Daily Heat Records Rising

Climate Central's analysis of 247 U.S. locations shows a significant shift toward heat records over cold records, with 96% of locations setting more heat records in the 2010s compared to 54% in the 1910s. From January 2020 to November 2022, 91% of analyzed locations saw more record heat than cold, with some cities like Tampa and Miami setting only heat records. The report links these local trends to global warming, noting that daily heat records in the U.S. have become at least twice as frequent as cold records, increasing risks for health, ecosystems, and infrastructure.

• Analysis of 247 U.S. locations shows a marked increase in the proportion of sites where heat records outnumber cold records over the last century: 96% of locations set more heat records than cold records in the 2010s, compared to 54% in the 1910s.
• Between January 2020 and November 2022, 91% of 245 analyzed locations experienced more record heat than record cold. During this period, 25 U.S. locations set only heat records; Tampa, Florida, had the highest imbalance with 76 heat records and zero cold records, followed by Miami, Phoenix, Reno, and San Francisco.
• At a national scale, daily heat records in the U.S. have become at least twice as frequent as daily cold records. NOAA data indicates that through December 13, 2022, the U.S. experienced approximately twice as many daily heat records as cold records.
• Current data for the 2020s suggests that the rates of record-setting heat may exceed those observed during the Great Plains Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, which previously represented a peak in warm season (May-August) heat records until the 2010s.

APA

Tuholske, C., & Sheridan, S. (2022). Daily Heat Records Rising. Climate Central. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/daily-heat-records-rising-2022

Chicago

Tuholske, Cascade, and Scott Sheridan. Daily Heat Records Rising. Climate Central, 2022. https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/daily-heat-records-rising-2022.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tuholske |first1=Cascade |last2=Sheridan |first2=Scott |title=Daily Heat Records Rising |publisher=Climate Central |date=14 December 2022 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/daily-heat-records-rising-2022 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tuholske2022daily, author = {Tuholske, Cascade and Sheridan, Scott}, title = {{Daily Heat Records Rising}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/daily-heat-records-rising-2022}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }