Hottest Summers On Record: How This Year Ranked In Illinois

August 2026 tied the record for the hottest month ever on Earth, according to AccuWeather. Last month tied July 2023 for the hottest month ever measured globally, and global average surface air temperature reached 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

AccuWeather said that August was also .1 degree warmer than July, which was unusual as July is usually the planet's hottest month.

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"The record was driven by a combination of long-term global warming from burning fossil fuels and rapidly rising ocean temperatures associated with a strengthening El Niño in the Pacific," according to AccuWeather.

Not only was August hot, but it was a hot summer for many states in the U.S., especially out west. In Illinois, while we had periods of heat waves (with severe weather), it only ranked as our 40th hottest summer on record.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, most of the contiguous U.S. experienced above to much-above average August temperatures, but near-average conditions were confined to parts of the northern Plains and Midwest.

You can see this reflected in the map above, as Illinois and its surrounding states didn't even crack the top 10 for each state's respective hottest summers.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Utah, Colorado and New Mexico had their hottest summers in 132 years of recorded weather, according to AccuWeather. Arizona tied for its record warmest summer, AccuWeather reported.