California residents don’t need math and data to tell them that this July was scorching hot, but the latest numbers may help paint a picture.
According to new figures from the National Centers for Environmental Information, this July was the hottest month ever recorded in the state of California by average temperature.
The average temperature in California was 81.7 degrees last month, marking the first time an entire month averaged a temperature that was more than 80 degrees. The average was seven degrees more than the typical July, according to the NCEI.
The NCEI data tracks back as far as 1895.
The new record surpassed the previous high of 79.8 degrees from July 2023. Each of the other top five hottest months in the history of the state was also in July — 2018, 1931 and 2006.
July was a month in which several California cities also set records for their heat. Palm Springs, tucked away in Riverside County’s desert, had its hottest all-time day on July 5 when it reached a scorching 124 degrees.
Needles, the Route 66 town nestled adjacent to the Arizona-California border, was the warmest city in the U.S. last month, surpassing Phoenix for the crown.