July was Earth’s hottest month ever. But did it break heat records in Kansas City?
July was officially the hottest month on record around the globe — not just for 2023, but for all of recorded history. Its average global temperature of around 62.5°F broke the previous record for hottest month set just four years ago in July of 2019.
But how did this July stack up in Kansas City? It turns out, this July wasn’t even close to the hottest month on record — in fact, it was on the cooler side compared to all recorded Julys.
While high humidity bumped up the heat index on some days, others saw cooler temperatures accompanying rainy conditions and several destructive storms.
The Star took a look at average monthly temperatures recorded by the National Weather Service in the Kansas City area to see how last month compared.
Was July 2023 Kansas City’s hottest month on record?
Despite stifling heat and humidity, this July was actually one of the cooler Julys recorded since 1888, when regular record keeping began.
July’s mean average temperature this year was just 77.3°F in the Kansas City area — the 99th hottest July on record and the 35th coolest. It shares these rankings with July of three other years with the same average temperature: 1898, 1961 and 1990.
While this July was Kansas City’s hottest month of 2023 so far, it was cooler than both July and August of last year and of the year prior.
Many other U.S. cities have seen far worse heat this summer — including Phoenix, Arizona, which saw daily high temperatures at or above 110°F for the entire month of July.
When was Kansas City’s hottest month?
The highest average monthly temperature recorded in Kansas City was 88.3°F in July of 1934. By contrast, the lowest was just 12.5°F in January of 1979.
The year with the highest overall average temperature in Kansas City for which all 12 months of data are available was 1954, with an overall average of 59°F. The coolest year on average was 1985, at an overall average of 51.3°F.
However, these temperatures offer a snapshot of monthly averages — not extremes. The highest maximum temperature recorded in Kansas City was 113°F in August of 1936. The lowest minimum temperature was -23°F in December of 1989.
Extreme temperatures will likely become more common as the climate crisis disrupts weather and temperature patterns around the globe. A recent study found that the heat index in the Kansas City area will reach 125°F on at least one day per year by 2030, due to a rapidly developing Midwestern “heat belt.”
Heat index refers to the combination of temperature and humidity — that’s the “feels like” temperature on your weather app.
Do you have more questions about extreme weather and temperature records in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
