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Having just completed the warmest spring on record, Washington, DC, and other cities in the eastern United States are enduring a record-breaking heat wave that is consistent with climate change. Last week’s temperatures in Washington D.C. broke a century-old record and forecasters expect this month to be the hottest June on record for the area. These patterns fit the long-term trends of more frequent heat waves driven by climate change

Characteristics of the current heat wave in the Washington, DC area include record daytime highs, record high overnight lows, and the long string of days above 90 degrees, all of which are consistent with the trends in the U.S. driven by climate change. The back-to-back heat waves experienced in Philadelphia this June also reflect the long-term global warming trend, as do the record-breaking average temperatures witnessed this past spring in Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The Philadelphia area is now in the midst of its sixth heat wave of the season. The National Weather Service recorded a temperature of 91 degrees before noon at the Philadelphia International Airport. A heat wave is three days in a row of temperatures of 90 and above. The highs Wednesday and Thursday were 93 and 91, respectively.

There have been 16 days with highs of 90 or higher this month, including two 100-plus days.