Highest U.S. Temperatures on Record by State
By Paul Homewood
I have occasionally posted about the State Climate Extremes Committee in the US, which verifies and maintains data on record meteorological observations on a State by State basis.
Unlike the Met Office, the SCEC is extremely diligent in checking new claims for record temperatures, daily rainfall and so on, including site visits and rigorous checking. Details of how they operate is here.
One particular requirement is this:
One wonders whether the SCEC would approve a rainfall record half way up a mountain! (Or for that matter a record low temperature). We actually do not have to wonder, because the list of records shows this not to be the case. Whilst there are some records in highland areas, these all appear to be in habited locations.
Below is the distribution of record high temperatures, and I think most of us are familiar with the preponderance of records in the 1930s. Remember, these numbers include ties, so from a statistical point of view should be evenly distributed across time. (Ties, by the way, on the same day are not counted).
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records
Handily, Electroverse have written a transcript of these records:
ALABAMA
The hottest day ever recorded in Alabama was the 112F (44.4C) back on September 6, 1925, in Centreville (about 50 miles south of Birmingham).
ALASKA
June 27, 1915 saw 100F (37.8C) engulf Fort Yukon, located north of the Arctic Circle.
ARIZONA
128F (53.3C) hit Lake Havasu City, located on the western edge of Arizona, on June 29, 1994.
ARKANSAS
Ozark, located along the Arkansas River, recorded 120F (48.9C) on August 10, 1936.
CALIFORNIA
Back on July 10, 1913, Greenland Ranch, now Furnace Creek Ranch, in California’s Death Valley peaked at a scalding 134F (56.7C) — a temp that to this day remains the United States’ hottest on record.
COLORADO
Colorado reached 114F (45.6F) twice — once on July 1, 1933, in Las Animas, and again in Sedgwick on July 11, 1954.
CONNECTICUT
Connecticut has touched 106F (41.1C) twice — in August, 1916 in Torrington, and in July, 1995 in Danbury.
DELAWARE
Millsboro hit a high of 110F (43.3C) on July 21, 1930.
FLORIDA
On June 29, 1931, Monticello in Northern Florida reached 109F (42.8C).
GEORGIA
Georgia’s witnessed 112F (44.4C) twice — once in Greenville in August of 1983, and once in Louisville in July 1952.
HAWAII
The highest temp in Hawaii is the 100F (37.8C) in Pahala in April, 1931.
IDAHO
Idaho reached 118F (47.8C) on July 28, 1934, in Orofino.
ILLINOIS
Eastern St. Louis touched 117F (47.2F) on July 14, 1954.
INDIANA
116F (46.7C) was registered on July 14, 1936, in St. Joseph County.
IOWA
The hottest temperature ever recorded in Iowa was in Keokuk — the 118F (47.8C) set back on July 20, 1934.
KANSAS
Kansas has hit 121F (49.4C) twice, both times in 1936 — on July 18 in Fredonia, and six days later in Alton.
KENTUCKY
Greensburg hit 114F (45.6C) on July 28, 1930.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana’s hottest day was August 10, 1936 — Plain Dealing reached 114F (45.6C).
MAINE
North Bridgton hit 105F (40.6C) twice in the same week — first, Independence Day in 1911, and then 6 days later.
MARYLAND
Maryland has seen 109F on four separate occasions — twice in August 1918 in Cumberland, once in Frederick in July 1936, and once way back on July 3, 1898, in Boettcherville.
MASSACHUSETTS
Chester touched 107F (41.7C) on August 2, 1975.
MICHIGAN
Stanwood was hit by a toasty 112F (44.4F) on July 13, 1936.
MINNESOTA
115F (46.1C) scorched Beardsley in western Minnesota on July 29, 1917.
MISSISSIPPI
On July 29, 1930, Holly Springs also reached 115F (46.1F).
MISSOURI
Warsaw was hit by an all-time high of 118F (47.8C) on July 14, 1954.
MONTANA
117F (47.2C) was hit on two occasions in Montana — once in Glendive in July 1983, and once near Medicine Lake in July 1937.
NEBRASKA
Three places in Nebraska have hit 118F (47.8C) — Geneva on July 15, 1934, and both Hartington and Minden during the same week in July 1936.
NEVADA
Laughlin, Nevada saw 125F (51.7C) on June 29, 1994.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
On Independence Day in 1911, Nashua reached 106F (41.1C).
NEW JERSEY
Old Bridge hit 110F (43.3C) on July 10, 1936.
NEW MEXICO
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant recorded the hottest day in New Mexico’s history — the 122F (50C) on June 27, 1994.
NEW YORK
Troy reached 108F (42.2C) on July 22, 1926.
NORTH CAROLINA
Fayetteville topped-out at 110F (43.3C) on August 21, 1983.
NORTH DAKOTA
Steele reached a scorching 121F (49.4C) on July 6, 1936.
OHIO
Gallipolis, located on the Ohio River, reached 113F (45C) on July 21, 1934.
OKLAHOMA
120F (48.9C) has been reached four times Oklahoma, all in the year 1936 — once in Poteau, twice in Altus, and once in Alva.
OREGON
1898 is the record-holder for Oregon. The mercury hit 119F (48.3C) twice that year— in Prineville, and in downtown Pendleton.
PENNSYLVANIA
For two days in a row, July 9 and 10, 1936, Phoenixville hit 111F (43.9C).
RHODE ISLAND
Providence hit 104F (40C) on August 2, 1975.
SOUTH CAROLINA
The South Carolina capitol reached 113F (45C) on June 29, 2012.
SOUTH DAKOTA
SD has hit 120F (48.9C) twice — once on July 5, 1936 in Gann Valley, and again on July 15, 2006 in Fort Pierre.
TENNESSEE
Perryville on the Tennesee River hit 113F (45C) twice in 1930.
TEXAS
The lone star state has touched 120F (48.9C) twice — once on August 12, 1936, in Seymour, and once on June 28, 1994, in Monahans.
UTAH
St. George hit 115F (46.1C) on July 5, 1985.
VERMONT
The town of Vernon reached 107F (41.7C) on July 7, 1912.
VIRGINIA
Virginia has hit 100F (37.8C) three times — twice in the first week of July 1900 in Columbia, and once on July 15, 1954, in Balcony Falls, Glasgow.
WASHINGTON
Washington State has reached 118F (47.8C) twice —once on Ice Harbor Dam near Ash on August 5, 1961, and once in Wahluke on July 24, 1928.
WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia hit an all-time high of 112F (44.4C) on two occasions — in Moorefield on August 4, 1930 and in Martinsburg on July 10, 1936.
WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Dells on the Wisconsin River hit a high of 114F (45.6C) on July 13, 1936.
WYOMING
115F (46.1C) was reached twice in Wyoming, once in Basin on August 8, 1983 and once on the Diversion Dam by Wind River Reservation on July 15, 1988.
This raw data speaks for itself — the United States was hotter in the past.
According to NOAA’s own data, of the 50 U.S. state all-time record high temperatures, 23 were set during the 1930s, while 36 occurred prior to 1960.
https://electroverse.net/highest-u-s-temperatures-on-record-by-state/
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
This will certainly make today’s BBC news and “Fear Page” on their web-site!!!
Record temperatures are a thing of the past.
Brilliant post, thank you Paul.
What is the relevance of localized temperature events in a discussion of a theory about long term trends in global mean temperature?
“…relevance…”
To revisit some disregarded history is good for the soul.
Yes sir. Of course.
For one thing, these record temperatures haven’t been adjusted and homogenized like the larger temperature databases have been. It’s a window into the raw temperature readings of the past.
So since 2000 there has been ONE record and ONE tied. I think many people would be surprised by that given the tale being told of ever increasing warmth. I would be interested to see how many record COLD temperatures have been set since 2000 and I think I have seen somewhere that it is more than one.
I can see, (but may have missed a couple)
Oklahoma, 2011,
Maine, 2009
and Illinois 2019.
Thanks Andy. That does ring a bell at 4 as in the past a Thikipedo page was showing that very few records were post 2000. I think my point still stands that you would expect a lot more given the hot hype.
As to West Virginia: “West Virginia hit an all-time high of 112F (44.4C) on two occasions — in Moorefield on August 4, 1930 and in Martinsburg on July 10, 1936.”
Both towns are in the eastern panhandle which is adjacent to both Maryland and Virginia. It is east of the Allegheny Mountains and thus in the rainshadow of the prevailing west winds.
This causes the area to be drier and warmer. Moorefield is in the South Branch Valley (the south branch of the Potomac River) just east of the Alleghenies in the Ridge and Valley Province. Most of West Virginia is west of the Allegheny Mountains with, on average, higher rainfall and lower temperatures. Martinsburg, being at the eastern edge of the panhandle (and a very short drive to Washington, DC), however, tends to get large snow dumps and some ferocious thunder storms from time to time.
And in Al Gore’s home state of Tennessee there has not been a record warm year since 1921.
This is true despite NOAA’s lowering of the national 1921 temperatures to make 2012 the warmest.
The USA’s Dust Bowl years of the 1930s tell their own story, due to severe drought – aggravated by unsuitable farming methods. The drought was not caused by a few molecules of a trace gas, of course.
Well what a surprise. The 1930s that the Warmists have so assiduously tried to erase from climate history in true Stalinist style re-emerge as the decade of unprecedented record temperature setting , mostly hot.
Interesting to note that the record temperature in the most southerly state (Hawaii) is the same as for the most northerly state (Alaska). Both are 100 F.
What amazed me is the sheer range of the extreme temperatures. In some cases the difference between highest and lowest is 180 F (100 C). I though that Siberia was extreme in range, but the USA ranges are truly enormous compared with European ranges.
When you look at these ranges, it makes a mean temperature a bit of a nonsense and shows that people can handle extremes well. A bit more than the IPCC’s infamous 1.5 deg K scam.
Brilliant exposition, Paul. You must be one of, if not THE, hardest-working (climate) blogger in the blogosphere! Do you ever have a break for such mundane things as weekends or sleeping or eating or, god forbid, holidays?
I, for one, am more than impressed. Your output is truly awesome. Thank you.
I’m off for a couple of nights in Worcs tomorrow to do a bit of cycling! (Along with with a bottle or two!)
Not while cycling I hope…..
So Called BBC is lazy Saying it Was the ”Warmest” May on record (since 1929) when 2020 was 15th Warmest on record…1828 1768 1911 1959 1976 1990 were notoriously hot Summers with thunderstorms…
I protested the SC ‘record’ to the governor’s office. Never heard back from them.
The station of the record is on the north side of Bates House, a jock dorm on the campus of USC (Fighting Gamecocks!). 20 yards from an asphalt parking lot, 20 yards from a railroad bed, and in the midst of an urban concrete jungle. It is at best a CRN 3 station. Grossly unsuitable for a state record. Ratifying it as a state record was purely political.
Great Paul! I love looking at real data. One would logically think that if the climate really is getting hotter we’d see it somewhere…The thirties; hot and stormy, a depression. and a world war right around the corner. Truly we live in forgiving times by comparison.
Paul, what about the Coldest daily records?
Judginging by Ice Age Now posts I think it should show many records broken post 2000.