All-Time, Monthly Record Heat Tracker

An intense heat wave spread from the Rockies into the Plains, South and Midwest from the last week of June into the first week of July 2012.

How intense?  Some locations not only set new record highs for the month, but, in some cases, tied or set new all-time record highs.  Some of these highs date back to infamously hot years such as 1988, 1980, 1954 and even "Dust Bowl" years such as 1936 and 1934!

On the above embedded map, we plotted locations that have tied or set new monthly record highs as yellow pushpins and all-time record highs as pink/red pushpins.  Click on each location for the staggering heat records set through Sunday, July 8.

We restricted the cities plotted to include locations with a period of record at least back to the 1930s, to include the oppressively hot "Dust Bowl" years.  We included both first-order observation stations (for example, an airport in a town or city) and so-called NWS co-op, volunteer observers.

(MORE:  Heat Tracker Current, Forecast Maps)