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: U.S. August 2025 Record Scoreboard and Climatological Review
Dear Diary. It’s time for our monthly climatological review. Here on this site, we usually present monthly summaries near the 10th 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:
Overall, Summer 2025 was the 12th hottest summer in recorded history for the lower 48 states with an anomaly of +1.95°F.
August 2025 got ranked by the National Center for Environmental Information for the lower 48 states as 28th warmest or 104th coolest since records began being kept in 1895 at +1.28°F above the 1901-2000 average.
The above data was from:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/national/rankings
During August the warmest conditions were in the western portion of the nation. Even during an era of progressive climate changing warmth, occasionally we do see periods of cold or cool weather across portions of the world. This happened across the Southeast where South Carolina had its coolest summer on record. Most reports of record chill came from the Midwest and Southeast. Most reports of record warmth occurred in the Southwest and New England plus Florida.
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 9/09/2025 (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 131 and 1 being the coldest as of 2025. 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.
August 2025 had approximately a 3 to 1 ratio of record DHMX to DLMN individual record counts, so the color I used for that month was dark red on the top chart.
August 2025 had approximately a 11 to 4 ratio of record DHMN to DLMX individual record counts, so the color I used for that month was red on the bottom chart.
Due to climate change, we are seeing fewer blue colors on these Record Scoreboards with time.
The average temperature lower 48 state ranking for August 2025 was 104, which was colored red since it was warmer than average. We are seeing fewer blue colors on my charts, and August 2025 was yet another red or warm 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 2025 would be 131 since rankings began in 1895.
Looking at the type and number of record reports, September 2025 has gotten off to a neutral start, but meteorological models are consistently forecasting an above average September for temperatures. The Pacific Northwest had a heatwave during the first week of the month. A cool weather pattern developed across the Midwest late in August, which extended into September causing most reports of record chill so far for the year’s ninth month.
Interestingly, here is what we see as far as overall yearly ratios go for the 2020s so far. Warmth is key here:
Here is much more detailed climatology for the May 2025 as complied by NOAA:
Assessing the U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in August 2025
Driest August on record for much of the Ohio Valley and Northeast
Courtesy of Canva.com
Published
September 9, 2025
Related Links
August 2025 U.S. Climate Report (Available September 12, 2025)
National Temperature and Precipitation Maps
Climatological Rankings Explained
State of the Climate Summaries
Key Points:
- The West was warmer than average in August, contrasting with cooler-than-average conditions across much of the central and eastern U.S.
- Most states recorded above-average temperatures for meteorological summer (June–August).
- Hawai’i recorded its lowest August rainfall in the 35-year record.
Other Highlights:
Temperature
The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) in August was 73.4°F, 1.3°F above the 20th-century average, ranking in the warmest third of the 131-year record. August was above average throughout much of the West, with Arizona recording its second-warmest August on record at 4.6°F above average, behind only August 2020. Portions of the Gulf Coast and the Florida Peninsula were also above average for the month. In contrast, below-average temperatures were observed in parts of the central Plains, Southeast and mid-Atlantic. Virginia and the Carolinas were much below average, with South Carolina recording its coolest August daytime maximum temperatures on record—more than 4°F below the 20th-century average.
For meteorological summer (June–August), the average temperature for the CONUS was 73.3°F, 2.0°F above the 20th-century average, ranking as the 12th-warmest summer on record. Above-average temperatures were observed across much of the nation with portions of the Plains experiencing near-average conditions.
The average temperature for Alaska in August was 51.2°F, 1.7°F above average, ranking in the warmest third of the 101-year record. For June–August, Alaska’s average was 52.4°F, 1.9°F above average, also in the warmest third of the record.
Hawai’i averaged 70.0°F in August, 0.6°F above average, ranking in the warmest third of the 35-year record. For summer, Hawai’i reported 69.2°F, 0.6°F above average, also in the warmest third of the record.
Precipitation
The average precipitation for the contiguous U.S. in August was 2.30 inches, 0.32 inch below average, placing the month in the driest third of the 131-year record. Much of the western half of the CONUS received near-average precipitation in August, with parts of the Southwest below average, and some portions of the Plains seeing above-average rainfall for the month. Major rainfall deficits occurred from the middle Mississippi Valley through the Tennessee and Ohio valleys, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast. A dozen states had among their 10 lowest August total rainfalls, including Kentucky, Ohio and Vermont, each of which saw their driest Augusts on record. Further south, South Carolina and Georgia received above-average August rainfall.
For meteorological summer (June–August), the CONUS averaged 8.69 inches, 0.37 inch above average, placing the season in the middle third of the 131-year record. Below-average summer rainfall was observed across much of the West, while above-average rainfall occurred across a broad area of the Plains and upper Mississippi Valley from Texas to Wisconsin, with Iowa recording its sixth-wettest June–August on record. Parts of the Northeast saw much-below-average June–August rainfall, with Vermont recording its driest summer since 1913 and New Hampshire its driest on record.
The average precipitation for Alaska in August was 4.38 inches, which is about average for the month. Above-average precipitation occurred across the North Slope, West Coast and much of the Interior, with drier-than-average conditions in southern parts of the state. For June–August, Alaska averaged 9.50 inches, 0.50 inch below average, placing the season in the driest third of the 101-year record.
Hawai’i averaged 1.97 inches in August, 3.20 inches below average, marking the driest August in the 35-year record. Drier-than-average conditions were observed across most of the islands, with Honolulu and Maui counties each recording their lowest August rainfall in the record. For June–August, Hawai’i averaged 8.39 inches, 5.02 inches below average, making it the fourth-driest June–August on record.
Drought
According to the September 2 U.S. Drought Monitor report, about 34.7% of the contiguous U.S. was in drought, an increase of approximately 3.7% since the end of July. While severe drought persisted across much of the western U.S., conditions improved in the northern Plains and parts of the central Plains. In contrast, drought developed and intensified throughout parts of the East region, particularly in the lower Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys, as well as the Northeast.
Monthly Outlook
Above-average temperatures are favored in September across the Rocky Mountains and northern Plains, along with western Alaska, while precipitation is favored to be higher than average across parts of the central Plains and the Southeast. Drought is likely to persist across much of the West, though some improvement or removal is likely for parts of the Rio Grande Valley. Meanwhile, drought is expected to expand and intensify across parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley, while continuing to persist in parts of the far Northeast and Hawai’i. Visit the Climate Prediction Center’s Official 30-Day Forecasts and U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook website for more details.
Significant wildland fire potential for September is above normal across parts of the Pacific West and Hawai’i, along with the far Northeast. 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 August 2025 U.S. Climate Report scheduled for release on September 12, 2025. For additional information on the statistics provided here, visit the Climate at a Glance and National Maps webpages.
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet 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 Tuesday:
(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.)