The summer of 2022 has been marked by heat waves rippling across the planet. Temperatures have handily topped 100º F (38º C) in cities across the globe with some of the most extreme and dangerously high temperatures striking India and Pakistan earlier this year.
Sweltering heat has also baked major cities in Western Europe and the United States, including record-breaking high temps in several Southern California cities at the start of the year. Large U.S. cities including Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, have all expected multiple days above 90º F, with humidity high enough to interrupt the body’s natural ability to shed heat through sweating. (These are the hottest places in the U.S. right now.)
The heat waves can be a reminder of global warming, but climatologists warn against judging climate change by individual weather events. Just as a snowstorm isn’t evidence against global warming, heat waves can occur with or without global warming’s influence.
To identify the hottest day in history in every state, 247 Wall St. reviewed the latest records compiled by the State Climate Extremes Committee, a panel responsible for monitoring observations that may exceed all-time records for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Click here to see the hottest day in history in every state.
The planet is indeed getting warmer over time and human development is to blame, but the hottest summers on record in the United States took place in the 1930s, amid the massive drought of the Dust Bowl that struck in the middle of the Great Depression, sending Okies packing to California farmland, inspiring John Steinbeck to write “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Twenty-four U.S. states still have high-temperature records dating back to that era. Thirteen of those records originate from a massive heat wave in 1936. Nine states still have heat records dating back to 1926 or earlier. In 1913, Greenland Ranch, California (since renamed, appropriately, Furnace Creek Ranch) registered a mind-melting 134º F, the highest verified temperature ever recorded anywhere in the world. (These are the hottest places in the world right now.)
South Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington are the only states that have broken heat records so far in this century, from 113º F in South Carolina in 2012 to 120º F in Washington last year.
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Alabama
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): Sep 6, 1925
> Location(s): Centreville
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Alaska
> Hottest temp on record: 100º F
> Date(s): June 27, 1915
> Location(s): Fort Yukon
Source: DenisTangneyJr / E+ via Getty Images
Arizona
> Hottest temp on record: 128º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1994
> Location(s): Lake Havasu City
Source: Paul Knightly / iStock via Getty Images
Arkansas
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1936
> Location(s): Ozark
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
California
> Hottest temp on record: 134º F
> Date(s): July 10, 1913
> Location(s): Greenland Ranch
Colorado
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 20, 2019
> Location(s): John Martin Dam
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Source: nancykennedy / Getty Images
Connecticut
> Hottest temp on record: 106º F
> Date(s): Aug. 23, 1916; July 15, 1995
> Location(s): Torrington; Danbury
Source: aimintang / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
Delaware
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 21, 1930
> Location(s): Millsboro
Source: Michael Warren / iStock via Getty Images
Florida
> Hottest temp on record: 109º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1931
> Location(s): Monticello
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Source: Jacqueline Nix / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Georgia
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): July 24, 1952; Aug. 20, 1983
> Location(s): Louisville; Greenville 2 NNW
Source: Cha_DZ / iStock via Getty Images
Hawaii
> Hottest temp on record: 100º F
> Date(s): Apr 27, 1931
> Location(s): Pahala (Hawaii)
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Source: JosephZahnlePhotography / iStock via Getty Images
Idaho
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1934
> Location(s): Orofino
Source: DenisTangneyJr / Getty Images
Illinois
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1954
> Location(s): East St. Louis
Source: Roberto Galan / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Indiana
> Hottest temp on record: 116º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1936
> Location(s): Collegeville (south side of Rensselaer)
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Source: BOB WESTON / iStock via Getty Images
Iowa
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 20, 1934
> Location(s): Keokuk No. 2
Kansas
> Hottest temp on record: 121º F
> Date(s): July 18, 1936; July 24, 1936
> Location(s): Fredonia; Alton
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Kentucky
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1930
> Location(s): Greensburg
Louisiana
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1936
> Location(s): Plain Dealing 4W
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Maine
> Hottest temp on record: 105º F
> Date(s): July 4, 1911; July 10, 1911
> Location(s): North Bridgton
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Source: DenisTangneyJr / iStock via Getty Images
Maryland
> Hottest temp on record: 109º F
> Date(s): July 3, 1898; Aug. 6, 1918; Aug. 7, 1918; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Boettcherville; Cumberland, Keedysville; Cumberland; Frederick, Cumberland
Massachusetts
> Hottest temp on record: 107º F
> Date(s): Aug. 2, 1975
> Location(s): Chester, New Bedford
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Michigan
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): July 13, 1936
> Location(s): Mio, Stanwood
Source: Courtesy of Beardsley Fire Department
Minnesota
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 29, 1917
> Location(s): Beardsley
Source: BOB WESTON / iStock via Getty Images
Mississippi
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): July 29, 1930
> Location(s): Holly Springs 2N
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Missouri
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 14, 1954
> Location(s): Union, Warsaw
Source: tarabiki / iStock via Getty Images
Montana
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1937; July 20, 1893
> Location(s): Medicine Lake; Glendive
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Nebraska
> Hottest temp on record: 118º F
> Date(s): July 15, 1934; July 17, 1936; July 24, 1936
> Location(s): Geneva; Hartington; Minden
Source: 4kodiak / Getty Images
Nevada
> Hottest temp on record: 125º F
> Date(s): June 29, 1994
> Location(s): Laughlin
Source: DenisTangneyJr / iStock via Getty Images
New Hampshire
> Hottest temp on record: 106º F
> Date(s): July 4, 1911
> Location(s): Nashua
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
New Jersey
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Runyon
New Mexico
> Hottest temp on record: 122º F
> Date(s): June 27, 1994
> Location(s): Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (nr. Loving)
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Source: ChrisBoswell / iStock via Getty Images
New York
> Hottest temp on record: 108º F
> Date(s): July 22, 1926
> Location(s): Troy
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Source: DenisTangneyJr / iStock via Getty Images
North Carolina
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): Aug. 21, 1983
> Location(s): Fayetteville
North Dakota
> Hottest temp on record: 121º F
> Date(s): July 6, 1936
> Location(s): Steele
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Source: ChrisBoswell / iStock via Getty Images
Ohio
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 21, 1934
> Location(s): Gallipolis (near)
Oklahoma
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): July 18, 1936; July 19, 1936; Aug. 10, 1936; Aug. 12, 1936
> Location(s): Alva; Altus, Poteau, Altus
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Oregon
> Hottest temp on record: 119º F
> Date(s): Aug. 10, 1898; June 29, 2021
> Location(s): Pendleton; Moody Farms AgriMet (Agricultural Weather Network), Pelton Dam
Source: gsheldon / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Pennsylvania
> Hottest temp on record: 111º F
> Date(s): July 9, 1936; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Phoenixville
Source: DenisTangneyJr / E+ via Getty Images
Rhode Island
> Hottest temp on record: 104º F
> Date(s): Aug. 2, 1975
> Location(s): Providence
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Source: Sean Rayford / Getty Images News via Getty Images
South Carolina
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 15, 2006; June 29, 2012
> Location(s): Fort Pierre; Columbia U. of South Carolina
Source: Courtesy of Gann Valley South Dakota gannvalley.com
South Dakota
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1936
> Location(s): Gann Valley
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Tennessee
> Hottest temp on record: 113º F
> Date(s): July 28, 1930; Aug. 9, 1930
> Location(s): Perryville
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Source: James_Gabbert / iStock via Getty Images
Texas
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): Aug. 12, 2936; June 28, 1994
> Location(s): Seymour; Monahans
Source: DenisTangneyJr / iStock via Getty Images
Utah
> Hottest temp on record: 117º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1985; July 10, 2021
> Location(s): St. George
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Vermont
> Hottest temp on record: 107º F
> Date(s): July 7, 1912
> Location(s): Vernon
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Virginia
> Hottest temp on record: 110º F
> Date(s): July 5, 1900; July 7, 1900; July 15, 1954
> Location(s): Columbia; Columbia; Balcony Falls
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Source: smodj / iStock via Getty Images
Washington
> Hottest temp on record: 120º F
> Date(s): June 29, 2021
> Location(s): Hanford
Source: Tim Brown / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
West Virginia
> Hottest temp on record: 112º F
> Date(s): Aug. 4, 1930; July 10, 1936
> Location(s): Moorefield; Martinsburg
Source: DavidPrahl / iStock via Getty Images
Wisconsin
> Hottest temp on record: 114º F
> Date(s): July 13, 1936
> Location(s): Wisconsin Dells
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Wyoming
> Hottest temp on record: 115º F
> Date(s): Aug. 8, 1983; July 15, 1988
> Location(s): Basin; Diversion Dam
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