Death Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth. With a record high of 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius), the California national park is sweltering, but it is not even one of the top 10 hottest states in the U.S.
Instead, many of the states that did land at the top of the list have humid summers. Read on to see about these states' average temperatures.
ContentsDifferent studies look at different data sets to determine the hottest U.S. states.
For example, Payless Power looked at 15 years of numbers, averaging the five most populated cities' temperatures in each state to come up with its ranking. Based on the average daily temperature, its top 10 was (in ascending order): Florida, Hawaii, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
For this article, we are using Stacker's findings, based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information data.
Taking the average temperatures for 2023 — the "warmest year in the modern temperature record," according to NOAA — the study compares them to the averages from 1901 to 2000.
Here are the 10 warmest states, in descending order.
The arid to semiarid Arizona can hit temperatures between 105 and 115 F (40.5 to 46.3 C) in the summer. Lake Havasu City, which reached 128 F (53.3 C) in 1994, is the hottest place in Arizona.
Oklahoma is the ninth-hottest state. It has both semiarid and humid subtropical climates. The state experiences long, hot summers and mild winters.
With a humid subtropical climate, Arkansas has mild temperatures on average, but its summers still make it the eighth hottest state.
Though much of South Carolina has a humid subtropical climate, which results in plenty of summer heat, parts of the state are not as tropical.
Alabama is one of the warmest states. Huntsville, Alabama, for example, has hot and humid summers that regularly reach at least 90 F (32.2 C) with moderately cold winters.
Similar to other states in the southeast, Georgia's weather has not changed dramatically in the last few decades. Currently, there are 15 to 30 days with high temperatures of 95 F (35.0 C) and above, but in the next 70 years that can increase to 45 to 75 days.
Mississippi's summer temperatures can reach more than 100 F (37.8 C). Since it's in the humid subtropical region, the state has temperate winters.
Texas has several different climates due to its sheer size. But it is still one of the warmest states.
Louisiana's subtropical climate is partially a result of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. The state has long, humid summers and short winters.
Florida's hot climate can make for a punishing summer. While other states are sunnier than the Sunshine State, Florida has warmer average annual temperatures.
When calculating temperatures for the 2023 rankings, NOAA didn't have information available for Hawaii. Located close to the equator and regularly experiencing relatively high relative humidity, Hawaii might have made the top 10 if the NOAA had the Aloha State's data.
