Major US city breaks 135-year-old record as abnormal conditions persist: 'We're running 20 degrees above average'

While much of the United States remained under a blanket of snow after a late January megastorm, Atlanta broke a 135-year-old heat record, according to WXIA.

What's happening?

On Thursday, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recorded a daily high of 79 degrees at 4 p.m.

That was 1 degree above the previous high of 78, recorded on Feb. 19, 1891, but WXIA had obtained a formal climate report to make the shattered record official. 

The outlet noted that recordkeeping in Georgia began in 1878 and that the airport was established as Atlanta's official climate site in 1928.

The news broke during a broadcast segment, and WXIA meteorologist Melissa Nord explained the significance of the record high to viewers.

"Look at this ... we're running 20 degrees above average for this time of year at the moment," Nord said, citing a standing average temperature of 59.

In the segment, Nord reported that the 79 reading wasn't even the highest in northern Georgia — temperatures hit 81 in Covington and 83 in Rome.

Why is this concerning?

Georgia wasn't spared the massive, multistate snowstorm in late January, with accumulations of up to 7 inches in parts of the state, WXIA reported Jan. 31.

WSB meteorologist Glenn Burns posted Thursday about the record on Facebook, where a handful of commenters fretted about the unnatural fluctuations. 

"This is awful. Probably means highs in the 90s by April," one feared. 

"These insane temp swings and 80 degrees in Feb aren't normal by any stretch, a sign of a very sick climate," another wrote. "We have never seen wild temp swings like this … this is Global Warming on steroids."

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That commenter's assertion aligned with a November 2025 study in Nature Climate Change, which held that "extreme day-to-day temperature changes … are an independent, but largely ignored, aspect of extreme weather events."

Extreme heat is one form of extreme weather, an atmospheric phenomenon driven by sustained rising temperatures. As the planet warms, evaporation increases, making floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and heat waves more frequent, costlier, and deadlier.

Researchers projected that extreme temperature changes would intensify by 20% and affect 80% of the global population by 2100.

As the authors observed, extreme weather is also dangerously deceptive, because "extreme temperature changes have a stronger impact on human health" than natural fluctuations.

Extreme temperature volatility is "significantly associated with markedly increased total mortality," they found, citing a far higher risk of deadly respiratory and cardiovascular events.

What's being done about it?

The authors plainly stated that dramatic temperature swings were "​​mainly attributable" to human activity, primarily the continued use of fossil fuels.

At an individual level, calling on lawmakers to act and voting for candidates who prioritize environmental action are important to effect change.

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