered a severe period of drought. While the so-called Gem State lies to the northwest, it was also badly hit by the searing temperatures and lack of rain, culminating in the hottest day being recorded in the town of Orofino, by the Clearwater River.
This searing temperature was registered in the city of Keokuk, the state’s southernmost city, which sits on a bend of the Mississippi. It’s not unusual for the Midwest state to have warm, humid and often rainy summers, but this July 1934 day was far hotter than the average seasonal high of 87°F (31°C).
The city of Warsaw is sparsely populated, surrounded by greenery and nestled between two lakes. But even all that shade and cool water wasn’t enough to counteract the heat of 14 July 1954, when the mercury hit 118°F (48°C) – way above the far more comfortable average high of 89°F (32°C).
Nebraska was battered by dust storms and scorched by high temperatures during the country’s crippling drought of 1934-36, which gave the Southern Plains’ state and its neighbors the collective moniker ‘Dust Bowl’. During those years, the record high temperature was reached three times, with the bar set in July 1934 and equaled twice in July 1936.
This typically green, lush and (often) rain-soaked state comes surprisingly high in the top temperature charts. It did happen quite some time ago, though – on 29 July and 10 August 1898. It was reported at the time that the state's woollen mills were closed because of the heat and many of those working in the wheat fields were overcome by the heat and fainted. June 2021's sweltering highs in Salem haven't quite topped this 19th-century record.
South Dakota first reached its highest ever recorded temperature in July 1936, when much of the USA was suffering extreme heat and drought. But it wasn’t a one-off. The Midwestern state – whose most famous attractions include Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore and Black Hills National Forest – hit the 120°F (49°C) milestone again in July 2006, 70 years later.
The Lone Star State was one of the hardest hit by the 1936 heatwave, part of a two-year drought that earned the Southern Plains – from North Dakota to Texas – its ‘Dust Bowl’ nickname. Whipping winds, dust storms and chokingly hot temperatures killed livestock and crops, and numerous heat records were set. Here, that August was the first time the mercury had risen to 120°F (49°C) – which happened again in June 1994.
Arkansas has a humid subtropical climate, which means it often simmers through steamy summers. But, like many parts of the US, the Natural State – so-named because of its abundance of waterways, forests, mountains and plains – suffered extreme heat and drought in the summer of 1936, and it reached a record high of 120°F (49°C) that August in Ozark, a city in a valley by the Arkansas River.
The blistering 1936 heatwave rocketed temperatures in Oklahoma to the 120°F (49°C) mark an incredible four times in July and August. At the heart of the Dust Bowl, the state was battered by storms of black dust that whipped across the region.
North Dakota recorded its roasting high of 121°F (49°C) – the sixth highest temperature recorded in US history – during the country’s hottest ever summer. The 1936 heatwave melted pretty much everything in its path and, here, sent the mercury rocketing in the city of Steele, in Kidder County. There just isn’t enough ice cream in the world to cope with that kind of heat.
The Sunflower State has experienced plenty of extreme weather, averaging more than 100 tornadoes per year and baking during long, hot summers. But 121°F (49°C) was both unusual and unwelcome when it set a new heat record in July 1936, during the country’s worst heatwave. The melting milestone was hit twice during that month.
Registered in June 1994 at a plant for radioactive waste a little outside Carlsbad, New Mexico’s hottest day was a barely imaginable 122°F (50°C). The southwestern state is known for its desert landscape, arid climate and hot, hot, hot summers, but its average annual high is a relatively manageable 97°F (36.1°C).
Now things are really hotting up, and not just around the blackjack tables of Nevada’s glitziest city, Las Vegas. The so-called Sagebrush State is no stranger to a little warmth every now and again, but nothing quite like the temperature recorded in June 1994. It was the southern town of Laughlin, on the California border, that took the heat.
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California has long held the official record for the most mercury-busting temperature not only in the US, but anywhere on the planet at 134°F (57°C). But that reading has incurred some dispute as it dates from 1913 at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek, pictured) in Death Valley. However, scientists at the US National Weather Service are currently verifying (it takes months or even years to verify) what could be a new modern record of 130°F (54.4°C). The new temperature was taken on Sunday 16 August 2020 (also at Furnace Creek) during a heatwave that's enveloped western and southwestern states from Arizona to Washington.
On 29 June 1994, Arizona’s Lake Havasu City was hotter than the sun. Or we imagine it must have felt that way. The southwestern state is known for its desert climate but this was hot even by usual summer standards. In fact, it was the second-highest temperature ever recorded in the US. Beaches were shut because the sun-heated water carried higher levels of bacteria – and presumably no one would want to walk on sand that scorching anyway.
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