Why is August the hottest month?
For the Northern Hemisphere, the month of August is typically the hottest month for many locations. The reason is due to cumulative warming and a relatively high sun angle.
Most climate divisions in the US experienced days when high temperatures were being made more likely because of climate change. Along the coast of Texas, for example, more than 60 days this summer had temperatures found to be influenced by climate change.
Our warmest days don't arrive until mid-to-late July or early August. That's in part because Earth is tilted on its axis at 23.5 degrees. On June 21, the Earth is tilted toward the sun in the Northern hemisphere, thus marking the start of astronomical summer.
For most of the country, the warmest day occurs sometime between mid-July and mid-August. The amount of solar radiation reaching Earth (in the northern Hemisphere) peaks at the summer solstice on June 21, but temperatures tend to keep increasing into July.
May: In India, it is the hottest month of the year. The average high temperature lies in the range of 29.4°C (84.9°F) to 42.2°C (108°F).
The same is true for August (more so than June though). The big "winner" is July. For 78% of the U.S. and Canada, July is the most common month to observe the highest temperature of the year. Percentage of years when the hottest temperature of the year occurs in June.
2022 as ranked by other scientific organizations
NASA scientists conducted a separate but similar analysis, determining that 2022 ranked as Earth's fifth-warmest year on record, tied with 2015. The European Commission's Copernicus website ranked 2022 as the globe's fifth-warmest year on record.
Next year is forecast to be one of the hottest years on record and even warmer than 2022, experts have said. Met Office scientists estimate that 2023 will be the 10th consecutive year in which global temperatures will be at least 1C above pre-industrial levels, measured as the period from 1850 to 1900.
The summer started out hot and hardly abated. NASA data indicated June 2022 tied for the hottest June on record, July tied for the third warmest and August ranked as the second warmest globally.
It's called the lag of seasons... As we transition from Spring to Summer, the sun gradually warms the surface of the Earth. The gradual warming lags behind the length of day. So the hottest part of the year is roughly a month after the solstice.
When was the hottest August on record?
Globally, August 2022 ranked among the top six hottest months of August in the past 143 years. However, the northern hemisphere broke records for extreme heat. According to NASA, only August of 2016 was warmer, with last month coming in second by their account.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913. That's also the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on Earth. In the central U.S., most of the Plains states have vaulted to at least 120 degrees.
The average temperature in the contiguous United States this summer was 73.9 F (23.2 C), which is 2.5 degrees above average. The hottest U.S. summer on record for the past 128 years happened last year, 2021, when the average temperature was 74 F (23.3 C). The 2nd hottest was during the Dust Bowl, back in 1936.
On a very general level, you can roughly say that peak season is summer—which is June–August in the northern hemisphere and November–February in the southern hemisphere. The Christmas and New Year's holidays are also peak seasons in many parts of the world.
Climate scientists define summer as June, July and August, which are the three hottest months of the year. U.S. climate records go back to 1895.
July is the overall warmest month for the U.S.
According to Brown, if you blend the warmest day of the year for every location in the Lower 48 states, July 26 is the average hottest date for the nation.
The official highest recorded temperature is now 56.7°C (134°F), which was measured on 10 July 1913 at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California, USA.
On average, we're predicting summer temperatures to be hotter than normal across most of the country, ranging from the Atlantic Corridor south to Florida, across to the West Coast, and almost everywhere in between.
In August the days are shorter than in June and the Sun is lower in the sky. However, as mentioned, August is the hottest month.
August is annually the sunniest month of the year with 68% possible sunshine, July and September tie for second.
How hot will it be in 100 years?
Increases in average global temperatures are expected to be within the range of 0.5°F to 8.6°F by 2100, with a likely increase of at least 2.7°F for all scenarios except the one representing the most aggressive mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 1880, average global temperatures have increased by about 1 degrees Celsius (1.7° degrees Fahrenheit). Global temperature is projected to warm by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050 and 2-4 degrees Celsius (3.6-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.
According to the 2017 U.S. Climate Science Special Report, if yearly emissions continue to increase rapidly, as they have since 2000, models project that by the end of this century, global temperature will be at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 1901-1960 average, and possibly as much as 10.2 degrees warmer.
Early forecasts suggest El Niño will return later in 2023, exacerbating extreme weather around the globe and making it “very likely” the world will exceed 1.5C of warming. The hottest year in recorded history, 2016, was driven by a major El Niño.
AUnderstanding Global Warming of 1.5°C*
warming above pre-industrial levels, with a likely range of 0.8°C to 1.2°C. Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.
The report warns that, by 2040, global temperatures are expected to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, meaning that most people alive today will see the dramatic effects of climate change within their lifetime.
The eight warmest years on record have now occurred since 2014, the scientists, from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported, and 2016 remains the hottest year ever.
In 1976 the maximum temperature recorded was 35.9 degrees and the recent heatwave exceeded this by over 4 degrees, recent temperatures also shattered the previous highest temperature of 38.7 degrees which was recorded in 2019.
New data from the U.S. government shows that 2022 was one of the top 10 hottest years on record, with data going back to 1880. And of particular note, it was the warmest on record when there was a La Niña trade winds pattern, which generally has a cooling effect on global temperatures.
The five warmest Julys on record have all occurred since 2016. Regionally, July 2022 was among the top-10 warmest Julys on record for several continents.
Why is hotter during certain months of the year?
Over the course of a year, the Earth goes on a journey around the Sun. The reason we have seasons is because, during its journey around the Sun, the Earth is tilted. The Earth's tilt affects the amount of daylight each hemisphere gets, which in turn makes the temperature hotter or colder.
Over the last century, night-time temperatures have been rising faster than daytime temperatures across most of the world, and a study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, confirms that rising greenhouse gases have been driving this trend.
July was the hottest month ever recorded in human history, according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The hottest day was Aug. 9 when the temperature reached 98 degrees. The normal average for August is 73 degrees. August followed the fourth-hottest July on record, with an average temperature of 77.2 degrees.
The warmest years in the instrumental temperature record have occurred in the last decade (i.e. 2012-2021). The World Meteorological Organization reported in March 2021 that 2016 and 2020 were the two warmest years in the period since 1850.
A wet-bulb temperature of 35 °C, or around 95 °F, is pretty much the absolute limit of human tolerance, says Zach Schlader, a physiologist at Indiana University Bloomington. Above that, your body won't be able to lose heat to the environment efficiently enough to maintain its core temperature.
| # | State | Highest Temperature Ever Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 109 °F |
| 2 | Louisiana | 114 °F |
| 3 | Texas | 120 °F |
| 4 | Georgia | 112 °F |
...
| Rank | City | Mean Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Key West, FL | 78.1°F |
| 2 | Miami, FL | 76.7°F |
| 3 | Yuma, AZ | 75.3°F |
| 4 | West Palm Beach, FL | 75.3°F |
The 1936 North American heat wave was one of the most severe heat waves in the modern history of North America. It took place in the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s and caused catastrophic human suffering and an enormous economic toll.
Heatwaves are growing in frequency and intensity around the world due to climate change. Scientists have been warning for some time that the rise in global average temperature, as greenhouse gas levels mount in the atmosphere, is causing an increase in the risks of hot weather.
What was the deadliest heat wave?
July 1936, part of the "Dust Bowl", produced one of the hottest summers on record across the country, especially across the Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes regions. Nationally, about 5,000 people died from the heat.
3) Monsoon (Varsha Ritu)
It includes the months of July and August. As per the Hindu calendar, this season comes in the months of Shravana and Bhadrapada (Sawan and Bhado). As the name indicates, rainfall occurs in most of India in this season.
Hot weather descends in August upon many of America's large cities where daily temperatures average highs of 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 32 degrees Celsius).
A few factors contribute to increasing humidity, but what specifically contributes more than usual in July and August is a process known as evapotranspiration. What occurs is water from the soil is absorbed by crops like corn, which is then evaporated off the leaves and into the air.
The big "winner" for the state with the most days observing the coldest temperature during the summer months is Alaska.
Some of the US states which has the best weather in August include California, Nevada, Florida and Hawaii.
For a warmer climate, head to Las Vegas or Florida for high temperatures and constant sunshine. On the west coast, you'll find Los Angeles, which has great weather in August and is perfect if you want to experience the life of a Hollywood celebrity for the day.
The reason for this is, as you pointed, the same than for day hours being the hottest after noon: The atmosphere (and the sea) in July is hotter than in June, so even when you are getting less and less solar radiation, the effect is accumulative, and the atmosphere gets hotter and hotter.
By August the summer heat begins to moderate slightly, but humidities are higher than in July. This makes many residents feel that it is much hotter than it really is. Actually, the average high temperature is 103.7 or 2.2 degrees lower than in July.
NASA scientists conducted a separate but similar analysis, determining that 2022 ranked as Earth's fifth-warmest year on record, tied with 2015. The European Commission's Copernicus website ranked 2022 as the globe's fifth-warmest year on record.
Is summer hotter because of global warming?
Europe, China and North America were parched by extreme heat that would have been 'virtually impossible' without the effects of global warming, scientists said.
What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth? The highest temperature on record belongs to California's Death Valley which, in 1913, reached a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.7 degrees Celsius, Al Jazeera reports.
The most significant documented snowfall event in Phoenix occurred on January 21 and 22 in 1937. One inch was officially reported at the federal building at Central and Fillmore. However, up to 4 inches was reported in other parts of what is now the metro area.
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Pretty much everyone knows the hottest temperature recorded in Phoenix was 122 degrees on June 26, 1990.
The heat tends to "break" - cool evenings, days in the 80s - about mid-October. The coldest part of the year is usually late December or early January, with highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s.
Climate scientists define summer as June, July and August, which are the three hottest months of the year. U.S. climate records go back to 1895.
According to NOAA's 2021 Annual Climate Report the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.14 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0.08 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1880; however, the average rate of increase since 1981 has been more than twice as fast: 0.32 °F (0.18 °C) per decade.