The summer of 2022 has been marked by heat waves rippling across the planet. Temperatures have handily topped 100º F (38º C) in cities across the globe with some of the most extreme and dangerously high temperatures striking India and Pakistan earlier this year.
Sweltering heat has also baked major cities in Western Europe and the United States, including record-breaking high temps in several Southern California cities at the start of the year. Large U.S. cities including Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, have all expected multiple days above 90º F, with humidity high enough to interrupt the body’s natural ability to shed heat through sweating. (These are the hottest places in the U.S. right now.)
The heat waves can be a reminder of global warming, but climatologists warn against judging climate change by individual weather events. Just as a snowstorm isn’t evidence against global warming, heat waves can occur with or without global warming’s influence.
To identify the hottest day in history in every state, 247 Wall St. reviewed the latest records compiled by the State Climate Extremes Committee, a panel responsible for monitoring observations that may exceed all-time records for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Click here to see the hottest day in history in every state.
The planet is indeed getting warmer over time and human development is to blame, but the hottest summers on record in the United States took place in the 1930s, amid the massive drought of the Dust Bowl that struck in the middle of the Great Depression, sending Okies packing to California farmland, inspiring John Steinbeck to write “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Twenty-four U.S. states still have high-temperature records dating back to that era. Thirteen of those records originate from a massive heat wave in 1936. Nine states still have heat records dating back to 1926 or earlier. In 1913, Greenland Ranch, California (since renamed, appropriately, Furnace Creek Ranch) registered a mind-melting 134º F, the highest verified temperature ever recorded anywhere in the world. (These are the hottest places in the world right now.)
South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington are the only states that have broken heat records so far in this century, from 113º F in South Carolina in 2012 to 120º F in Washington last year.
Alabama
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): Sep 6, 1925
> Location(s): Centreville
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Alaska
> Hottest temp on record: 100º F
> Date(s): June 27, 1915
> Location(s): Fort Yukon
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Arizona
> Hottest temp on record: 128º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1994
> Location(s): Lake Havasu City
Arkansas
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1936
> Location(s): Ozark
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California
> Hottest temp on record: 134º F
> Date(s): July 10, 1913
> Location(s): Greenland Ranch
Colorado
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 20, 2019
> Location(s): John Martin Dam
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Connecticut
> Hottest temp on record: 106º F
> Date(s): Aug. 23, 1916; July 15, 1995
> Location(s): Torrington; Danbury
Delaware
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 21, 1930
> Location(s): Millsboro
Florida
> Hottest temp on record: 109º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1931
> Location(s): Monticello
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Georgia
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): July 24, 1952; Aug. 20, 1983
> Location(s): Louisville; Greenville 2 NNW
Hawaii
> Hottest temp on record: 100º F
> Date(s): Apr 27, 1931
> Location(s): Pahala (Hawaii)
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Idaho
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1934
> Location(s): Orofino
Illinois
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1954
> Location(s): East St. Louis
Indiana
> Hottest temp on record: 116º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1936
> Location(s): Collegeville (south side of Rensselaer)
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Iowa
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 20, 1934
> Location(s): Keokuk No. 2
Kansas
> Hottest temp on record: 121º F
> Date(s): July 18, 1936; July 24, 1936
> Location(s): Fredonia; Alton
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Kentucky
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1930
> Location(s): Greensburg
Louisiana
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1936
> Location(s): Plain Dealing 4W
Maine
> Hottest temp on record: 105º F
> Date(s): July 4, 1911; July 10, 1911
> Location(s): North Bridgton
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Maryland
> Hottest temp on record: 109º F
> Date(s): July 3, 1898; Aug. 6, 1918; Aug. 7, 1918; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Boettcherville; Cumberland, Keedysville; Cumberland; Frederick, Cumberland
Massachusetts
> Hottest temp on record: 107º F
> Date(s): Aug. 2, 1975
> Location(s): Chester, New Bedford
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Michigan
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): July 13, 1936
> Location(s): Mio, Stanwood
Minnesota
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 29, 1917
> Location(s): Beardsley
Mississippi
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 29, 1930
> Location(s): Holly Springs 2N
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Missouri
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1954
> Location(s): Union, Warsaw
Montana
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1937; July 20, 1893
> Location(s): Medicine Lake; Glendive
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Nebraska
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 15, 1934; July 17, 1936; July 24, 1936
> Location(s): Geneva; Hartington; Minden
Nevada
> Hottest temp on record: 125º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1994
> Location(s): Laughlin
New Hampshire
> Hottest temp on record: 106º F
> Date(s): July 4, 1911
> Location(s): Nashua
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New Jersey
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Runyon
New Mexico
> Hottest temp on record: 122º F
> Date(s): June 27, 1994
> Location(s): Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (nr. Loving)
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New York
> Hottest temp on record: 108º F
> Date(s): July 22, 1926
> Location(s): Troy
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North Carolina
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): Aug. 21, 1983
> Location(s): Fayetteville
North Dakota
> Hottest temp on record: 121º F
> Date(s): July 6, 1936
> Location(s): Steele
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Ohio
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 21, 1934
> Location(s): Gallipolis (near)
Oklahoma
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): July 18, 1936; July 19, 1936; Aug. 10, 1936; Aug. 12, 1936
> Location(s): Alva; Altus, Poteau, Altus
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Oregon
> Hottest temp on record: 119º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1898; June 29, 2021
> Location(s): Pendleton; Moody Farms AgriMet (Agricultural Weather Network), Pelton Dam
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Pennsylvania
> Hottest temp on record: 111º F
> Date(s): July 9, 1936; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Phoenixville
Rhode Island
> Hottest temp on record: 104º F
> Date(s): Aug. 2, 1975
> Location(s): Providence
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South Carolina
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 15, 2006; June 29, 2012
> Location(s): Fort Pierre; Columbia U. of South Carolina
South Dakota
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1936
> Location(s): Gann Valley
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Tennessee
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1930; Aug. 9, 1930
> Location(s): Perryville
Texas
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): Aug. 12, 2936; June 28, 1994
> Location(s): Seymour; Monahans
Utah
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1985; July 10, 2021
> Location(s): St. George
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Vermont
> Hottest temp on record: 107º F
> Date(s): July 7, 1912
> Location(s): Vernon
Virginia
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1900; July 7, 1900; July 15, 1954
> Location(s): Columbia; Columbia; Balcony Falls
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Washington
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): June 29, 2021
> Location(s): Hanford
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West Virginia
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): Aug. 4, 1930; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Moorefield; Martinsburg
Wisconsin
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): July 13, 1936
> Location(s): Wisconsin Dells
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Wyoming
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): Aug. 8, 1983; July 15, 1988
> Location(s): Basin; Diversion Dam
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