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Climate and Weather

It's a Record Hot Start to Summer in 30 Cities, Including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City

By Jonathan Erdman

July 21, 2021

Cities that have tied or set a record hot start to summer from June 1 through July 15, 2021, among locations with over 60 years of historical records. The contours are rough approximations of departure from average temperatures in that period, according to an analysis from NOAA's Physical Sciences Laboratory.
(Data: SERCC, NOAA)

At a Glance

  • 30 cities have had their record hottest start to any summer through mid-July.
  • This heat is expected to persist in the West and northern U.S. through August.
  • Summers have trended warmer in much of the U.S. since 1970.
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Summer 2021 is off to the hottest start on record in dozens of cities almost entirely in the West, and there's little sign of relief headed into August.

The first six weeks of meteorological summer - June 1 through July 15 - was the hottest such period on record in 30 cities from California and Arizona to Montana, Washington state and western Wisconsin, according to data from NOAA and the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

Among the cities off to a record hot start were Fresno, California; Phoenix (tie); Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; Boise; Spokane, Washington; Helena, Montana; and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

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Meteorologists define three-month seasons based on what is typically the hottest time of year - June through August - and coldest time of year - December through February - with spring and fall encompassing the other three-month "meteorological seasons".

Some cities didn't just nudge above their previous record, but rather obliterated it.

Salt Lake City crushed its previous record first six weeks of summer by almost 3 degrees, a massive difference when it comes to temperature data compiled over a month and a half. Utah's capital city both tied its all-time record high - 107 degrees on June 15 - and set an all-time hottest daily low - 82 degrees on July 13.

Even more extreme was Winnemucca, Nevada.

This northwest Nevada city was almost 5 degrees hotter in the first half of summer than its previous record from 1940.

A number of cities just missed a record hot first half of summer.

Despite smashing all-time records during the late June heat wave, more frequent ocean-cooled air since then kept both Seattle and Portland, Oregon, from a record hot start to summer.

The late June heat wave, followed by another searing heat wave earlier this month and parched ground heated more easily by the most expansive Western drought this century, all contributed to this exceptionally hot summer start.

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It's also been one of the hottest starts to summer in parts of the Northeast, Great Lakes and upper Midwest, including Boston (tied for second hottest start behind only 1976), Syracuse, New York (third hottest start) and Minneapolis (fourth hottest start).

Temperature departures from average from June 1 through July 14, 2021, in degrees Celsius. Areas most anomalously hot in this period were in southwest Canada, the Great Basin and northern Rockies.
(NOAA/Physical Sciences Laboratory)

Little Relief Ahead

As of the time this article was published, another heat wave was taking shape over the northern Rockies and Northern Plains.

And true to the persistence of summer patterns, the longer-range forecast calls for more of the same.

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NOAA's Climate Prediction Center forecasts much of the West, northern U.S. and Northeast will likely remain hotter than average in August.

August 2021 temperature outlook indicates areas more likely to be hotter than average (in progressively darker orange and red contours) and cooler than average (blue contours).
(NOAA/CPC)

If this outlook holds, it would probably cinch a hottest summer in the Great Basin and northern Rockies.

It could also push at least a few locations in the Northern Plains, upper Midwest and Northeast closer to their hottest summer.

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Since 1970, much of the U.S. has seen a warmer trend in summer, according to an analysis from Climate Central.

This is particularly the case from Texas to the West, and also in much of the East from Florida to Michigan to New England, according to the analysis.

The long-term change in the average summer temperature in the U.S. from 1970 through 2020.
(Graphic: Climate Central; Data: NOAA)

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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