NOAA confirmed that July 2026 was the hottest month on record for the contiguous United States, with an average temperature of 76.9 degrees, about 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average and surpassing the previous record set during the Dust Bowl in July 1936 by 0.8 degrees. NOAA said the record continues a recent trend driven by human-caused climate change. Warmer-than-normal conditions affected the entire contiguous US, including the Mountain West, Southwest, Northern Plains, and Southeast, while Alaska was unusually cool, and Oregon saw more than 140,000 acres burned by wildfires that led thousands of residents to evacuate.
Extensive, data-rich coverage emphasizing the breadth of extreme weather (heat waves, drought, flash flooding, wildfires) and situating the US record within a global pattern of climate extremes, including European heat and long-term climate indicators from a separate 2025 'state of the climate' report.
Brief factual note attributing the record to NOAA and explicitly framing it as continuing a trend 'driven by human-caused climate change,' though with minimal additional detail or context.
Detailed factual reporting similar to LL in temperature statistics and flooding, but includes historical comparison to the 1936 Dust Bowl record and quotes scientists attributing the modern heat to fossil fuel burning, while also noting Alaska's unusual coolness as a counterpoint.