According to CBS News reporting on NOAA records, July 2026 averaged 76.9 degrees Fahrenheit across the contiguous United States, surpassing July 1936 and July 2012 by 0.1 to 0.2 degrees. A heat wave triggered alerts for more than 185 million people and produced all-time high temperatures in multiple Western states. Analyses differ on the causes, policy implications, and reliability of the measurements.