Intense summer heat is no stranger in the United States and all 50 states have recorded a high temperature of at least 100 degrees, with many well above 115.
We compiled the hottest temperature on record for each state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the results are shown on the map above.
July and August typically have some of the hottest temperatures in many areas of the U.S., and it's also when a majority of states have recorded their all-time record highs.
An example of an exception to the July and August records is Washington, which is also the most recent state to set a new all-time record high. During the historical heat wave in June 2021, the temperature soared to 120 degrees at Handford on June 29, 2021, which beat out the previous record of 118 in Wahluke on July 24, 1918.
Oregon also tied its hottest temperature record of 119 during the June 2021 heat wave. The record of 119 was originally set twice in 1898 and then tied in two different locations on June 29, 2021.
It is no surprise that the hottest temperatures in the U.S. have been recorded in the Desert Southwest. In fact, the highest temperature recorded in California, 134 degrees, is also the current hottest air temperature on record on Earth and was measured in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.
Most of the Plains states, which also can be an area with extreme heat and large temperature variations, have recorded temperatures over 120 degrees. A high temperature of 121 was measured as far north as Steele, North Dakota, on July 6, 1936, and many of the records in the Plains were set in 1936, during the peak of the Dust Bowl. Oklahoma, for instance, reached its record of 120 degrees four times and in three different locations in the summer of 1936.
The Midwest has numerous states with records over 115 degrees. For example, two locations hold the record of 118 in Missouri and both occurred on the same day, July 14, 1954.
Record temperatures in the Northeast and South are not as hot as in the West, but there are still some notable records. The 109-degree record for Maryland was first set on July 3, 1898, in Boettcherville, but has since been tied five times in three locations. One fairly recent state record set in the South was in Columbia, South Carolina, on June 29, 2012, when the mercury soared to 113.
Also of interest is that Alaska and Hawaii share the same record high temperature of 100 degrees. Alaska's record was set in Fort Yukon on June 27, 1915, and Hawaii's record occurred on April 27, 1931, near Pahala on the Big Island.
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