4 Billion Years On

Climate Rankings - July 2026

232 regions ranked by this month's temperature anomaly vs their 1961–1990 baseline - every country, US state and UK region we track.

August update · ~12–15 September

Warmest this month

  1. 1st🇺🇸Montana+3.36°C
  2. 2nd🇺🇸Wyoming+3.36°C
  3. 3rd🇺🇸Idaho+3.12°C
  4. 4th🇺🇸North Dakota+2.83°C
  5. 5th🇺🇸Utah+2.66°C
  6. 6th🇺🇸South Dakota+2.58°C
  7. 7th🇺🇸Minnesota+2.48°C
  8. 8th🇺🇸Colorado+2.45°C
  9. 9th🇺🇸New Mexico+2.39°C
  10. 10th🇺🇸Nevada+2.30°C

Coolest this month

  1. 232nd🇺🇸Alaska-0.57°C
  2. 231st🇺🇸Massachusetts+0.52°C
  3. 230th🇺🇸Connecticut+0.66°C
  4. 229th🇺🇸Rhode Island+0.67°C
  5. 228th🇺🇸Illinois+0.84°C
  6. 227th🇺🇸New Hampshire+0.90°C
  7. 226th🇺🇸Missouri+0.90°C
  8. 225th🇺🇸Indiana+0.91°C
  9. 224th🇺🇸Vermont+0.92°C
  10. 223rd🇺🇸New York+0.95°C
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Monthly Cross-Region Analysis

Who led this month

The contiguous United States dominated the warmest anomalies in July 2026, with all of the top 10 warmest regions being US states. Montana and Wyoming shared the top spot, both registering a significant +3.36°C anomaly. They were closely followed by Idaho at +3.12°C. These three states are all located in the Northern Rockies and Plains region of the US.

Biggest shifts

Alaska experienced the most significant shift, climbing a remarkable 182 places to rank 49th with a -0.57°C anomaly, indicating a substantial cooling relative to its peers. Conversely, several US states that were among the warmest this month, such as Montana (ranked 1st) and Wyoming (ranked 2nd), dropped 13 places each, suggesting that while still exceptionally warm, their relative warmth compared to other regions was even more pronounced in the previous month.

Regional patterns

The warmth in July 2026 was heavily concentrated in North America, particularly within the US. The NOAA US climate region roll-ups clearly show the Northern Rockies and Plains as the warmest region with a mean 1-month anomaly of +2.75°C, followed by the Northwest (+2.38°C) and Southwest (+2.29°C). This indicates a strong pattern of above-average temperatures across the western and north-central United States.

What’s driving change?

The exceptional warmth across the western and north-central United States in July 2026 was primarily driven by a powerful heat dome, which brought record-breaking temperatures to the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. This event marked the second major heat dome of the 2026 North American heat wave. Meanwhile, a strengthening El Niño event is firmly established in the central-eastern equatorial Pacific and is forecast to intensify further, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter 2026-27. This El Niño is contributing to exceptionally warm ocean conditions globally and is expected to drive further shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns worldwide.

Sources:

globalclimaterisks.org ↗watchers.news ↗washingtonpost.com ↗noaa.gov ↗watchers.news ↗wmo.int ↗

Generated by Gemini from the ranking data above and web sources · 8 September 2026

Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Biggest movers since last month

Rank changes on the 1-month anomaly league table between the previous snapshot (2026-08) and this one (2026-09).

Climbed the most (relatively warmer this month)

  1. 🇺🇸Alaska231 → 49+182
  2. 🇺🇸Massachusetts222 → 48+174
  3. 🇺🇸Connecticut218 → 47+171
  4. 🇺🇸Rhode Island216 → 46+170
  5. 🇺🇸Illinois207 → 45+162
  6. 🇺🇸Missouri203 → 43+160
  7. 🇺🇸New Hampshire204 → 44+160
  8. 🇺🇸Indiana201 → 42+159
  9. 🇺🇸Vermont200 → 41+159
  10. 🇺🇸New York198 → 40+158

Dropped the most (relatively cooler this month)

  1. 🇺🇸Montana14 → 113
  2. 🇺🇸Wyoming15 → 213
  3. 🇺🇸Idaho21 → 318
  4. 🇺🇸North Dakota29 → 425
  5. 🇺🇸Utah33 → 528
  6. 🇺🇸South Dakota35 → 629
  7. 🇺🇸Minnesota42 → 735
  8. 🇺🇸Colorado47 → 839
  9. 🇺🇸New Mexico52 → 943
  10. 🇺🇸Nevada58 → 1048
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Roll-ups by Group

Window

By Continent

North America (6)· agg+1.89°C
Asia +1.89°C
Europe +1.79°C
Africa +1.77°C
South America (8)· agg+1.42°C
Oceania +1.00°C

By US Climate Region

Northern Rockies and Plains +2.83°C
Northwest +2.41°C
Southwest +2.26°C
Upper Midwest +1.97°C
West +1.88°C
Southeast +1.54°C
South +1.23°C
Ohio Valley +1.11°C
Northeast +1.04°C

By Region Type

UK Regions (14)+2.25°C
Countries (169)+2.11°C
US States (49)+1.59°C
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Long-term Warming Trend

Countries ranked by their linear warming trend in annual mean temperature since 1961. All countries are warming; the question is how fast.

Fastest warming

Linear trend in annual mean temperature since 1961

  1. 1st🇳🇴Norway+0.59°C/dec
  2. 2nd🇮🇸Iceland+0.53°C/dec
  3. 3rd🇸🇦Saudi Arabia+0.50°C/dec
  4. 4th🇦🇹Austria+0.47°C/dec
  5. 5th🇨🇭Switzerland+0.47°C/dec
  6. 6th🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina+0.47°C/dec
  7. 7th🇮🇷Iran+0.46°C/dec
  8. 8th🇮🇶Iraq+0.46°C/dec
  9. 9th🇹🇳Tunisia+0.45°C/dec
  10. 10th🇸🇮Slovenia+0.45°C/dec

Slowest warming

Linear trend in annual mean temperature since 1961

  1. 169th🇺🇾Uruguay+0.11°C/dec
  2. 168th🇦🇺Australia+0.11°C/dec
  3. 167th🌍Vanuatu+0.12°C/dec
  4. 166th🇸🇿Eswatini+0.13°C/dec
  5. 165th🇦🇷Argentina+0.14°C/dec
  6. 164th🇵🇷Puerto Rico+0.14°C/dec
  7. 163rd🇫🇯Fiji+0.14°C/dec
  8. 162nd🇹🇱East Timor+0.14°C/dec
  9. 161st🇨🇱Chile+0.15°C/dec
  10. 160th🇮🇳India+0.15°C/dec
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Symphony

Climate Map – Global

Source: NOAA Climate at a Glance (countries & continents) · Met Office (UK) · US states & climate regions. Anomalies are vs the 1961–1990 baseline. See methodology.

Climate Rankings 4byo Climate Symphony

League Table – July 2026

Window
#1-Month Anomaly (°C)
1Montana+3.36°C
2Wyoming+3.36°C
3Idaho+3.12°C
4North Dakota+2.83°C
5Utah+2.66°C
6South Dakota+2.58°C
7Minnesota+2.48°C
8Colorado+2.45°C
9New Mexico+2.39°C
10Nevada+2.30°C
11Oregon+2.15°C
12Wisconsin+2.04°C
13Michigan+2.00°C
14Washington+1.88°C
15South Carolina+1.86°C
16Delaware+1.84°C
17Virginia+1.70°C
18Maryland+1.68°C
19Arizona+1.65°C
20Nebraska+1.64°C
21Mississippi+1.63°C
22Georgia+1.59°C
23North Carolina+1.58°C
24Florida+1.57°C
25West Virginia+1.56°C
26California+1.53°C
27Arkansas+1.48°C
28Oklahoma+1.35°C
29Iowa+1.28°C
30Ohio+1.28°C
31Kentucky+1.25°C
32Pennsylvania+1.25°C
33Tennessee+1.25°C
34Alabama+1.23°C
35New Jersey+1.15°C
36Louisiana+1.13°C
37Texas+1.11°C
38Kansas+0.99°C
39Maine+0.96°C
40New York+0.95°C
41Vermont+0.92°C
42Indiana+0.91°C
43Missouri+0.90°C
44New Hampshire+0.90°C
45Illinois+0.84°C
46Rhode Island+0.67°C
47Connecticut+0.66°C
48Massachusetts+0.52°C
49Alaska-0.57°C

All anomalies in °C vs 1961–1990 baseline. 49 regions total.

183 more regions have already reported a later month than Jul 2026 and will rejoin this ranking once every region catches up.

Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Data Sources

Methodology & Baselines

Anomaly = monthly mean temperature − 1961–1990 mean for the same calendar month. The 12-month figure is the trailing 12-month mean minus the 12-month baseline. Country data is from Copernicus ERA5 (C3S) / NOAA; UK regions from the Met Office Regional Series; US states & climate regions from NOAA Climate at a Glance. NOAA values are re-baselined from their native 1901–2000 to 1961–1990 for cross-region comparison; the source-native figure is shown alongside for verification.

See the full methodology & data sources page for the complete two-baseline model, source timeline and known caveats.

FAQs

FAQs

How are the climate rankings calculated?

Each region is scored by its temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline for the same calendar period. The 1-month figure uses the most recent complete month; the 3-month figure uses a trailing 3-month mean; the 12-month figure uses a trailing 12-month mean. A higher positive anomaly means the region was warmer than its 1961-1990 average for that period.

Why is the 1961-1990 baseline used?

The 1961-1990 baseline is widely used by the IPCC and national meteorological agencies for cross-region comparisons. NOAA datasets that natively use 1901-2000 are re-baselined to 1961-1990 so countries, US states and UK regions can be compared on equal terms; the source-native figure is shown alongside for verification.

Which regions are included in the rankings?

Every country, US state, UK home nation, UK region, continent and US climate region for which a complete monthly time series is available. The current count is shown on the rankings page.

How often do the rankings update?

Rankings refresh every 24 hours via a Vercel Cron job that runs at 03:00 UTC and pulls in any new monthly data released by NOAA, the Met Office, Berkeley Earth and OWID since the previous run.

What does the long-term warming trend show?

The long-term trend column shows how fast each country, US state or UK region has been warming in degrees per decade since 1961, calculated as an ordinary least-squares linear regression on annual mean temperatures. A value of +0.30°C (+0.54°F) per decade means the region has warmed by roughly that amount for every ten years of the record. Every region in our dataset shows a positive trend, reflecting the global warming signal.

Which countries are warming fastest?

Arctic and high-latitude regions consistently top the fastest-warming list due to Arctic amplification - a feedback process where melting sea ice exposes darker ocean that absorbs more heat. Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries also rank high. The Long-term Trend section on this page shows the current top and bottom 10 by warming rate.

Why does every region show a positive warming trend?

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have raised global average temperatures by more than 1°C (1.8°F) above pre-industrial levels. While the rate varies significantly by location - polar regions warming two to four times faster than the global average - no region we track has a negative long-term trend when measured from 1961 to the present.

Where can I see the full methodology?

The Methodology & Sources gives the complete two-baseline model, source timeline and known caveats.