Over 2,800 high temperature records set during heat wave
A week-long heat wave set over 2,800 record high temperatures in towns across the nation, with some spots measuring their hottest June or all-time temperatures.
NYC Emergency Management’s Zachary Iscol provides an update on the city’s response to the days of sweltering heat gripping the area and affecting everything from its people to the city infrastructure.
A total of 955 daily high temperature records and 1,899 daily high minimum (warm night) records were tied or broken during the last week's heat wave.
Records dating back to the 1800s were shattered as an early-summer heat wave roasted large areas of the central and eastern United States. AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures blew past the 100-degree mark, air conditioners were on full blast, and cities opened cooling centers to help people cope with the intense heat.
“This is an incredibly hot and steamy heat wave for the month of June,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.
Daily high temperature records set between Jun 19 and June 25, 2025. (NOAA/NCDC)
Tuesday's heat breaks 137-year-old record
The heat wave peaked on Tuesday, and it wasn't just the hottest day of 2025, but the hottest weather many residents in the Northeast have experienced in over a decade.
The mercury soared to 102 degrees in Boston on Tuesday afternoon, making it the hottest day in the city since July 22, 2011, when it reached 103. Philadelphia also notched its first 100-degree day since July 18, 2012.
In New York City, the temperature fell just shy of hitting triple digits, but the high of 99 degrees was still enough to beat the previous daily record for the date, surpassing the high of 96 degrees set on June 24, 1888. Some areas not far from Central Park, where the official weather observations for the city are taken, did manage to hit 100 degrees, including Newark (103) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (102).
Other cities across the region that reached 100 F on Tuesday afternoon include Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; Wilmington and Dover, Delaware; and Manchester, New Hampshire.
Monthly and hourly records were also set
Illustrating how unusual and early the heat wave was, a thermometer in Augusta, Maine, recorded 100 degrees, tying their all-time record high set on Aug. 5, 1955. It joined 13 other stations where the temperature had never been recorded hotter.
Many cities had never been as hot in June as they were Tuesday. Stations reporting their hottest June temperatures on record include Newark, New Jersey, at 103 (tied); New York City (Kennedy & LaGuardia at 102 and 101, a tie); Islip, New York at 101; Portland and Bangor, Maine, at 99 and 98, a tie; and Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, at 93, recorded on Monday. A total of 90 stations set June records.
The heat came early in the day, with Philadelphia setting or tying new hourly record highs for 9 a.m., 7 a.m., and 5 a.m., and New York City (JFK Airport) notching new or tied extreme highs at 3 a.m., 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 5 p.m, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet. For June, Philadelphia's hourly temperatures had never been higher for all but two hours of the day.
Monday's records
The first full week of astronomical summer wasted no time warming up, with many thermometers across the region reaching levels they haven't hit in years.
Baltimore's Inner Harbor was one of the hottest spots on Monday, with a high of 104 F. The high humidity and strong summer sun made it dangerously hot outside, with the AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature topping out at 113 degrees. To put this heat into perspective, 113 degrees is the historical average high temperature in Death Valley in mid-June.
Newark, New Jersey, reached 101 degrees, breaking its daily record of 99, and Raleigh, North Carolina, tied its daily record of 100, set last year.
Although other weather stations broke records, they were all below 100 degrees. Most notably, the temperature at Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, rose to 93 degrees, breaking the daily record and setting June's highest reading. This was the first 90-degree day at Mount Pocono since 2013.
Sunday's records
On Sunday, three weather stations broke the high temperature records for the date. Alpena, Michigan, hit 97 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous record of 93 set in 1975. In Valley, Nebraska, the mercury pushed up to 94 degrees, breaking the old record of 91 from 2023. And in Marquette, Michigan, the old record of 90 degrees, on this date in 1995, was smashed by a reading of 93.
But it wasn't just daily record highs. Records for warm nights were also broken at breakneck speed. Saturday night tied the all-time high minimum historical record for Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 79 degrees, previously achieved in July 4, 1897, and July 30, 1916. Wausau, Wisconsin, didn't cool below 78 degrees, which had previously happened only on July 4, 1999. The fact that these records were previously recorded in July is an indicator of how early this severe heat wave is.
Record warm nights for June were also set at La Crosse, Wisconsin, (80 degrees) and Mason City, Iowa, (77 degrees) Saturday night.
A total of 255 record warm nights for June were recorded over the last week, with 59 of those new records the warmest nights ever recorded at the stations.
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