The Heat Is On: Mild Winters Drive 2024's Staggering Temperature Records

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Last year, the average global surface temperature across both land and sea hit an all-time high of 2.32 degrees Fahrenheit – topping the previous record of 2.12 degrees F set in 2023. These numbers are the latest indication of the continuation of a longer term trend, as all ten of the hottest years on Earth since record keeping began in 1850 were reported in the last decade. But not only does 2024 now stand as the hottest year for the planet in at least 174 years, it was also the hottest year on record in the continental United States.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average 2024 temperature in the Lower 48 was 55.5 degrees F, up from 54.4 degrees in 2023, and 0.23 degrees higher than the previous record set in 2012. NOAA also tracked 2024 temperatures in over 200 U.S. cities and geographic regions – and in nearly all of them, last year’s average temperature exceeded the baseline average recorded between 1991 and 2020.

In many of these places, however, temperature anomalies were not especially pronounced, exceeding the baseline average by little more than a single degree. But if temperature changes in these places were small enough to be virtually imperceptible, in other parts of the U.S., 2024 temperature anomalies were likely all-too evident.

Using data from NOAA, Climate Crisis 247 identified the cities and places where average temperatures climbed the most in 2024. Only places where the average temperature in 2024 exceeded the local average over the 29 year period between 1991 and 2020 by at least 3.5 degrees were included. Places are ranked by the relative difference between the average temperature in 2024 and the average annual baseline temperature.

The cities and places on this list are disproportionately concentrated in the states across the north-central Midwest. Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, for example, are each home to four cities on this list. The only places on this list not in the Midwest are located in the Northeast, including four cities in New York State, and three places in New England.

Notably, none of the places on this list have warm climates year round, like many parts of the Southern United States. Average annual temperatures in these places, as indicated by 1991-2020 baseline, range from 27.8 degrees to 53.5 degrees F. Meanwhile, in these same areas, average temperatures in 2024 ranged from 31.6 degrees to 57.3 degrees F.

In many cases, higher 2024 temperatures in these places were not necessarily driven by an oppressively hot summer, but rather, an especially mild winter. For example, in Fargo, North Dakota, one of the cities on this list, the average temperature in February 2024 was 31.0 degrees F, 15.6 degrees higher than the average local February temperature from 1991-2020. Meanwhile, the average temperature in Fargo in July 2024 was 73.9 degrees F, only about 1 degree above Fargo’s July baseline average.