2020 was the hottest summer on record for dozens of US cities

Places like Phoenix, Tucson and Sacramento recorded their hottest months ever.

ByKarma Allen
September 2, 2020, 1:15 PM

Some of the nation's largest cities recorded their hottest climatological summers on record this year, including destinations like Phoenix, Tucson and Sacramento, according to the National Weather Service.

In Phoenix, the country's sixth-largest city, residents saw average temperatures of about 96.7 degrees -- almost 1.6 degrees above the previous summer record, the NWS said Wednesday.

Most of the country recorded higher than average summer temperatures this year.

PHOTO: Salvation Army Maj. David Yardley offers water to a passerby at a heat relief station offering cold water and a cool place to rest out of the heat in Phoenix, May 28, 2020.
Salvation Army Maj. David Yardley offers water to a passerby at a heat relief station offering cold water and a cool place to rest out of the heat in Phoenix, May 28, 2020.
Anita Snow/AP, FILE

Meanwhile, cities like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Vero Beach, Florida, Flagstaff, Arizona and Sarasota, Florida, saw their hottest August temperatures ever.

Other cities, including Bridgeport, Hartford, and Miami, tied their previous summer temperature records.

PHOTO: A man cools off with a bottle of ice water on his head in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Aug. 17, 2020. The temperature in the park reached 130 degrees on Aug. 16, hitting what may be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since 1913.
A man cools off with a bottle of ice water on his head in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Aug. 17, 2020. The temperature in the park reached 130 degrees on Aug. 16, hitting what may be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since at least 1913.
John Locher/AP
PHOTO: Visitors walk near a sign warning of extreme heat danger in Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2020. The temperature in the park reached 130 degrees on Aug. 16, one of the highest temperatures ever recorded.
Visitors walk near a sign warning of extreme heat danger in Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2020. The temperature in the park reached 130 degrees on Aug. 16, hitting what may be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since at least 1913.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Here is the list so far of the cities across the country that had the hottest summer on record:

  • Phoenix: 96.7°
  • Naples, FL: 84.6
  • Caribou, ME: 66.9°
  • Harrisburg, PA: 77.9
  • Tucson, AZ: 90.0°
  • Burlington, VT: 72.3°
  • Portland, ME: 70.5°
  • NYC - LaGuardia, NY: 79.5°
  • Providence, RI: 74.4
  • Charlottesville, VA: 78.8
  • Norfolk, VA: 81.3
  • Cape Hatteras, NC: 81.7
  • Manchester, NH: 74.4
  • Bradford, PA: 67
  • Dubois, PA: 70.3
  • Burlington, VT: 72.3
  • State College, PA: 73.5
  • Tampa, FL: 84.8
  • Sarasota, FL: 84.6
  • Brainerd, MN: 71.1

ABC New's Samantha Wnek contributed to this report.

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