Are US summers getting hotter?

Summer 2026 (June to August) averaged 74.4°F across the contiguous US, the hottest since records began in 1895, ahead of 1936, the Dust Bowl summer, and 2021 (both 74.0°F). The dashed trend line, the straight line that best fits every summer, rises about 0.14°F a decade over the whole record; since 1970 summers have warmed about 0.46°F a decade.

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are in the table below.

The value axis doesn't start at zero, because the change is what matters here and a line drawn from zero would flatten it. The dashed line is the trend: the straight line that best fits every point (a least-squares fit). It shows the long-run direction; single years swing above and below it, and it isn't a forecast. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys to read exact values.

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Key facts

Measure: Average summer (June–August) temperature, °F (contiguous U.S.). Written from the data below.

  • The latest figure, for 2026, is 74.37.
  • That is up 4.18 from 70.19 in 1895.
  • It is the highest in the data, which go back to 1895.
  • The lowest was 69.06 in 1915.

Source and date

Source
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Are US summers getting hotter?” Chart. Data: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/national/time-series (data as of August 31, 2026). https://chart.ly/charts/us-summer-temperature (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

Year Average summer (June–August) temperature, °F (contiguous U.S.)
1895 70.19
1896 71.92
1897 70.92
1898 71.76
1899 71.13
1900 72.07
1901 72.6
1902 70.45
1903 69.57
1904 69.76
1905 70.77
1906 70.49
1907 69.64
1908 70.24
1909 71.48
1910 71.15
1911 71.42
1912 69.68
1913 71.51
1914 71.69
1915 69.06
1916 70.77
1917 70.85
1918 72
1919 71.96
1920 70.21
1921 72.33
1922 71.97
1923 70.95
1924 70.82
1925 71.77
1926 71.27
1927 69.73
1928 70.35
1929 71.22
1930 72.09
1931 72.8
1932 71.94
1933 72.85
1934 73.51
1935 71.89
1936 73.98
1937 72.65
1938 72.07
1939 72.11
1940 71.94
1941 71.26
1942 71.2
1943 72.15
1944 71.07
1945 70.3
1946 71.1
1947 71.18
1948 71.33
1949 71.83
1950 69.7
1951 70.72
1952 72.54
1953 72.13
1954 72.15
1955 71.6
1956 71.68
1957 71.52
1958 71.25
1959 72.22
1960 71.7
1961 71.79
1962 70.68
1963 71.4
1964 71.11
1965 70.14
1966 71.26
1967 70.41
1968 70.63
1969 71.35
1970 72.01
1971 71.25
1972 70.66
1973 71.58
1974 70.94
1975 70.85
1976 70.43
1977 72.16
1978 71.49
1979 70.62
1980 72.4
1981 71.94
1982 70.51
1983 72.02
1984 71.62
1985 71.04
1986 71.86
1987 71.77
1988 73.09
1989 71.2
1990 71.9
1991 71.96
1992 69.48
1993 70.39
1994 72.24
1995 71.79
1996 71.96
1997 71.06
1998 72.52
1999 71.82
2000 72.29
2001 72.64
2002 73.16
2003 72.69
2004 70.36
2005 72.55
2006 73.5
2007 73.05
2008 71.96
2009 70.99
2010 73.07
2011 73.63
2012 73.68
2013 72.51
2014 71.68
2015 72.71
2016 73.48
2017 72.67
2018 73.48
2019 72.34
2020 73.53
2021 73.98
2022 73.92
2023 73
2024 73.84
2025 73.33
2026 74.37

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