A Vivid View of Extreme Weather: Temperature Records in the U.S. in 2021
Where All-Time Temperature Records Were Set in 2021
Seattle
Wash.
maine
Portland
Mont.
N.D.
Fargo
Vt.
Billings
Minn.
Ore.
N.H.
Idaho
Boston
June
heat wave
Wis.
N.Y.
S.D.
Boise
Mass.
Minneapolis
Mich.
R.I.
Milwaukee
Conn.
Detroit
Wyo.
New York
Iowa
Pa.
N.J.
Chicago
Cheyenne
Neb.
Omaha
Nev.
Salt
Lake City
Ind.
Ohio
Del.
Md.
Ill.
Denver
San
Francisco
W.Va.
Utah
Las
Vegas
Colo.
St. Louis
Kan.
Va.
Calif.
Ky.
Mo.
Wichita
February
cold snap
Raleigh
Los Angeles
Nashville
N.C.
Okla.
Albuquerque
Ariz.
Tenn.
Little Rock
Atlanta
N.M.
S.C.
San Diego
Phoenix
ARK.
All-time record
broken by
MISS.
Ga.
Dallas
ALA.
TEXas
10° Fahrenheit
LA.
Austin
1°
Alaska
New Orleans
Houston
San Antonio
FLA.
HAWAII
Miami
Seattle
Wash.
Portland
maine
Mont.
N.D.
Fargo
Billings
Minn.
Ore.
Vt.
N.H.
Idaho
June
heat wave
Boston
Wis.
N.Y.
S.D.
Boise
Mass.
Minneapolis
Mich.
Buffalo
Sioux Falls
Milwaukee
Conn.
R.I.
Detroit
Wyo.
Cleveland
New York
Pa.
Iowa
Calif.
Chicago
N.J.
Cheyenne
Pittsburgh
Omaha
Philadelphia
Neb.
Salt
Lake City
Nev.
Des Moines
Columbus
Ind.
San
Francisco
Del.
Ill.
Washington
Denver
Ohio
Md.
Indianapolis
Kansas City
W.Va.
Utah
Colo.
Las
Vegas
Richmond
Kan.
Va.
St. Louis
Ky.
Wichita
Mo.
February
cold snap
Raleigh
Nashville
Charlotte
N.C.
Okla.
Albuquerque
Los Angeles
Tenn.
Memphis
Columbia
Little Rock
Oklahoma
City
Atlanta
N.M.
S.C.
Birmingham
San Diego
Phoenix
ARK.
Charleston
Ariz.
All-time record
broken by
MISS.
Ga.
Dallas
ALA.
Jackson
TEXas
10° Fahrenheit
LA.
Jacksonville
Austin
1°
Houston
New Orleans
Alaska
Orlando
San Antonio
Tampa
FLA.
HAWAII
Miami
June
heat wave
February
cold snap
All-time record broken by
10° Fahrenheit
1°
June
heat wave
February
cold snap
All-time record broken by
10° Fahrenheit
1°
All-time record broken by
Seattle
10° Fahrenheit
Wash.
1°
maine
Mont.
Portland
N.D.
Vt.
Minn.
Ore.
N.H.
Idaho
Boston
June
heat wave
Wis.
S.D.
Mass.
Boise
Mich.
Minneapolis
N.Y.
R.I.
Conn.
Detroit
Wyo.
New York
Calif.
Pa.
Neb.
Iowa
Chicago
N.J.
Nev.
Ind.
Utah
Ohio
Del.
Md.
Ill.
Denver
San
Francisco
W.Va.
St. Louis
Colo.
Kan.
Va.
Ky.
Mo.
N.C.
N.M.
Tenn.
Ariz.
Los Angeles
Okla.
S.C.
February
cold snap
ARK.
Phoenix
Atlanta
MISS.
Ga.
ALA.
Dallas
TEXas
LA.
Houston
New Orleans
Alaska
FLA.
HAWAII
Miami
Temperatures in the United States last year set more all-time heat and cold records than any other year since 1994, according to a New York Times analysis of Global Historical Climatology Network data.
Heat waves made up most of these records. All-time heat records were set last year at 8.3 percent of all weather stations across the nation, more than in any year since at least 1948, when weather observations were first digitally recorded by the U.S. government.
The world has been warming by almost two-tenths of a degree per decade. Extreme-temperature events can often demonstrate the most visible effects of climate change.
“We do not live in a stable climate now,” said Robert Rohde, the lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, an independent organization focused on environmental data science. “We will expect to see more extremes and more all-time records being set.”
The brutal arctic outburst that caused Texas’ power grid to fail and the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest last June account for many of the new records.
During the winter storm, on Feb. 17, the temperature dropped to minus 5.98 degrees in Jacksonville, Texas, far below its normal February low of about 40 degrees. State officials in Texas said that 246 people died in the storm.
In Salem, Ore., the temperature spiked to 116.96 degrees on June 28. The normal high there in June is around 74 degrees. The National Weather Service has attributed at least 110 deaths to the extreme heat.
Percentage of U.S. Weather Stations That Broke All-Time Temperature Records
All-time temperature records were set in 2021 at 10.6 percent of all U.S. stations.
Cold
Heat
10%
5
1991
2000
2010
2020
10%
5
1991
2000
2010
2020
10%
5
1991
2000
2010
2020
The Times analyzed temperature data from more than 7,800 weather stations across the United States. Locations without at least 30 years of weather data were ignored, though most stations have recorded temperature for at least 65 years.
All-time records have been set somewhere in the country every year since at least 1970, but 2021 stands alone when compared with recent years, a Times analysis found.
Heat waves in 2002 and 2012 brought unprecedented temperatures to hundreds of cities and towns. Like 2021, 2011 broke numerous cold and heat records. But last year’s extreme temperatures were spread across large areas of the country and surpassed even more records.
June
heat wave
February
cold snap
2021
2020
January
cold snap
2019
August
heat wave
2018
2017
2016
June-July
heat wave
2015
2014
2013
June and July
heat waves
2012
February
cold snap
July
heat wave
2011
2010
January
cold snap
2009
2008
August
heat wave
2007
2006
July
heat wave
2005
2004
2003
July
heat wave
2002
Numerous records set in 2021 were also broken by double digits.
To explain these extremes, Dr. Rohde made a comparison with world records in the 100-meter dash. Runners typically break world records by hundredths of a second.
Among the new temperature records, Dr. Rohde said, “it’s like someone came in and seemed to be running an entirely different race because they just blew past everything we’ve come to expect.”
All-Time Temperature Records Set by the Largest Margins in 2021
Margin is the difference between the 2021 record and the previous record.
Place |
Temp. |
Margin |
Previous record year |
|---|---|---|---|
Franklin, Neb. |
-27.94 |
11.88 |
2016 |
Mineola, Texas |
-7.96 |
10.98 |
2018 |
Taylor, Neb. |
-31.00 |
10.08 |
2016 |
Portland, Ore. |
116.06 |
9.00 |
1981 |
Salem, Ore. |
116.96 |
9.00 |
1981 |
Silverton, Ore. |
113.00 |
9.00 |
1981 |
Richardson, Texas |
-0.04 |
9.00 |
2011 |
Tacoma, Wash. |
105.08 |
8.10 |
1955 |
Troutdale, Ore. |
116.06 |
8.10 |
1977 |
Forks, Wash. |
109.94 |
7.92 |
1981 |
New marks were also set by breaking records that have stood for decades. Bottineau, N.D., set a new minimum temperature record of minus 50.98 Fahrenheit, eclipsing tens of thousands of daily observations since 1893.
Oldest All-Time Temperature Records Broken in 2021
Place |
Temp. |
Margin |
Previous record year |
|---|---|---|---|
Bottineau, N.D. |
-50.98 |
0.90 |
1893 |
Arlington, Texas |
0.76 |
3.78 |
1894 |
Vernonia, Ore. |
111.02 |
3.96 |
1899 |
Jacksonville, Texas |
-5.98 |
0.90 |
1899 |
Wallace, Kan. |
-25.06 |
1.08 |
1905 |
El Reno, Okla. |
-16.06 |
1.08 |
1905 |
Superior, Neb. |
-32.98 |
1.98 |
1905 |
Decatur, Texas |
-7.06 |
7.02 |
1905 |
Osceola, Neb. |
-31.00 |
1.08 |
1912 |
Prescott, Ark. |
-9.04 |
1.98 |
1918 |
According to experts, climate change has pushed the extremes of temperature ranges around the world.
“What were hot days in the past are becoming more common,” Dr. Rohde said. “What were very, very hot days in the past are now two or three times more common than they used to be.”
Methodology
Data in the United States was obtained from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), an integrated database maintained by NOAA that contains daily climate summaries from land surface stations. The data was processed and analyzed with BigQuery.
The GHCN daily dataset acts as the official weather record of the United States, and it has been validated for spatial and temporal consistency across measurements. Daily observations that failed any quality checks were excluded, such as measurements that far exceed the lowest or highest temperatures ever recorded on earth.
A historical record is defined as the hottest or coldest temperature ever recorded up to that date. Only the hottest or coldest record for a particular year is compared. Other records in the same year, like, for example, during an extended heat wave, are excluded.
For every historical record, only stations that have collected a minimum of 30 years of data are used. Further, each station included in our analysis is required to have collected data for a minimum of half of its life span.
To compute historical records for cities, stations were aggregated to incorporated places as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. Within each area, data across stations is treated as a unified measurement for calculating historical records. Records may differ slightly from other aggregated sources based on the specific regions and stations considered.