Was Summer 2026 the Hottest Ever in Indiana and Kentucky?
Usually, I love summer. I love the warm weather, pool parties, grilling out, going to theme parks... But this year, all I wanted to do was stay in the AC. And when you do go outside, the bugs are TERRIBLE.
I saw an article this morning that said summer 2026 was the hottest ever in the United States.
“The average temperature for meteorological summer (June-August) 2026 was the warmest for the contiguous United States in the 132-year record, exceeding the previous records, set in 1936 and 2021, by 0.4 degrees,” NOAA said in a statement.
USA Today reported that the average temperature for June through August was 74.4°F, which was 3.0°F above average. That got me wondering: Was this the hottest summer on record for our neck of the woods? So I headed over to the NOAA 2026 summer climate summary.
I was downright shocked at what I found.
Was Summer 2026 the Hottest Summer in Indiana and Kentucky?
You know that old saying: it's not the heat; it's the humidity that'll get you?
According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, summer 2026 wasn't exceptionally hot in Indiana and Kentucky. But because of the humidity, it sure felt brutal.
Temperatures averaged near to slightly above normal, and the reason they ended up there was largely that nighttime temperatures stayed above average. The daytime highs were actually near to slightly below normal.
Yep. The highs were actually below normal. But the humidity was another story.
Paducah had a record 31 hours with dew points of 80°F or higher, and 18 days with a heat index of at least 105°F.
So while the temperatures weren't anything crazy, stepping outside felt absolutely miserable.
Summer 2026 Was Extremely Wet
One big reason we had so much humidity was that it was an incredibly wet summer.
The region experienced its second-wettest summer on record, with records dating back to 1895. Paducah missed the all-time record by just 0.05 inches. Some areas received 25 to 30 inches of rain over the summer, which led to numerous flash-flooding events.
So we had plenty of moisture in the ground and plenty of moisture in the air. Not exactly a recipe for a comfortable summer.
Indiana and Kentucky Had an Active Severe Weather Summer
And then there was the severe weather. The National Weather Service issued 345 severe thunderstorm, tornado and flash-flood warnings, making it the second-most active summer on record.
There were also 23 confirmed tornadoes, smashing the previous summer record of 13.
So even though summer 2026 wasn't the hottest summer ever in our part of the country, it certainly was dramatic.
Summer 2026 Wasn't the Hottest Ever in Indiana and Kentucky
The National Weather Service sometimes writes articles about extreme weather events in regions, so I looked up Indiana and Kentucky. They both came back with 1936 ranking as the most brutal summer either state has ever seen.
Unlike this summer, which felt so hot because of the humidity, 1936 was incredibly dry. In fact, drought conditions developed in June and are still considered the driest June on record. Bowling Green only registered twelve hundredths of an inch of precipitation.
The last few days in June, followed by several days in early July and then again from July 8-15th, registered temperatures over 100 degrees. Louisville registered 107 degrees one day, and Lexington registered 108 degrees. At night, temps only dropped to the upper 70s and lower 80s, offering little relief. There was another heat wave in August from the 16th to the 28th with several days registering over 100 degrees.
Perhaps the drought was a blessing because can you imagine if they had high humidity in this heat?
Indiana recorded its all-time state high of 116°F at Collegeville, and Kentucky's summer average reached 78.6°F.
When Will Summer 2026 Finally End?
It's mid-September, and usually by now the temperatures are cooling off some. Instead, we've seen extreme heat warnings all week.
Some rain moved in today, and it's not too bad out there, but it's going to warm back up. So don't get the sweaters out just yet. In the meantime, get a few more pool days in and wear some bug spray because the dog days of summer are hanging on just a little longer.