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).
Here is a new feature for this blog, which I will add daily. This is the latest inciteful Green News Report from my friends Desi Doyen and Brad Friedman at Progressive Voices. Hit ‘More info,’ listen, then hit return to see my daily topics:
Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen
Episode: 10/8/2026 — More info…
Main Topic: U.S. September 2026 Record Scoreboard and Climatological Review (First Triple Back-to-Back Hottest Months in Recorded History)
Dear Diary. It’s time for our monthly climatological review. Here on this site, we usually present monthly summaries near the 8th of each month, and each is available by clicking the link below:
https://guyonclimate.com/category/record-scoreboard-climatological-reviews
I’m repeating this mantra every month:
Trends are getting more disturbing because we now have the back-to-back-to-back hottest months on record from July through September 2026 for the lower 48 states and recorded history.
September 2026 got ranked by the National Center for Environmental Information for the lower 48 states as the hottest September on record or 132st coolest since records began being kept in 1895 at 4.58°F above the 1901-2000 average.
The above data was from:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/national/rankings
Brief summary for September 2026: A heatwave dominated the southern half of the country for the first three weeks of the month, where and when most reports of record heat came from. The heatwave broke in the Southwest during the second week, which was replaced by cool weather. Most reports of record chill occurred mainly across the West and Alaska during the second to third week. It was hot enough to log 17 reports of all-time record heat..
You can check out record totals for yourself on my NCEI record archives:
NCEI Record Count Archive – Guy On Climate
Here are my two U.S. Daily Record Scoreboards updated through 9/08/2026 (data compiled from the following NCEI site):
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/records
I’m also keeping tabs on record report totals to verify a scientific study I helped to complete in the decade of the 2000s. We’ll eventually see how skewed ratios of record warm to cold reports get by the year 2100, which the study mentions as 50-1 for DHMX vs. DLMN:
DHMX= Daily High Max Reports. DLMN= Daily Low Min Reports. DHMN= Daily High Min Reports. DLMX=Daily Low Max Reports.
Boldly highlighted red, blue, or purple colored months, such as December 2023 and June 2021, that have ratios of >10 to 1 daily or <1 to 10 of daily warm to low records are either historically hot or cold, most of which have made news. NCEI rankings are for the lower 48 states with the warmest ranking since 1895 of average temperatures being 132 and 1 being the coldest as of 2026. Blue colors represent cold months and red warm. Those months and years with counts close to a 1 to 1 ratio of highs to lows are colored black. All-time record hottest or coldest months and years are boldly colored in purple. NCDC rankings have been color coded (under tabs in each file) such that values of 55 to 75 are black representing neutral months or years (+ or – 10 from the average ranking of 64).
Totals are record reports for the entire United States including all territories minus those from Alaska. I’ve subtracted those from Alaska to get a better representation of what has occurred across the lower 48 states in association with lower 48 state rankings.
September 2026 had approximately an 11 to 1 ratio of record DHMX to DLMN individual record counts, but the color I used for that month was purple on the top chart because the month was the warmest September in recorded history.
September 2026 had approximately a 7 to 1 ratio of record DHMN to DLMX individual record counts, but the color I used for that month was purple on the bottom chart because the month was the warmest August in recorded history
Due to climate change, we are seeing fewer blue colors on these Record Scoreboards with time…and now more purple colors.
The average temperature lower 48 state ranking for September 2026 was 132 (warmest on record), which was colored purple since it was the warmest on record. We are seeing fewer blue colors on my charts, and September 2026 was yet another anomalously hot month.
I color rankings of +10 to -10 from the average ranking for the lower 48 states of 65 black, indicating that these are near average temperature wise. The top warmest ranking for 2026 would be 132 since rankings began in 1895.
Octobr 2026 has gotten off to a hot start for most of the nation and especially Southern California. Well above average warmth will persist across the lower 48 of states except the far West through the middle of the month, which should make the month anomalously warm for lower 48 state averages. Overall, September should be above average and could make the top ten warmest list looking at current model guidance…and.possibly warmest on record. Will we have four back to back months of record warmth? Stay tuned.
Interestingly, here is what we see as far as overall yearly ratios go for the 2020s so far. Warmth is key here. This year really stands out:
We now have 6 out of 10 full years’ worth of data for the 2020s. Interestingly, 2024 stands out as the second warmest year, which was also the year with a strong El Niño. We are now seeing the warmest year, so far during 2026, which will get pegged as another year with a strong El Niño.
Here is much more detailed climatology for September 2026 as complied by NOAA:
Monitoring the U.S. Temperature and Precipitation in September 2026
Warmest September on record for the contiguous U.S.
Courtesy of Canva.com
Key Takeaways:
- Warmest September on record: September 2026 averaged 69.4°F, the warmest September on record (1895–present) for the contiguous U.S. (CONUS).
- Prolonged above-average temperatures: The CONUS monthly average temperature has been above the respective 20th-century average for the past 20 months (February 2025 to September 2026), with four months in 2026—March, July, August and September—ranking as the warmest on record.
- Drought expands across the South: Drought conditions expanded to cover 89% of the South region according to the September 29 U.S. Drought Monitor, the largest extent for the region since October 2000.
- Hawaiʻi exceptionally wet: Hurricane Lowell contributed to Hawaiʻi’s second-wettest September in the 36-year record.
- No Atlantic hurricanes through September: Eight named storms formed in the Atlantic basin through September, but none reached hurricane strength, the latest point in the season without an Atlantic hurricane in the satellite era (since 1966).
Other Highlights:
Temperature
The average temperature for the CONUS in September was 69.4°F, 4.6°F above the 20th-century average, making it the warmest September in the 132-year record, surpassing the previous record set in 1998 (68.95°F). Above- to much-above-average temperatures covered much of the interior U.S. and extended to the East Coast, with large portions of the southern and central Plains and the Mississippi Valley experiencing record-warm September temperatures. In contrast, parts of northern California and the Pacific Northwest recorded below-average temperatures. Eight states had their warmest September on record, with five—Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma—surpassing records dating to the 1920s or 1930s.
Nighttime minimum temperatures were especially notable: the CONUS average surpassed the previous September record, set in 2019, by more than 1.2°F. Based on county-average nighttime minimum temperatures for September, more than 30% of the CONUS area, home to an estimated 80 million people, experienced their warmest September nighttime temperatures on record.
Alaska’s average temperature was 42.5°F, 1.9°F above the 1925–2000 average, ranking in the warmest third of the 102-year record.
Hawaiʻi’s average temperature was 71.1°F, 2.1°F above the 1991–2020 average, ranking as the second-warmest September in the 36-year record. Minimum temperatures were especially notable, averaging 65.0°F, 3.6°F above average and the warmest September minimum temperatures on record.
Precipitation
Total precipitation averaged across the CONUS in September was 2.69 inches, 0.20 inch above the 20th-century average, ranking in the wettest third of the 132-year record. Above-average precipitation occurred across much of the northern tier, from the Northwest through the northern and central Plains, portions of the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley into the Northeast, while parts of the northern Great Lakes and far Northeast had below-average precipitation. Across the southern tier, much-above-average precipitation in the Southwest contrasted with below- to much-below-average precipitation across much of the South, middle Mississippi Valley and Southeast.
The Southwest received more than twice its average September precipitation, with Arizona and New Mexico each recording their second-wettest September. Arizona received 2.97 inches (251.7% of average), its wettest September since 1983, while New Mexico received more than 5 inches (303.6% of average), its wettest since 1941.
Alaska’s average precipitation was 4.74 inches in September, 0.17 inch above the 1925–2000 average, ranking in the middle third of the 102-year record. Above-average precipitation extended across much of the North Slope and the central and eastern Interior, with Fairbanks having its wettest September since 1925.
Hawaiʻi received 10.83 inches of precipitation in September, 6.42 inches above the 1991–2020 average, making it the wettest September since 2015. Year-to-date precipitation averaged 86.66 inches, 42.70 inches above average, making January–September the wettest such period on record.
Drought
According to the September 29 U.S. Drought Monitor, about 59% of the CONUS was in drought, about the same percentage as at the beginning of September. Drought persisted across much of the interior West and Rockies, portions of the northern Plains, Upper Midwest and far Northeast. While there were areas of improvement across parts of the Southwest, northern Plains and Upper Midwest, drought expanded or intensified over much of the southern Plains, Lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys.
Monthly Outlook
October temperatures are favored to be above average across much of the West and extending through the northern Plains, as well as along the Gulf Coast region and Florida. Above-average precipitation is favored across much of the southern tier, while the Northwest, northern Rockies and Plains are favored to receive below-average precipitation. Southeastern Alaska is favored to be warmer and wetter than average. Visit the Climate Prediction Center’s Official 30-Day Forecasts for more details.
Drought is expected to persist over much of the Northwest, Great Basin and northern High Plains, while improvement is expected throughout much of the Southwest, southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley, as well as parts of the Southeast and far Northeast. Visit the U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook website for more details.
Significant wildland fire potential for October is above normal across portions of the western Great Basin, western Great Lakes, southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley and Puerto Rico. For additional information on wildland fire potential, visit the National Interagency Fire Center’s One-Month Wildland Fire Outlook.
For more detailed climate information, check out our comprehensive September 2026 U.S. Climate Report scheduled for release on October 14, 2026. For additional information on the statistics provided here, visit the Climate at a Glance and National Maps webpages.
Published
October 8, 2026
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 Thursday:
(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.)