Topline
A series of early summer heat waves have shattered single-day temperature records throughout the South and Southwest, breaking longstanding records in Texas and Florida, with “dangerously” hot conditions pushing north and west to California and the Pacific Northwest.
Forecasters warn dangerous heat can cause heat stroke and fainting and advise residents to stay … [+]
Timeline
Tucson, Arizona, set a record daily high with thermometers reading 110 degrees, breaking the city’s previous record by one degree.
Portland, Oregon, reached a sweltering 98 degrees, according to the NWS 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.
Tampa, Florida, 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.
Tampa broke its daily record (99 degrees), while Stockton, California, broke its record by one degree (109) and Sacramento tied its record (109), according to National Weather Service data.
Multiple cities across the country tied their daily record highs, including Tampa (96 degrees), Corpus Christi, Texas (98), and Billings, Montana (99).
Miami set its second consecutive daily temperature record at 95 degrees, while Fort Worth, Texas, narrowly hit a record 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.
Roswell, 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.
As the heat wave stretched east, New Orleans set a new daily record at 98 degrees, beating its former high of 97 set last year.
Roswell, 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).
San Antonio tied its daily heat record at 102 degrees, while Laredo set another daily record (109).
Corpus Christi, McAllen and Laredo continued to break record highs (103, 105 and 114 degrees, respectively).
The 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).
Laredo 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).
Records 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).
Miami 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).
Cincinnati broke a record that had been set in 1951 (93 degrees).
Hartford 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).
Buffalo 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.
News Peg
An excessive heat warning is in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, east Texas and southern California, with heat advisories throughout the south and in California. An excessive heat warning had been in effect last week in more than half of Texas, including Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, bringing “dangerously hot conditions” and a heat index—how hot it feels outside when humidity is taken into consideration—as high as 120 degrees in some areas. Forecasters urged residents to stay hydrated in air-conditioned rooms, avoid strenuous outdoor activity and take “extra precautions” while outside. The heat wave is expected to expand throughout the south, bringing temperatures between five and 15 degrees above historical averages, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.
Tangent
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.
Surprising Fact
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 has been in place since 1936.
Further Reading
Texas Braces For Scorching Early Summer Heat Wave — Here’s Where Temperatures May Break Records (Forbes)
July 4 Was Earth’s Hottest Day In Over 100,000 Years—Breaking Record For 2nd Day In A Row (Forbes)
Sacramento And San Jose Break All-Time Heat Records: These Are The Key Record-Breaking Temperatures For Summer 2022 (Forbes)
