ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 The planet just finished its warmest month in the instrumental record. The National Weather Service gauge at Lehigh Valley International Airport recorded an August half a degree cooler than normal.<\/p>\n
Both things are true, and the gap between them is the local story in this week\u2019s global heat findings.<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that August averaged 16.96 degrees Celsius (62.53 degrees Fahrenheit) worldwide, 1.65 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 preindustrial baseline and tied with July 2023 as the hottest month measured, Euronews reported. It was the first month since November 2025 to exceed the 1.5-degree mark written into the 2015 Paris agreement. Copernicus\u2019 bulletin also rated June through August the joint-warmest such period on record globally, on par with 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cAugust 2026 was a remarkable month in the global climate record,\u201d said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. \u201cIt was both the warmest August and the warmest month ever recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n
NOAA\u2019s National Centers for Environmental Information reported that the contiguous United States averaged 75.6 degrees in August<\/a>, the warmest August in its 132-year record, and that the June-through-August period beat the previous U.S. records, set in 1936 and 2021, by four-tenths of a degree.<\/p>\n Stay informed on Lehigh Valley environmental<\/p>\n Get the latest environmental news and updates from across the Valley.<\/p>\n By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy<\/a> and consent to receive updates.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania was not part of that. The state\u2019s summer averaged 69.8 degrees, according to NOAA\u2019s statewide time series \u2014 29th-warmest of the 132 summers on file, and 1.7 degrees short of the 2005 record.<\/p>\n The Allentown station\u2019s own ledger says the same thing in finer print. The Mount Holly forecast office\u2019s monthly climate summary for August<\/a> puts the airport\u2019s mean temperature at 73.1 degrees against a 1991-2020 normal of 73.6. The average high, 83 degrees, ran 1.3 below normal. The station logged two days at 90 or above; normal is five.<\/p>\n Cooling degree days \u2014 the utility industry\u2019s measure of air-conditioning load \u2014 totaled 260 for the month against a normal of 268. Across the three summer months, the office\u2019s June, July and August reports add to 779 against a normal of 792. June ran two-tenths above normal with six 90-degree days, three more than normal. July ran four-tenths below.<\/p>\n The exception was a single week. Between June 29 and July 5, the Pennsylvania Department of Health recorded 1,345 heat-related illness emergency department visits statewide, peaking at 335 on July 3, a department spokesperson told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.<\/p>\n Northampton County opened nine senior centers as cooling stations, in Bethlehem, Easton, Nazareth, Hellertown, Bangor and Cherryville; county officials said the air-conditioned spaces are reachable by LANTA, WFMZ reported. In Philadelphia, Health Commissioner Palak Raval-Nelson declared a heat health emergency from July 1 through July 4, citing forecast heat index values approaching 110 degrees.<\/p>\n