New Bedford Holds Record for Hottest Day Ever in Massachusetts

When you're hot, you're hot, and if you have spent the latter part of July in Massachusetts, chances are you have wilted just a bit with the oppressive heat. Remember, it's not the heat, it's the humidity – or so they say.

As hot as it has been – and it has been pretty hot – the record for the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in Massachusetts still stands, and that record was set in New Bedford 47 years ago.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Boston on Sunday, July 24, 2022, reached 100 degrees at 2:25 p.m. That tied the record of 100 degrees set on June 30, 2021. The previous daily record high, 98 degrees, was established in 1933. Was there "climate change" or "global warming" back then?

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One hundred degrees is hot, but it is kid stuff compared to the all-time high temperature recorded in Massachusetts. That happened right here in New Bedford when the mercury hit a record-shattering 107 degrees on August 2, 1975, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information.

The temperature in Chester, Massachusetts, also hit 107 degrees on August 2, 1975.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Boston was 104 degrees on July 4, 1911.

For the record, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Massachusetts was -35 degrees. That happened in Chester on January 12, 1981, as well as February 15, 1943 in Coldbrook, and January 5, 1904 in Taunton.

Don't be too quick to complain about the heat because the cold weather will return soon enough. By the way, the record for a 24-hour snowfall in Massachusetts is 29 inches. It happened on April 1, 1997, and it was no April Fool's joke!