WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Summer heat isn’t a foreign concept to Texomans who have called the area home for any length of time. However, after a post on social media went semi-viral, many residents are wondering if it was actually the hottest place in the country on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, September 5, 2023, the high temperature in Wichita Falls reached 108 degrees, setting a new record high for that date, according to almanac data from the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.

According to a post from the North Texas Weather Center on its Facebook page, Wichita Falls was expected to be the hottest place in the entire United States on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, with a forecasted high temperature of 108 degrees.

The post was published at 9:16 a.m. on Tuesday, September 5, and quickly gained a lot of attention on Facebook. As of the publication of this story, the post has been shared 678 times, with 677 reactions and 142 comments.

Summers in Texoma have historically been marked by extreme heat, from the record-setting summer of 1980, when Wichita Falls hit its highest recorded temperature, to the 100 days of triple-digit heat in 2011.

The summer of 2023 has certainly lived up to that reputation, setting 12 new records for daily high temperatures, including a 5-day record-breaking streak, on each of the dates listed below:

July 13, 2023
July 18, 2023
August 9, 2023
August 12, 2023
August 17, 2023
August 18, 2023
August 19, 2023
August 20, 2023
August 21, 2023
August 25, 2023
August 26, 2023
September 5, 2023

Including the first five days of September 2023, there have been 59 days of 100 degrees or higher, the ninth most in the history of Wichita Falls. There have been 42 days of 105-degree temperatures or higher, surpassing the summer of 1980 for the second-most all-time. 11 days have reached temperatures of 110 degrees or more, tied with 1980 for the second-most in the history of Wichita Falls.

With a record-breaking daily high temperature of 108 degrees on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, it certainly was incredibly hot, but was it hot enough to call Wichita Falls the hottest place in America on that date?

Despite how hot it was, Wichita Falls was not the hottest place in the country on Tuesday.

According to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, the hottest temperature recorded in the United States on September 5, 2023, was 115 degrees, which was recorded in Rio Grande Village, Texas.

With summer approaching, many Texomans also wonder if the triple-digit heat will end soon. Unfortunately, highs of over 100 degrees are forecasted for the next few days, according to Meteorologist Brian James.

However, Chief Meteorologist Michael Bohling said he’s expecting a cool front to make its way into Texoma, dropping high temperatures into the low-90s and bringing some much-needed relief from the heat to Texoma.