The contiguous United States experienced its hottest July since recordkeeping began, according to newly released data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with record-breaking overnight temperatures helping push the month past previous highs.
NOAA reported that the average temperature across the lower 48 states and Washington, D.C., reached 76.9 degrees Fahrenheit in July. That edged out the previous record set in July 1936 and matched again in July 2012 by approximately 0.1 to 0.2 degrees. Federal temperature records date back to 1895.
While daytime heat was extreme, it did not set a record. Average daytime highs reached 89.5 degrees Fahrenheit, making this July the sixth-hottest on record for daytime maximum temperatures.
Nighttime temperatures, however, reached unprecedented levels. Overnight lows averaged 64.2 degrees Fahrenheit—3.7 degrees above the historical average and the warmest monthly overnight average ever recorded. The figure also exceeded the previous record, set in July 2022, by 0.7 degrees.
According to an analysis by Climate Central using data collected between 1970 and 2024, climate change has contributed to increasingly warmer summer nights across the United States.
Conditions varied outside the contiguous states. Alaska recorded average temperatures 0.9 degrees below its long-term average from 1925 through 2000, while Hawaii finished the month 0.6 degrees warmer than its 1991-2020 average.
NOAA said temperatures were “much-above-average” across large portions of the country, including the interior West, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountains, the northern Plains, the upper Midwest, and sections of the Gulf Coast and Southeast. Thirteen states experienced one of their five warmest Julys on record, with Wyoming setting an all-time July record, finishing 0.9 degrees above its previous high.
The extreme heat coincided with unusually dry conditions across much of the northern Rockies, northern Plains, upper Midwest, Northeast, southern Plains, Mississippi Valley, central Gulf Coast, and Southeast, according to NOAA.
Other regions experienced the opposite pattern, with above-average rainfall recorded across parts of the West, Southwest, central Plains, and upper Midwest.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that approximately 48.5% of the contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., remained in drought conditions. More than two-thirds of Puerto Rico was also experiencing drought.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, the Environmental Protection Agency has shifted its approach to climate policy. Last month, the agency proposed easing emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, arguing that the change would reduce regulatory compliance costs for manufacturers.
