NOAA’s climate data show the 48 contiguous states set monthly, seasonal, and year-to-date temperature records in 2026, with the biggest temperature departures in the West and Southwest and major implications for drought, reservoirs, and wildfire.
August 2026, summer 2026 (June–August), and January–August 2026 each set national temperature records for the 48 contiguous states, with several records exceeded by notable margins.
Precipitation has been below average overall through August, leaving large parts of the country abnormally dry and in drought, while reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell sit near historic lows.
Wildfire activity surged in 2026: by Sept. 8 there were record-high fire counts and acreage burned for several recent years, including the largest recorded fires in Nebraska and Oregon history.
# What happened NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information reported that the 48 contiguous United States posted the warmest August, warmest summer (June–August), and warmest year-to-date (January–August) in 131 years of national recordkeeping. The monthly, seasonal, and year-to-date averages all exceeded previous records, in some cases by unusually large margins.
# Where the heat was strongest A broad swath of the western U.S. recorded its warmest year on record. The Four Corners states—Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah—all saw their warmest summers on record. Across the 48 states, March and July were also record-warm in 2026. Temperatures through the lowest few miles of the atmosphere (the lower troposphere) set records for the warmest summer and warmest year-to-date as well.
# Precipitation and drought picture Precipitation through August showed a mixed pattern but leaned dry overall. For the 48 states combined, year-to-date precipitation of 18.56 inches was more than 10% below the long-term average, making it the 13th-driest January–August period in 132 years. The U.S. Drought Monitor (Sept. 1) reported 79% of the contiguous U.S. as abnormally dry and 59% in some form of drought—levels close to the highest values seen since the Monitor began in 2000.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River system, were at very low storage levels as of early September, reaching their lowest combined levels since they were filled in the late 20th century.
# Wildfire surge in 2026 Through Sept. 8, the U.S. had recorded 53,665 wildfires that burned 8,397,760 acres—both figures the largest to date for any year since at least 2016 in the National Interagency Fire Center's online records. The season included the largest wildfire in Nebraska history (the Morrill Fire, >640,000 acres) and the largest in Oregon history to date (the Big Grass Fire, >578,000 acres). Total acreage burned this year is about 30% above the 10-year average.
# What may influence the months ahead
# Bottom line 2026 produced multiple national heat records across different time scales, concentrated in the West and Southwest. The warm conditions, below-average precipitation overall, record-low reservoir levels, and a large wildfire footprint have combined to produce immediate stresses on water and land management. The upcoming El Niño raises the possibility of wetter conditions for parts of the country this winter, but deeper water-supply challenges will remain even if rainfall improves.
By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — The United States just had its hottest summer in 132 years of recordkeeping, soundly beating the summer of 1936 — during the Dust Bowl era — as well as the summer of 2021, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Previously, those two y
The intensifying super El Niño, combined with global warming, is favored to make 2026 the hottest year on record, with 2027 expected to be even hotter.
Earth just had the hottest August on record, according to newly released weather data. Read the full story, “The world just had the hottest August ever”, on globalissues.org →
Last month tied July 2023 as the planet’s hottest month on record, European scientists said Thursday, as human-caused warming pushes the Northern Hemisphere’s muggiest, most uncomfortable time of year into new realms of stickiness and discomfort.
The looming El Niño conditions, combined with the warming effects of climate change, contributed to the historic temperatures
Wired: “August was the planet’s hottest month ever recorded, capping a remarkably grim summer of heat records. With El Niño strengthening—and climate change continuing to heat things up—more records are likely in store well into next year.”
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