United States records hottest summer in 132 years amid widespread drought

The contiguous United States has recorded its hottest summer since official weather records began, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency said the June-to-August average temperature reached 23.6C, or 74.4F, across the lower 48 states. That was enough to set a new national summer record and came as drought expanded across much of the country.

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NOAA said the summer average was 1.7C above the 20th-century norm and 0.2C higher than the previous record, which had been set in 1936 and matched in 2021. August also became the hottest August on record, with an average temperature of 24.2C. The agency said no summer period in its 132 years of record-keeping has been hotter.

It also noted that four of the five hottest US summers have occurred in the past five years. The heat has been accompanied by worsening dryness in several regions. By September 1, about 59% of the contiguous United States was experiencing drought, more than 10 percentage points higher than a month earlier.

NOAA said conditions worsened across parts of the Great Plains, the Midwest and the South, with Texas and Oklahoma receiving less than 30% of their usual August rainfall. At the same time, some states including Indiana and Ohio had their wettest August on record, showing how uneven the weather pattern has been. The record is significant because it adds to a broader warming trend that scientists link largely to the burning of fossil fuels.

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NOAA said the recent run of extreme summers fits that pattern, while the 1936 benchmark came during the Dust Bowl, when heat, drought and damaging farming practices combined to devastate parts of the Great Plains. The latest figures also matter for agriculture, water supplies and energy demand, especially in areas already under stress from dry conditions. The timing is also notable because the World Meteorological Organization has warned that the strengthening El Nino weather phenomenon could intensify heat and other extremes into early 2027.

El Nino is a natural climate pattern, but it can add to already elevated global temperatures. That means the current US record may not be an isolated event, but part of a wider period of climate pressure affecting multiple regions. What remains unclear is how long the current heat and drought pattern will persist and whether more states will see worsening conditions in the coming weeks.

NOAA's figures cover the summer season and the situation could still change as autumn begins. The main indicators to watch are rainfall trends, drought coverage and whether further temperature records are broken before the end of the year.

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