Miami (USA).- Last July was the hottest month in the history of the United States since records began, with an average temperature of nearly 25 degrees Celsius (76.9 Fahrenheit) in its contiguous territory, the country’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported this Monday.
The average temperature of the contiguous United States (CONUS), which includes the continental states excluding Alaska and the island state of Hawaii, as well as the island territories of Puerto Rico and Guam, was 1.8 degrees Celsius (3.3 Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century average in July, NOAA reported.
“This was the warmest July, and the warmest month, in the 132-year record, 0.06 to 0.11 degrees Celsius (0.1 to 0.2 Fahrenheit) warmer than July 1936 and July 2012,” the agency noted in its report.
Maximum daytime temperatures averaged 31.9 degrees Celsius (89.5 Fahrenheit), which is 1.6 Celsius (2.9 Fahrenheit) above the historical average, the study added.
While the average of the minimum temperatures at night was 17.9 degrees Celsius (64.2 Fahrenheit), 2.1 Celsius (2.9 Fahrenheit) above the average, making it “the warmest month on record in average minimum temperatures and surpassed July 2022”.
“Above-average temperatures spanned across the CONUS in July, with temperatures much above average across much of the interior West, the Southwest, the Rockies, the Northern Plains and the Upper Midwest, as well as parts of the Gulf Coast and the Southeast,” detailed NOAA.
This measurement comes after the heat of the previous month, when North America, Europe, and Africa had their second-hottest June on record, according to a previous report from the U.S. agency.
The agency reported that the western and southwestern United States had the warmest first half of the year on record, in addition to receiving less than 70% of the average accumulated rainfall so far this year.
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Drought affected nearly half, 48.5%, of the contiguous United States in July, NOAA reported based on data from the Drought Monitor, as rainfall in the seventh month of 2026 was about 5.8 millimeters (0.23 inches) below the historical average.
NOAA has also previously warned that the El Niño climate phenomenon will be one of the strongest in history, which implies drier conditions and a warmer winter than usual.
