If you’re sweating bullets in line, stay in line!
Across the United States, millions of voters cast their ballots in record or near-record daily heat, including in Rochester, New York, where it hit a sweltering 81 degrees Fahrenheit (it was also the city’s hottest November day on record). It also hit a record 81 degrees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has not seen rain since October 6, and a record 78 degrees in Columbus, Ohio. In Hartford, Connecticut, the mercury likewise reached 78 degrees, tying the previous Nov. 5 record set in 2022. New York City and Washington, D.C., meanwhile, experienced their warmest Election Days since President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated the Republican governor of Kansas, Alf Landon.
That wasn’t all, either. It was the hottest Election Day in a century in Cleveland, Ohio, the hottest Election Day since 2003 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the hottest November 5th on record in Jackson, Kentucky. The overnight low in New Orleans, Louisiana, was 75 degrees, a full degree warmer than the average high this time of the year. And in many parts of the U.S., tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer.
While it’s far too soon to attribute the unseasonal warmth directly to global warming, as Clair Barnes, a research associate with the World Weather Attribution, once told me, “When you’re looking at heat extremes, there is almost always a climate change signal.”
