West continues to bake while globe sets summer heat record

Summer shows little sign of relenting in the western U.S. as an intense, dangerous heat wave continues to bake most of the region Friday.

The blistering Western heat wave is forecast to continue into the weekend, as news comes out Friday that the summer of 2024 was the hottest on record for the planet.

"During the past three months of 2024, the globe has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal (Northern) summer on record," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which released the new data, in a statement.

The announcement comes just days after the end of meteorological summer, which lasts from June through August. Summer as defined by astronomy and the calendar has a few weeks left. And Friday's forecast proved high heat is still in store for millions of Americans.

Temperatures in the 110s forecast

High temperatures Friday were forecast to soar into the triple digits in much of the Southwest and interior California, with 110s in the typically hottest locations of the Desert Southwest, the National Weather Service said.

In the Los Angeles area, which could see its hottest weather of the year Friday with temperatures near 100 degrees, "there is a high risk for dangerous heat illness for anyone, especially for the very young, the very old, those without air conditioning, and those active outdoors," the weather service warned.

Meanwhile, daily high temperature records are possible in the Northwest, where mid-to-upper 90s are in the forecast, along with poor air quality.

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540-month streak continues

Unfortunately, Earth being hot is nothing new: Our planet has seen over 540 consecutive months with temperatures above the 20th-century average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A recent run of all-time temperature records, including over a year of months registering record heat, was unusual, perplexing and worrying.

"This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record," Burgess said. The current record-holder for warmest year was last year, 2023. Global temperature records go back to the 1800s.

Though summers are always hot, it’s important to remember that the heat events the U.S. and the world are experiencing are far beyond normal.

Another record: Death Valley's infamous heat record remains unbroken as summer ends

"The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Burgess said.

Hottest day was this summer

The summer featured the hottest day on record: July 22, 2024, according to a NASA analysis of global daily temperature data. July 21 and 23 of this year also exceeded the previous daily record, set in July 2023.

These record-breaking temperatures are part of a long-term warming trend driven by human activities, primarily the emission of greenhouse gases, NASA said.

Details of summer 2024 report

According to Friday's report from the Copernicus Climate Change Service:

• The global average temperature for boreal summer (June–August) 2024 was the highest on record at 1.24 degrees above the 1991-2020 average for these three months, surpassing the previous record from June–August 2023.

• The average temperature for European land for summer (June-August) 2024 was the highest on record for the season at 2.77 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding the previous record from 2022.

• Sea ice concentration anomalies were below average across virtually all of the Arctic Ocean.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Summer 2024 was the hottest on record, scientists say