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NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895

Average temperature of 24.9°C in July 2026 surpassed the 1936 record by 0.1°C, with wildfires and drought intensifying across regions

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895

What this story says

  • NOAA confirmed July 2026 as the warmest month recorded in the contiguous United States since 1895, with an average temperature of 24.9°C.
  • The record surpassed the previous high set in 1936 by 0.1°C, with Wyoming experiencing the most extreme deviation at 2.8°C above normal.
  • Wildfires burned in the Pacific Northwest and Canada by the end of July, while 48% of the contiguous U.S. faced drought conditions.
  • No right-rated outlet among the eight surveyed reported the NOAA announcement, though left and centre outlets carried the story.

Who covered it

Left 50%(3)Centre 50%(3)Right 0%(0)

Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 8 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

74/100

Craft

77/100

Hype

15/100

8 sources · methodology

Thin on the right so far

None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on 10 August 2026 that July 2026 was the warmest month ever recorded in the contiguous United States. The average temperature for the month reached 24.9°C, 1.8°C above the 20th-century average for July. NOAA’s records date back to 1895, and the previous record was set in 1936.

The heat was most pronounced in the western United States. Wyoming recorded temperatures 2.8°C above normal, the highest deviation of any state. NOAA reported that 13 states had monthly average temperatures ranking in their top five warmest Julys, with no state recording near or below-average temperatures. By the end of July, large wildfires were burning in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, while 48% of the contiguous U.S. faced drought conditions.

Globally, the trend mirrored the U.S. findings. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that Western Europe experienced its hottest June-July period on record. An AFP analysis of Copernicus data found that regions home to 900 million people worldwide recorded their warmest July in 2026.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated outlets among the eight surveyed reported the NOAA announcement. The left and centre reports all carried the record temperature and the comparison to 1936, but only the left-rated reports included the global temperature context from Copernicus and the AFP analysis. The centre-rated digests omitted the drought figure of 48% of the contiguous U.S. and the specific impact on cities like Denver and Salt Lake City.

Tags:#USHeatRecord#ClimateChange#NOAA#Wildfires#Drought#July2026

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 10 Aug 2026, 19:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895
KRDOCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

3 rated outlets

  • The three left-rated reports led on the record-breaking temperature and its connection to climate change. La Presse quoted NOAA’s announcement directly, noting that July 2026 surpassed the 1936 record and listing the top five warmest Julys as evidence of a long-term trend. The outlet also highlighted the global context, reporting that Western Europe had its hottest June-July period on record.
  • CNN’s full report, republished by Axios in its digest, detailed the role of heat domes and the jet stream in intensifying the heat. It quoted NOAA’s finding that 600 monthly temperature records were broken in July, compared to fewer than 50 cool-weather records. The report attributed the imbalance to climate change driven by fossil fuel use and noted that cities like Denver and Salt Lake City had their warmest Julys on record.
  • La Presse used the phrase "l’influence du changement climatique" to describe the pattern of rising temperatures, while CNN described climate change as making heat waves "more intense, longer-lasting and more likely to occur." Both outlets included the global temperature context, with La Presse citing AFP’s analysis of Copernicus data.

Centre

3 rated outlets

  • The three centre-rated digests carried NOAA’s announcement and the record temperature of 24.9°C. KRDO’s full report, republished by KEYT and KESQ, led on the heat domes that drove the record, describing them as "long, intense" and linking them to the jet stream’s behaviour. The report noted that 13 states had top-five warmest Julys, with Wyoming recording its hottest month ever.
  • KRDO included the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and Canada as a key detail, stating that they mirrored conditions in Europe. The report also mentioned the role of El Niño in elevating global temperatures but cited studies showing that climate change was the primary driver of the U.S. heat waves. The phrase "human-caused climate change" appeared in the report, attributing the trend to fossil fuel use.
  • The digests from KEYT and KESQ repeated KRDO’s framing, emphasising the heat domes and the record temperatures. None of the centre-rated digests mentioned the global temperature context or the AFP analysis of Copernicus data.

Right

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Read it at the source

8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

3

Centre

3

Right

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Not rated

2

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895?
Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 50% are rated left, 50% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 8. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is the coverage of NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895 biased?
NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895 is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered NOAA records hottest July in contiguous United States since 1895?
8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How much hotter was July 2026 compared to the 20th-century average?
NOAA reported that July 2026 was 1.8°C warmer than the 20th-century average for the month in the contiguous United States. The average temperature reached 24.9°C, surpassing the previous record set in 1936 by 0.1°C.
Which U.S. state had the highest temperature deviation in July 2026?
Wyoming experienced the highest temperature deviation in July 2026, with temperatures 2.8°C above normal. The state recorded its hottest July and hottest month of any month on record, according to NOAA.
Did any outlets disagree on the July 2026 temperature record?
All outlets that reported the story agreed on NOAA’s announcement that July 2026 was the warmest month on record for the contiguous United States. No factual disagreements were reported among the left and centre outlets that covered the story.
Which side of the political spectrum did not report the NOAA announcement?
None of the right-rated outlets among the eight surveyed reported the NOAA announcement that July 2026 was the warmest month on record in the contiguous United States.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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