US Just Had Its Hottest Summer on Record, NOAA Says

The summer of 2026 was the hottest on record for the contiguous United States in at least 132 years, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Temperatures from June through August rose 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.67 degrees Celsius) above average, beating the previous record set in 2021, when temperatures were 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.22 degrees Celsius) above average. August alone was the hottest August ever recorded, at 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.94 degrees Celsius) above the monthly average.

The season was also one of the driest on record: total precipitation across the contiguous US was 0.32 inches (0.8 centimeters) below average, making it the third-driest summer on record and the driest since 2000. By September 1, 59.1% of the country was in drought, including the West, the upper Midwest and the Deep South; more than 75% of Puerto Rico was in drought, with 40% in 'extreme drought.'

The Southwest, southern Rockies, southwestern Plains, southern Florida, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado saw particularly high temperatures in August. The dry conditions also raised wildfire risk: fires burned more than 10,000 acres in eastern Washington and spread into Oregon, with additional fires in Nevada and Alaska. Wind gusts up to 111 mph (178.6 km/h) tore across South Dakota, a heatwave hit south Florida, and Hurricane Lala brought intense winds, rain and flooding to Hawaii.

NOAA's report projects that much of the current drought is likely to continue even as summer ends. Scientists attribute the broader pattern of rising temperatures, glacial ice loss, sea level rise and worsening natural disasters to climate change driven primarily by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities such as transportation and manufacturing.