While much of the eastern United States sweltered under record-breaking heat last month, Fresno experienced one of its coolest Julys since the turn of the century, providing residents with an unusual reprieve from the city’s typically scorching summer temperatures.
July 2025 ranked as the 31st coolest July out of 45 years of records dating back to 1981, according to climate data from Oregon State. Only five days in July this year hit triple digits – a milestone not achieved since 2015.
To put this in perspective, Fresno’s coolest July on record remains in 1993, when temperatures never reached 100°F and peaked at just 99.1°. The second coolest was in 1997, also with zero triple-digit days and a maximum of 99.8°.
This year’s relatively mild July stands in stark contrast to the region’s recent scorching summers, including last year’s brutal July that saw 22 days at or above 100°F – the second-hottest on record.
However, don’t be fooled by Fresno’s backyard data. The planet is heating up, more quickly than ever before, passing tipping points which scientists say “pose threats of a magnitude never faced by humanity.”
According to a Carbon Brief analysis, 2025 is on track to be either the second or third warmest year on record globally, following 2024’s record-breaking temperatures. Current global surface temperatures sit approximately 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels.
2025 recorded the second-warmest January through June period in history, with global temperatures averaging just 0.08°C below 2024’s record-setting first half. January 2025 set a global record as the warmest January ever recorded, while February and June ranked as the third warmest for their respective months.
Arctic sea ice extent hit record lows for much of June and early July, while approximately 7% of the Earth’s surface experienced record warmth during the first half of 2025.
