2026 4th of July Heatwave

[Chinook]

June 30th-July 1st max heat indices were 106 and 103 at Toledo

 

97.7 with heat index 106.3

[Brian D]

Clouds broke, and lots of aftrn sun. Temps around 80 with mid 60 dews. Pleasantly warm. 

[nwohweather]

June 30th-July 1st max heat indices were 106 and 103 at Toledo

 

97.7 with heat index 106.3

That wind and heat dried things out pretty well in the afternoon relatively from that early morning due of 77°

[A-L-E-K]

S tier beach evening, blessed

[michsnowfreak]

97 at DTW today. No record, but the hottest temp since 2019.

[A-L-E-K]

Cubs put up 23, lol

[mississaugasnow]

45 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

97 at DTW today. No record, but the hottest temp since 2019.

Toronto hit 97 as well with a dew of 77. 113F with the heat index 

[hawkeye_wx]

We've only managed to hit 90, 91, 90 the last three days, so pretty tame.

[michsnowfreak]

16 minutes ago, mississaugasnow said:

Toronto hit 97 as well with a dew of 77. 113F with the heat index 

Wow. Max heat index at DTW was 104.

[OrdIowPitMsp]

84 at MSP. Storms missing to the south.  Probably should just post in the July thread. 

[Powerball]

1 hour ago, mississaugasnow said:

Toronto hit 97 as well with a dew of 77. 113F with the heat index 

They apparently got slammed with severe t'storms too afterwards...

[EC609]

93/76 the last 2 days here. Not all that bad.

[SchaumburgStormer]

15 hours ago, cyclone77 said:

Definitely a lame heat wave for the DVN area by our standards.  Only low 90s so far during this stretch, and dews haven't even officially hit 80.  This is weak sauce.

Agree. Its hot, don't get me wrong, but pretty ho-hum by IL standards. 

[Brian D]

On 6/29/2026 at 4:44 PM, Brian D said:

After today's heavy rain, going to be ugly the next 3 days.

FAIL! Overcooked highs. 

[Chicago Storm]

Made it up to 95° at ORD and 94° at MDW yesterday.

[Chicago Storm]

ORD had a low temp of 80° yesterday, which broke the record high min temp for the date of 78° (1931).

[Stebo]

Pair of 97s at DTW and DET. Models overmodeled the UHI but still pretty impressive and the hottest temps in 7 years.

[Jackstraw]

93 the highest I've recorded with an index of 102 so thats kinda normal. Usually get some of those a few times a summer. We had solid broken CU field until noon so that helped slow them down a bit today. Overnight lows in the upper 70's to 80 is the killer. Surprisingly, until this afternoon we've had decent afternoon breezes also.

[frostfern]

On 7/1/2026 at 6:42 PM, cyclone77 said:

Definitely a lame heat wave for the DVN area by our standards.  Only low 90s so far during this stretch, and dews haven't even officially hit 80.  This is weak sauce.

Your corn dewpoints penetrated into MBY in Michigan for a more extended period than usual.  Never hit 80, but had a good long stretch of 75+.

[BeastFromTheEast]

Could get 89d today. Pretty average heat-wave overall. 

 

The balmy overnight lows and the record high min were the most noteworthy parts of the stretch. 

[A-L-E-K]

38 minutes ago, BeastFromTheEast said:

Could get 89d today. Pretty average heat-wave overall. 

 

The balmy overnight lows and the record high min were the most noteworthy parts of the stretch. 

True but I'll take the florida climo over the dry death ridge 

[michsnowfreak]

1 hour ago, BeastFromTheEast said:

Could get 89d today. Pretty average heat-wave overall. 

 

The balmy overnight lows and the record high min were the most noteworthy parts of the stretch. 

It was a solid (not to mention gross & uncomfortable) heatwave for sure but definitely fell short of hype locally. Which i knew would happen and called it last week in a local weather chat im on.

One of the local mets said he sees "nothing" that would indicate we fall short of 100 on back to back days (Wed/Thu). They also hyped 110+ heat indexes. 

The reality? DTW highs were 94, 97, 96 (likely low 90s today). Max heat index was on July 1st at 105. Max dewpoint was 76, also on the 1st. No record highs were set but the record high min of 76 was tied on the 2nd.

[BeastFromTheEast]

1 hour ago, A-L-E-K said:

True but I'll take the florida climo over the dry death ridge 

Agreed! Wetter means better air quality too for us usually.  AQI does get too bad when it’s wet. 

[TheClimateChanger]

Am I the only one who has been impressed by this heat wave? It feels like it has been oddly downplayed.

Assuming Cleveland Hopkins Airport reaches the forecast high of 95°F today, and the temperature does not drop below the current daily low, the June 30–July 3 period would average 86.3°F.  It has already reached 94°F, so not far under that forecast value. That would be hotter than every four-day stretch in the Cleveland record except the periods ending July 11, 12, 13, and 14, 1936, and September 3, 1953. It would also make this Cleveland’s first three-day stretch of 95°F+ since 1988.

And it has not just been one hot afternoon.

On June 30, Cleveland reached 93°F, the second-warmest reading for the date. The low of 78°F set a daily record and was the third-warmest June low on record. The 85.5°F daily mean was also a record.

Then came July 1: a record high of 97°F, Cleveland’s hottest day since July 17, 2012. The 87.0°F daily mean set a record and was only 2°F below the all-time warmest daily mean on record.

July 2 reached 96°F, the second-warmest high for the date and just 1°F below the daily record. The 86.0°F mean was likewise second warmest for the date, and the daily records for that date are from 1872 when the weather station had a warm-biased window exposure.

Today, July 3, the low has only fallen to 78°F thus far, yet another daily record, and just 3°F shy of Cleveland’s all-time warmest low. Cleveland had already reached 94°F by 2 PM local time, and a forecast high of 95°F would yield an 86.5°F daily mean, another record. 

The humidity has been just as remarkable. IEM hourly data, extending back to 1931, show four June hourly heat-index records set or tied on June 30, along with six June hourly dewpoint records. At least seven July hourly dewpoint records have already been set or tied as well. Cleveland also observed a dewpoint of 80°F or higher—only the fourth day with such a reading in the IEM hourly record since 1931.

Maybe this is not the most historic heat wave ever in every respect, but several daily records, near-monthly records, extraordinary dewpoints, a rare 80°F dewpoint, and very little nighttime relief seems pretty impressive to me. If we were looking at a four-day cold spell that ranked behind only a 1936 cold wave and one 1953 period, with several daily records, near-monthly records, record-level hourly departures, this forum would be hyping it nonstop.

[TheClimateChanger]

I know the response will be, “Well, that’s just Cleveland.” But this has not been isolated to Cleveland at all. The magnitude looks comparable across much of the region. For example, I saw someone from Detroit downplaying the event. Barring enough thunderstorms or rain-cooled air to meaningfully alter today’s outcome, Detroit looks poised for its second-warmest four-day stretch since 1953, behind only a comparable period in 2011. And that 1953 benchmark was observed at City Airport. While there is a substantial data gap there, this stretch appears likely to be the warmest at City Airport since 1936—warmer than both 1953 and 2011.

I get that Cleveland and Detroit have had hotter individual days and worse heat waves before. But this strikes me as a legitimately high-end regional heat and humidity event, especially for early July. I am honestly surprised by how little appreciation it seems to be getting.

[michsnowfreak]

19 minutes ago, TheClimateChanger said:

I know the response will be, “Well, that’s just Cleveland.” But this has not been isolated to Cleveland at all. The magnitude looks comparable across much of the region. For example, I saw someone from Detroit downplaying the event. Barring enough thunderstorms or rain-cooled air to meaningfully alter today’s outcome, Detroit looks poised for its second-warmest four-day stretch since 1953, behind only a comparable period in 2011. And that 1953 benchmark was observed at City Airport. While there is a substantial data gap there, this stretch appears likely to be the warmest at City Airport since 1936—warmer than both 1953 and 2011.

I get that Cleveland and Detroit have had hotter individual days and worse heat waves before. But this strikes me as a legitimately high-end regional heat and humidity event, especially for early July. I am honestly surprised by how little appreciation it seems to be getting.

Lmao I ALMOST posted on my post "I know this will freak out the warmistas and I will probably be accused of saying there wasnt a heatwave", but i decided against it. I should have known it wouldn't have taken long.

Please tell me how stating a FACT that high temperatures and heat indexes fell consistently short of what was hyped up, forecast, and discussed by local news outlets & the nws for a week straight before the heatwave hit is downplaying the event? I even began by saying its a solid uncomfortable heatwave. 

You would NEVER start a post with "this is a decent cold snap", it would be "this transient cool down was a failure because the forecast low of -8 was a balmy -7"

[Powerball]

33 minutes ago, TheClimateChanger said:

I know the response will be, “Well, that’s just Cleveland.” But this has not been isolated to Cleveland at all. The magnitude looks comparable across much of the region. For example, I saw someone from Detroit downplaying the event. Barring enough thunderstorms or rain-cooled air to meaningfully alter today’s outcome, Detroit looks poised for its second-warmest four-day stretch since 1953, behind only a comparable period in 2011. And that 1953 benchmark was observed at City Airport. While there is a substantial data gap there, this stretch appears likely to be the warmest at City Airport since 1936—warmer than both 1953 and 2011.

I get that Cleveland and Detroit have had hotter individual days and worse heat waves before. But this strikes me as a legitimately high-end regional heat and humidity event, especially for early July. I am honestly surprised by how little appreciation it seems to be getting.

So multiple things can be true, and your post is also misleading on several points...

1. Yes, Detroit did see its most consecutive number of 95*F+ temps (2) in this stretch since 2011. Yes, it's currently 92*F and the heating cycle for today is technically not over, but as dewpoints begin to pool upward for the remainder of the day after mixing down to the mid/upper 60s ahead of the MCV over Lake Michigan, DTW will likely fall short of 95*F today.

2. Coverage-wise, it is/was certainly the most expansive heatwave since 2012.

*HOWEVER*

2. Your claim that it's the warmest stretch since 2011 is debatable at best. Definitely true in terms of overnight lows, but terms of duration for 90*F+ highs (6 days) and warmest daytme high (99*F), that distinction goes to 6/27 - 7/2 in 2012. 

3. Relative to the aggressive highs in the model outputs, the forecast highs in the NWS grids as well as the duration of this heatwave that was originally projected (which was at least through the weekend versus ending today), this event was a bust. There's no getting around that.

[michsnowfreak]

Oh by the way. The 4-day stretch at Detroit ties with 4 other years for 27th hottest on record max temp wise (i recall reading on here previously that we decided to ditch low temps because they run colder now)

[nwohweather]

Bad day for the IWX radar to be down

[King James]

Downgrading over a degree or two is lol. Hot as shit out, just like the previous 3 days