From late spring to late summer heat waves in 2022 smashed many records in North America between May and September of that year. Dozens of temperature records were surpassed in the United States.
May The first round of intense heat came on May 13, when Caribou, Maine hit , the second earliest date in the calendar year a temperature of that magnitude was reached. The next day, three people who lived inside of a senior building died in Chicago, Illinois, as a result of the heat, due to the air conditioning malfunctioning. Later that month, in Memphis, Tennessee, when temperatures reached , an infant died after being left unattended inside of a motor vehicle.
On May 21, 2022, heat became prevalent in the Mid-Atlantic, resulting in a near record hot Preakness Stakes horse race, with Baltimore and Philadelphia having temperatures of , Washington DC at , and New York City at . This heat persisted into May 22, when Dulles International Airport hit , breaking the daily high record, and Westfield, Massachusetts hit .Large swaths of the U.S. set daily temperature records, NPR, May 22, 2022 After a respite, intense heat returned on May 31, as much of the New York Metropolitan Area set record highs that day.A scorcher for the books: Multiple high-temperature records shattered in NYC area Tuesday, says NWS Silve.cos, June 1, 2022 Toronto also recorded a record high of that day.Toronto records new temperature high for May 31, beats 78-year-old temperature record, The Star, May 31, 2022 Further south, schools released kids early that day due to the heat, with highs forecast in the upper 90s Fahrenheit.Schools dismiss students early amid dangerous heat, ABC News, May 31, 2022 However, by June 1, a backdoor cold front reduced temperatures dramatically.7:00 AM | *Relief today following the passage of a back door cool front*, ArcField Weather, June 1, 2022 On May 31, Boston dropped from to in ten minutes.Dramatic temperature drop followed by "pollen storm" in Boston area, CBS Boston, May 31, 2022
June A historic heat wave affected the Midwestern United States and Southwestern United States in the second week of June 2022. In Phoenix, a daily record was tied, as the mercury soared up to 114 °F (45.6 °C). In North Platte, Nebraska, a record temperature of was recorded. In Death Valley, a man died when trying to refuel gas as temperatures climbed to . In Rocky Mountain National Park, the excess heat resulted in rapid snowmelt, and the flooding forced a trail in the park to close. A trail was also shut down at Joshua Tree National Park, where temperatures were predicted to reach as high as .This Popular California National Park Trail Is Temporarily Closed Due to Extreme Heat — What to Know, Travel + Leisure, June 10, 2022 Temperatures in Memphis soared to , with a heat index of . The heat dome resulted in over 125 million people under excessive heat warnings. In Odessa, Texas, thousands of residents were left without water, even as the temperature got to . In San Antonio, every day in June 2022 was at least as hot as 97 °F (36 °C), except for June 28. On June 13, St. Louis hit 100 °F (37.8 °C), breaking the daily record. In addition, from June 13-16, the morning low never went below 81 °F (27.2 °C), breaking the warmest morning low record for the next 4 days. In Chicago, Midway Airport recorded three days with high temperatures of at least between June 14 and 21. On June 17, the heat dome moved over the Mid-Atlantic briefly, causing a record high of in Washington DC, and tying the record high of in Baltimore.Hottest Day of the Year: Friday's Temperature Hit 99 Degrees, NBC Washington, June 17, 2022June's All-Time Hottest Temperature, WMAR, June 17, 2022
On June 18 saw Mobile, Alabama have a record high of .Second heat wave expected to bring temps above 100 for 20% of people in US, CNN, June 20, 2022 On June 20, Minneapolis set a daily record high of , with a heat index of . This was the first time Minneapolis saw triple digits in four years. Grand Forks, North Dakota saw a daily high record of in June 19, and Houston and Galveston saw record highs of and respectively on June 20.Excessive heat swelling from Midwest toward the South, The Washington Post, June 21, 2022
Heat in Alaska triggered 31 wildfires.Record-high temperatures scorching Alaska as July kicks off, AccuWeather, July 2, 2022
July An intense, fatal heat wave swept through the United States in July. More than 100 million people were put on heat alerts, and over 85% of the country had temperatures at or above . A man died in Dallas County, Texas, and a heat emergency was triggered in Washington DC due to temperatures over , on the weekend of July 23–24. This extreme heat also intensified drought conditions. Arkansas and Missouri went from 1% and 2% of their states from seeing severe drought or worse, to a quarter and a third. On July 17, Winnipeg saw their highest ever dew point, at .
Temperatures in Abilene, Texas on July 20 hit , breaking a daily record. Austin, Texas also saw a daily high record of . Daily record high low temperature records were set, including Needles, California (), Galveston (), Wichita Falls (), Houston () and Laredo (), on July 20. The heat wave was responsible for 18 other deaths, including 12 in Maricopa County, Arizona and one at Badlands National Park. Witchita Falls hit on July 20, a record for July, while on that day Oklahoma also reached that mark. Oklahoma City set a monthly record high of .Oklahoma heat wave 2022: OKC hits 110 degrees, setting daily heat record, The Oklahoman, July 20, 2022 Further east, every day from July 20 to 24 in Newark, New Jersey got at or over , the longest streak on record. Boston also set a record high on July 24, at .Heat wave to hit Northwest as Northeast sees some relief, ABC News, July 25, 2022 When the heat wave broke on July 25, multiple flash flood warnings were issued with the cold front.Flash Flood Warning issued in NYC, NJ as storms expected to break heat, PIX11, July 25, 2022 While most parts of New Jersey exceeded for the 8th day, New York City was kept to , thus keeping the heat wave to 6 days there.
Later on in the month, another heat wave in Portland, Oregon causes 14 additional deaths. Portland saw 7 consecutive days at or above , while Seattle saw six days at or above , both breaking records for duration, by July 31.Blistering heatwave suspected in 14 Oregon deaths, The Guardian, August 1, 2022
August Intense heat continued into August. In early August, a heat wave forced 80 million Americans under heat alerts. Albany, New York set a new daily record high of on August 4. On August 7, Portland set a high temperature record of .How hot was it? Maine sets records, WMTW, August 8, 2022 Boston set a new daily record high on August 8, at . On August 9, Philadelphia got an excessive heat warning due to heat indexes over for two consecutive hours. The heat dome resulted in a ten day long heat wave in Philadelphia, while Boston saw temperatures above for six days in a row. Due to this, the New York Metropolitan Area had a top 5 hottest August, and Islip, New York and Newark, New Jersey had their warmest on record, and so did Philadelphia. Further west, Missoula, Montana saw their hottest August on record, while Portland, Oregon recorded their warmest ever month. August, like July, was the warmest for daily minimums in the United States.U.S. sweltered through third-hottest summer on record, NOAA, September 9, 2022 Oregon, Washington, Idaho, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire had their warmest August on record.NOAA Summer/August 2022 State Climate Rankings, Climate Impact Company In addition, Newark set a record for the most days above in August.Newark breaks record for most 90-degree days in August, Silive, August 30, 2022
September On September 1, Death Valley hit , a global record for September. That day, parts of Interstate 15 near Centerville, Utah buckled.Record-breaking heat causes road to buckle in Centerville; I-15 backed up for hours, KSLTV, September 1, 2022 On September 4, a monthly record was set in Casper, Wyoming at . Sacramento hit a record high on September 5, of . San Francisco also had a daily record that day of . A monthly record high of Salt Lake City was set as well that day, at . California's power grid nearly broke. There were two deaths – one each in Arizona and Idaho. Later on in the month, Nashville set their latest day at or above on September 21.Near-freezing temperatures could establish new record lows across a wide swath of the South, AccuWeather, October 16, 2022 Nevada and Utah saw their hottest September on record, and the 3rd quarter of 2022 for the United States as a whole was the hottest on record.September 2022 National Climate Report, NOAA September 2022 became the hottest on record for the continent of North America at large.North America sweats through warmest September on record, Fox Weather, October 14, 2022
See also Weather of 2022 2020–22 North American drought
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