PlainHazard

New York heat

Every recorded heat record since 1996 · 48 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,402 heat records in New York from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 60 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the August 1, 2006 heat: 42 deaths across 6 records. New York ranks 13th of 51 states and territories by count and 17th of 50 per square mile.

Heat in New York, 1996 to 2026

Heat records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
1,4021996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
60average
Deaths
1211 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$2.8Mas filed
Busiest year
2025177 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are heat records common in New York?

New York averages about 60 heat records a year since 2000, 13th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2025 (177). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New York records 298 heat records since 1996, 17th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. New Jersey 2320
  2. 2. Delaware 1555
  3. 3. Maryland 1330
  4. 4. Oklahoma 685
  5. 5. Illinois 590
  6. 6. Mississippi 584
  7. 7. Louisiana 576
  8. 8. Missouri 547
  9. 9. Tennessee 540
  10. 10. Puerto Rico 537
  11. 17. New York 298

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in New York have the most heat records?

Per square mile, Schenectady County leads New York: 55 days with a heat record since 1996, 268.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Dutchess County has the most heat records (153 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Schenectady County 268.7 (83)
  2. Queens County 184.0 (28)
  3. Albany County 132.0 (92)
  4. Columbia County 108.7 (102)
  5. Dutchess County 108.1 (153)
  6. Greene County 103.5 (78)
  7. Rensselaer County 98.1 (87)
  8. Montgomery County 94.3 (38)
  9. Ulster County 73.8 (99)
  10. Saratoga County 70.4 (107)
  11. Fulton County 68.6 (39)
  12. Washington County 65.0 (97)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is the heat season in New York?

67% of its heat records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is July (661 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 22 · Feb 2 · Mar 75 · Apr 1 · May 2 · Jun 282 · Jul 661 · Aug 284 · Sep 44 · Oct 2 · Nov 0 · Dec 27 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest heat records in New York?

New York: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2006-08-01 HeatKings County · forecast zone Kings (Brooklyn) One storm episode: 6 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. An oppressive air mass moved slowly east across the region from August 1 to August 3. This was preceded by a hot dry air mass, when temperatures reached at least 90 degrees for 5 consecutive days at LaGuardia Airport, from July 27 to July 31.Excessive heat occurred mainly from noon to midnight each day for 3 ... 42 0 –
1999-07-04 HeatKings County · forecast zone Kings (Brooklyn) One storm episode: 5 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. An extremely hot and humid airmass covered the region from July 4th through July 6th.On Sunday July 4th, temperatures soared into the mid and upper 90s. The combination of high temperatures and moderate humidity caused most heat indices to range from 100 to 105 degrees. However, at Central Park, the Heat Index peaked ... 33 0 –
2011-07-21 Excessive HeatKings County and Queens County · forecast zone Kings (Brooklyn) One storm episode: 5 records in 4 places, 2011-07-21 to 2011-07-22; the totals are the episode's. An oppressive hot and humid air mass produced excessive heat that resulted in day time temperatures 95 to 105 degrees with night time lows in the 70s and 80s. Heat indices peaked around 115 degrees during Friday afternoon, July 22. Prolonged excessive heat led to the death of at least 20 people in Southeast, NY; 19 in ... 20 0 –
2013-07-19 Excessive HeatKings County · forecast zone Kings (Brooklyn) One storm episode: 5 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. A large area of high pressure remained nearly stationary to the south for almost a week. This resulted in a prolonged period of high to excessive heat across the area. 8 0 –
2010-07-04 Excessive HeatQueens County · forecast zone Queens One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. With high pressure firmly in control, high temperatures reached into the 90s for several days, reaching or eclipsing 100 degrees at several locations during this time. 6 0 –
2001-08-08 HeatBronx County · forecast zone New York (Manhattan) One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A Bermuda high pressure system "pumped" hot temperatures and high humidities across the region.The 6 day heat wave began on Sunday, August 5th, when temperatures first reached 90 degrees at Central Park. Record high temperatures at Central Park were broken on two consecutive days, August 8th and 9th. High temperatures ... 4 1 –
2010-07-24 Excessive HeatKings County · forecast zone Kings (Brooklyn) Hot temperatures and high humidity began July 24th and continued through July 25th. 2 0 –
2013-08-20 HeatNassau County · forecast zone Southern Nassau A 7 month old boy died of heat exposure. He was left in a car. The outside air temperature was 85 degrees at the time at Farmingdale airport, but the car temperature was around 119 degrees. 1 0 –
2013-07-07 Excessive HeatRichmond County · forecast zone Richmond (Staten Is.) A 57 year old male died due to the excessive heat per the NYC department of health. The death occurred on July 8th, 2013. 1 0 –
2012-06-20 Excessive HeatQueens County · forecast zone Southern Queens Excessive heat resulted in the death of an 81 year old man in southern Queens on June 21. High temperatures reached 94 degrees on June 20 and 97 degrees on June 21 at JFK Airport. At LaGuardia Airport, the high was 98 degrees on June 20 and June 21. In Central Park, the high temperature was 94 degrees both June 20 and ... 1 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest heat records in New York

New York: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-03-17 HeatClinton County · forecast zone Eastern Clinton One storm episode: 9 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $2.8M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are heat records becoming more frequent in New York?

New York's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Heat: New York and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeNew YorkUnited StatesNew York's share
1996-991194,3552.7%
2000s1569,1631.7%
2010s48516,4452.9%
2020-2664226,7962.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent heat records in New York

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-12 HeatDutchess County · forecast zone Eastern Dutchess 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatDutchess County · forecast zone Western Dutchess 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatUlster County · forecast zone Eastern Ulster 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatColumbia County · forecast zone Western Columbia 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatGreene County · forecast zone Eastern Greene 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatRensselaer County · forecast zone Western Rensselaer 0 0 –
2026-06-12 HeatAlbany County · forecast zone Eastern Albany 0 0 –
2026-06-11 HeatWashington County · forecast zone Southern Washington 0 0 –
2026-06-11 HeatWashington County · forecast zone Northern Washington 0 0 –
2026-06-11 HeatWarren County · forecast zone Southeast Warren 0 0 –
2026-06-11 HeatUlster County · forecast zone Eastern Ulster 0 0 –
2026-06-11 HeatDutchess County · forecast zone Western Dutchess 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

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