The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures

Comparing summers of the past 30 years with a broad period between 1901 and 1960, the limited warming and even slight cooling in some locations becomes strikingly apparent.

It’s dubbed the summertime “warming hole.”

The central US warming "hole" . . .
Many counties in the central and southern US have experienced cooler summer temperatures in recent years, relative to 1901-1960 averages. Evidence suggests that more precipitation during the day is key to cooling things down in these areas and preventing much warming from occurring.

The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures | CNN

Average temperatures elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines.

www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/climate/us-summer-warming-hole-vis?cid=ios_app

STUDY - Why Has the Summertime Central U.S. Warming Hole Not Disappeared?
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0716.1

NOAA - Fifth National Climate Assessment
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/61592

Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
https://toolkit.climate.gov/NCA5

Climate Variability: Pacific–North American Pattern
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-variability-pacific-north-american-pattern

The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures

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