An unrelenting series of summer heat waves has wreaked havoc on the South and Southwest this summer, breaking daily temperature records throughout the South, including seven in a row in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as “dangerously” hot conditions threatening to topple more heat records in the Southwest this weekend.
August 6New Orleans broke its daily record temperature for the fourth straight day at 100 degrees, while Phoenix tied its daily record (114) and Key West, Florida, broke its daily record at 94 degrees.
August 5New Orleans set another daily heat record with a high of 100 degrees, while Phoenix set a daily record at 116 degrees.
August 4Baton Rouge, Louisiana, broke its daily record high for the seventh straight day, according to the National Weather Service, with a temperature of 101 degrees, while in New Orleans, residents saw a record high of 99 degrees.
August 3Tucson, Arizona, broke its daily high temperature record, with thermometers reaching a blistering 105 degrees, according to the NWS, while Phoenix, in the midst of a historical heat wave, set a daily record at 113, Tampa, Florida, set a new daily record at 95, New Orleans broke its daily record (98), as did Corpus Christi, Texas (101), Lafayette, Louisiana (101) and Little Rock, Arkansas, set a daily record at 103.
August 2Dallas tied its daily record high, at 107 degrees, tying a previous record set in 2011, while Austin, Texas, broke its daily record at 105 degrees, Houston tied its daily record (101) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, broke its daily high (102).
August 1Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Waco, Texas, broke their latest daily records this summer, with temperatures reaching a high of 103, 102, 107 and 106 degrees, respectively, while Little Rock, Arkansas, also set a daily high at 94 degrees and Baton Rouge topped out at 104 degrees—the hottest day in Louisiana’s capital city since 2007.
July 31New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, both topped their previous daily high temperature records, at 101 and 102 degrees, respectively—the hottest day in New Orleans since 2009.
July 30Phoenix recorded its 31st day in a row with a high temperature above 110 degrees, trouncing its previous record of 18 days, while Baton Rouge hit another daily record of 100 degrees and Austin, Texas, broke its daily high of 107 degrees.
July 29Baton Rouge broke another daily temperature record at 101 degrees.
July 27Anaheim, California, set its second straight daily record high, at 99 degrees, while Rapid City, South Dakota, also broke a daily record at 101, as did Baton Rouge, Louisiana (99), Santa Fe, New Mexico (96), and St. Paul (95).
July 26Phoenix set its latest record daily high at 118 degrees, over the city’s previous daily high of 116, while daily records were also set in Anaheim, California, (100), Corpus Christi, Texas (102), Sioux Falls, South Dakota (104), El Pas0, Texas (108), and Santa Fe, New Mexico (99).
July 25Phoenix shattered another daily record high at a blistering 118 degrees, while Tucson, Arizona, recorded its 10th daily record high this month, hitting 112 degrees.
July 24Fort Lauderdale, Florida, posted a daily record at 98 degrees, while Kissimmee, Florida, tied its daily record at 96, according to National Weather Service data.
July 23Reno, Nevada, Helena, Montana, and Grand Junction, Colorado, set daily temperature records at 104, 103 and 105 degrees, respectively, while Miami set a daily record (98 degrees) according to the National Weather Service.
July 22Salt Lake City set a daily record high with thermometers reading 105 degrees, as did San Juan, Puerto Rico (94 degrees), Miami (97 degrees), Tucson, Arizona (111), Houston (101), San Antonio, Texas (104), Salt Lake City (106), Helena, Montana (103), New Orleans (97), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (99) and Phoenix, which set yet another daily record high at 118 degrees.
July 21El Paso, Texas, broke its daily record for the fifth straight day, with a daily high of 107, while Flagstaff, Arizona, set its third consecutive daily record at 90 degrees, and Tampa and Orlando, Florida set daily records at 96 and 97 degrees, respectively.
July 20Phoenix extended its streak of 110-plus-degree days to 21, breaking yet another daily temperature record at 115 degrees, while Flagstaff, Arizona, set a daily record (90 degrees).
July 19Phoenix broke its latest in a string of daily temperature records amid a historic heat wave in the Southwest, with the temperature at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport reaching 119 degrees, the hottest day since 2017 and the city’s fourth hottest day on record—Flagstaff, Arizona, also set a daily record at 92 degrees, as did El Paso, Texas (111), Tucson, Arizona (112) and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (98).
July 18Phoenix set a record for most days in a row with highs of 110 degrees or higher, reaching the mark for the 19th consecutive day, with temperatures hitting 118 degrees—a daily record—while Death Valley broke its daily record at a staggering 128 degrees, Tucson, Arizona, broke its daily record at 112, Las Vegas set a daily record (100) and Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas, both broke daily records at 107, 101, 109, 110 and 104 degrees, respectively.
July 17Las Vegas broke a daily record at 96 degrees, while Flagstaff, Arizona, broke its record (94) and four Texas cities—San Antonio, Austin, El Paso and Fort Worth—broke their daily records at 104, 108, 109 and 108, respectively.
July 16Salt Lake City surpassed its daily record high, when the temperature hit 106 degrees, while Santa Rosa, California, tied a daily record (99 degrees), Flagstaff, Arizona, broke its daily record (96 degrees), as did Corpus Christi, Texas (103 degrees), Mobile, Alabama (98), Baton Rouge, Louisiana (100), Austin, Texas (106), El Paso, Texas (105), Sacramento (109) and Reno, Nevada (108)—Carson City, Nevada, shattered its previous daily record of 99 degrees at a blistering 105.
July 15Flagstaff, Arizona, tied a daily record high at 89 degrees.
July 14Two major Texas cities tied their daily high temperature records, with San Antonio hitting 105 degrees and Waco reaching 104, while Fort Worth, Texas, broke its daily record at 106 and Phoenix tied its daily high at 116.
July 13Phoenix set its latest daily high temperature record at 114 degrees, following a string of daily temperature records in the city, while Baton Rouge, Louisiana, tied its daily record at 99 degrees.
July 12Phoenix tied a daily temperature record at a high of 114 degrees, tying a record set in 2020.
July 11Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tied its daily high temperature, at 96 degrees.
July 8Miami broke its daily temperature record for the fourth-straight day and for the fifth time over just six days, at 96 degrees.
July 6Tucson, Arizona, set a record daily high, with thermometers reading 110 degrees, breaking the city’s previous record by one degree.
July 5Portland, Oregon, reached a sweltering 98 degrees, breaking the city’s daily record high by two degrees, while Vancouver, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon, also set daily highs, at 96 and 99 degrees, respectively, and El Paso, Texas, broke a daily record at a whopping 107 degrees.
July 4Tampa set a daily record high again with thermometers reading 97 degrees—July 4 was the planet’s hottest day in nearly 125,000 years, at 62.92 degrees, according to the University of Maine Climate Change Institute.
July 1Tampa broke its daily record (99 degrees), while Stockton, California, broke its record by one degree (109) and Sacramento tied its record (109).
June 30Multiple cities across the country tied their daily record highs, including Tampa (96 degrees), Corpus Christi, Texas (98), and Billings, Montana (99).
June 29Miami set its second-consecutive daily temperature record at 95 degrees, while Fort Worth, Texas, narrowly hit a record daily high at 103 degrees and New Orleans broke another daily record at 100 degrees—marking the first time the temperature has reached triple-digits at the city’s airport in seven years.
June 28Roswell, New Mexico, set another daily high at 112 degrees, the city’s second hottest day on record, while Miami broke another daily record with a temperature of 95 degrees.
June 25As the heat wave stretched east, New Orleans set a new daily record at 98 degrees, beating its former high of 97 set last year.
June 24Roswell, New Mexico tied its daily heat record with a high of 110 degrees set in 1990, while San Antonio for the second straight day tied its daily record (102).
June 23San Antonio tied its daily heat record at 102 degrees, while Laredo set another daily record (109).
June 22Corpus Christi, McAllen and Laredo continued to break record daily high temperature records (103, 105 and 114 degrees, respectively).
June 21The Florida Keys tied a daily high temperature record at 94 degrees, while St. Paul, Minnesota, broke a daily record (91), Corpus Christi, Texas, broke a daily record (100) and Houston tied its daily record (99).
June 20Laredo and McAllen broke daily records again, at 114 and 106 degrees, respectively, while Austin set another daily record (106) and Midland broke its daily record (109).
June 19Records were smashed across Texas during a heat wave, with new daily highs hit in San Antonio (105 degrees) and McAllen (107), while Austin tied its prior daily record of 106 degrees, according to the National Weather Service and Laredo tied an all-time record-high temperature for the city (115)—Laredo broke another daily record on June 13 (111 degrees).
June 16Miami broke a daily record with a temperature of 95 degrees—toppling a record that had stood for 12 years—while Fort Lauderdale broke a daily heat record (95 degrees).
June 3Cincinnati broke a daily high record that had been set in 1951 (93 degrees).
June 2Hartford also saw a daily record (94 degrees), beating a record set in 1961 by 3 degrees and Philadelphia narrowly beat a 23-year record (95 degrees), while temperature records also fell in the Midwest, including in St. Louis (93 degrees) and Detroit (90 degrees).
June 1Buffalo set daily temperature records on consecutive days to start off the month (90 degrees), while Syracuse, New York, set a record at 91 degrees, and Fargo, North Dakota, set a daily record at 97 degrees.
An excessive heat warning is in effect in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and the entire state of Louisiana, with heat advisories in effect throughout the South and Southwest, bringing “dangerously hot conditions” and a heat index—how hot it feels outside when humidity is taken into consideration—into the 120s and 130s in some areas. Forecasters urged residents to stay hydrated in air-conditioned rooms, avoid strenuous outdoor activity and take “extra precautions” while outside.
Forecasters expect the early-season heat waves to be a sign of things to come, as a weather phenomenon called El Niño develops, bringing warmer air north, and as scientists warn the effects of climate change from greenhouse gas emissions will continue to drive temperatures upward, prolong drought conditions and make wildfires more frequent and strong. Roughly 1,500 cities and towns in the U.S. broke daily heat records over a 30-day period ending last September, as heat waves spread throughout the U.S., as well as the U.K. and southern Europe. So far this year, a heat wave in China took down single-day records in China, while in the U.K., forecasters are warning of the hottest year on record.
A scorching 119-degree high at Big Bend National Park in west Texas on June 23 came within one degree of tying an all-time temperature record for the state of Texas, which was set in 1936. Death Valley National Park came within three degrees of breaking the Earth’s all-time temperature record on July 16, when thermometers in Furnace Creek reached 128 degrees, just shy of a 130-degree record set in the park that is believed to be the hottest reliably-recorded temperature on the planet.