Jun 24, 2025 - News
Nights don't bring heat relief
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Summer evenings are getting hotter, especially in Texas and the Southwest, a new analysis shows.
Why it matters: Higher overnight temperatures can have health consequences for vulnerable groups, as well as increase demand for air conditioning and straining electrical grids.
Driving the news: Average summer night temperatures increased 5 degrees in Dallas-Fort Worth between 1970 and 2024.
- Across 241 cities analyzed in a new Climate Central report, 96% saw an increase in nighttime temperatures. Among cities with an increase, temperatures rose by 3.1°F on average.
Threat level: The coolest parts of the day are also warmer on average year round in North Texas.
- The average minimum temperature for 2024 was 60.1, the highest on record.
Between the lines: Hundreds of U.S. cities are experiencing more frequent warmer-than-average summer nights "with a strong climate change fingerprint," Climate Central says.
- That's based on the group's "Climate Shift Index" — a method of measuring climate change's impact on local daily temperatures — and the 1991-2020 climate normals.