The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😜
Main Topic: Scorching July May End Up the Warmest Month on Record Across the U.S.
Dear Diary. Welcome to August, and good riddance to a record-breaking July, both in the United States and Europe. The climate crisis really showed its ugly head last month, killing thousands due to excess heat in Europe and causing deepening drought in western states with our own heat stress from sea to shining sea.
Climatologically, July is the hottest month on the calendar across the Northern Hemisphere. Climate change is making that month pure hell. Now we are learning that July 2026 was perhaps the warmest month ever on record for the lower 48 states. That will be verified by the National Center for Environmental Information by about August 8th. In the meantime, different sources have estimated that indeed July 2026 will be crowned hottest or second hottest month in recorded history for the U.S.
Here are more details from the Washington Post (For some charts that I did not repost, hit the following link.)
Scorching July may end up the warmest month on record across the U.S. – The Washington Post
Scorching July may end up the warmest month on record across the U.S.
Another massive heat dome will break temperature records and raise wildfire risks in the West this weekend.
July 31, 2026
July 2012. (Ben Noll/The Washington Post; PRISM/Oregon State Univerisity)
AI Overview
A heat dome will bring record-breaking temperatures and fire risks to the West this weekend. July 2026 may become the warmest month on record in the contiguous U.S., according to climate scientist Brian Brettschneider. Extreme heat and humidity are expected in the Southwest, with critical fire weather conditions in the Northwest.Show more
AISummary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed.
By Ben Noll
Yet another heat dome will bring critical fire weather risks and record-breaking temperatures to the West this weekend.
But these aren’t the only records that may be set as the month concludes. There’s one even more staggering: July 2026 could become the warmest month on record across the contiguous United States.
National temperatures for July, which have been about 2.5 degrees above average across the contiguous states, are on track to break the previous record set in July 2012. That’s pending the month’s final data.
This month is also on track to become the warmest for overnight temperatures and highest for humidity on record, while daytime high temperatures have been third highest.
It’s part of an unmistakable, upward temperature trend across the U.S. — and the world — as the likely strongest El Niño on record builds in the Pacific against the backdrop of a changing climate.
“It’s going to be a close call, but it now appears more likely than not that July 2026 will be the warmest month on record in the Contiguous U.S.,” wrote climate scientist Brian Brettschneider on Wednesday.
As for why, Brettschneider cited a wide band of high pressure that was anchored over much of the country that “didn’t allow for any cool downs.”
While the contiguous U.S. has sizzled, Brettschneider said July was expected to become Alaska’s second coolest July on record since at least 1981.
But for much of the country, this type of heat is far from over.
Another heat dome forming
The planet’s strongest heat dome on Friday and Saturday will be located over the southwestern United States, where it’s expected to produce record-breaking temperatures. (Ben Noll/The Washington Post; ECMWF)
On Friday and Saturday, a record-breaking heat dome — and the most powerful currently on the planet — will once again be located in the U.S., this time over portions of Arizona, California and Nevada.
Under this sprawling area of high pressure, the hottest parts of Death Valley, California, could reach a searing 127 degrees, with record temperatures expected across the wider Southwest and Intermountain West.
Here are some of the most notable temperatures predicted in the days ahead:
- 119 degrees in Needles, California, on Saturday
- 117 degrees in El Centro, California, on Sunday
- 115 degrees in Phoenix and Las Vegas on Saturday
- 112 degrees in Tuscon on Saturday
- 108 degrees in Lancaster, California, on Saturday
- 106 degrees in Billings, Montana, on Saturday
- 105 degrees in Sacramento and Rapid City, South Dakota, on Sunday
- 103 degrees in Salt Lake City on Saturday
- 102 degrees in Albuquerque on Friday
- 101 degrees in Denver on Sunday
For parts of Southern California and Arizona, this won’t exactly be the typical dry heat that the region is accustomed to. In a recent blog post, climate scientist Daniel Swain wrote about unusual, tropical levels of humidity in the region.
“This [humidity] is starting to have a significant impact on human health as it greatly amplifies the physiologic burden of heat events that would otherwise be more moderate,” wrote Swain.
Extreme heat is also expected to linger at night, with temperatures in Death Valley forecast to bottom out near 100 degrees while Phoenix and Las Vegas are forecast to only drop into the lower 90s.
Overnight temperatures have become increasingly extreme in Phoenix, where 24 of the 31 daily July record-warm lows have been set since 2023. Last week, Phoenix tied its all-time warmest night when it dropped only to 97 degrees on July 24.
Along with the heat, the wildfire risk will also substantially build this weekend. An area stretching from eastern Oregon and Washington to Montana and Wyoming has a high chance of facing critical fire weather conditions, exacerbated by strong winds and low humidity ahead of an approaching cold front.
Fire weather risks on Saturday
Extreme red
Critical orange
Elevated yellow
On Saturday, a portion of eastern Washington has an “extremely critical risk” for fire weather, the highest level on the scale. The National Weather Service in Spokane, Washington, warned of the potential for “extreme fire behavior and rapid fire growth.”
It follows an already very active pattern of wildfires in the region, with smoke spreading from Oregon all the way to Florida.
Another heat dome may expand across the U.S. during early August.
By Ben Noll Ben Noll is a meteorologist passionate about explaining the why behind the weather, extreme events and climate trends. He has expertise in data analysis, supercomputer-driven graphics and forecasting weather worldwide.follow on X@BenNollWeather
Here are some “ETs” recorded from around the U.S. the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Saturday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)