From a hurricane to historic fires: Wild weather captured in summer 2023

As the nation eases into fall, FOX Weather takes a look back at some of the wildest weather moments of the summer.

From historic wildfires in Hawaii to a powerful hurricane in Florida, the nation faced many different types of weather between June 21 and Sept. 23.

Here are a few of them.

Wildfires in Hawaii

One of the most tragic weather events that occurred this summer were wildfires that burned through parts of Hawaii on August 8. The largest of the three was the Lahaina wildfire in western Maui, which destroyed about 80% of the historic town of Lahaina, according to official estimates.

On Sept. 15, the Maui Police Department said at least 97 people died from the Lahaina wildfire. The wildfire became the nation’s deadliest in more than 100 years.

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In the continental U.S., wildfires burned through a number of states. For example, the Oregon Road wildfire raged in eastern Washington, where a sheriff’s ​​deputy drove through a hellish blaze on Aug. 18 to help residents evacuate.

Heat wave across the South

In addition to wildfires, heat also came in the form of record-breaking high temperatures throughout the country. In fact, Chicago felt the highest heat index on record of 120 degrees in late August.

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However, southern cities suffered a particularly dangerous heat wave for several weeks in July. According to FOX Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer, the heat wave was caused by a strong ridge of high pressure hanging over the region and keeping those warm temperatures in place.

Phoenix broke its record for its longest streak with 110-degree high temperatures with 31 days this year. Its previous record was set in 1974 with an 18-day streak.  

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For many areas, warm temperatures coincided with little rainfall, leading to severe drought conditions. The drought in the south has caused the mighty Mississippi River to run low, compromising its ability to push back the salt water from the Gulf of Mexico and prevent it from contaminating the freshwater supply in southeastern Louisiana.

Hurricane Idalia in Florida

With the summer season came hurricane season. Late August saw the landfall of the Category 3 storm Hurricane Idalia in Florida, where powerful winds caused storm surge to flood many parts of the Big Bend and southwest parts of the Sunshine State.

DRAMATIC PHOTOS, VIDEOS CAPTURE HURRICANE IDALIA'S HISTORIC LANDFALL IN FLORIDA

The other end of the country also saw some tropical action when Tropical Storm Hilary struck southern California. The state even issued its first-ever Tropical Storm Warning ahead of Hilary, which overwhelmed many cities, national parks and surrounding states with heavy rain and flash flooding.

For example, over a quarter of California's grape crop was lost due to the torrential rain that fell on the Golden State. Additionally, Death Valley National Park in the Golden State had to close as floodwaters from Hilary temporarily wiped out roads and some facilities.

Wild weather caught on camera

Some Americans captured images of the wild summer weather. In South Carolina, bands of storms produced by Hurricane Idalia spawned a tornado north of Charleston. The video above shows the tornado flipping a car onto another car while both vehicles were driving on the road.

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Early July in Florida, a man and his three children were riding in a truck when lightning struck it. The moment was filmed by the man's wife and the children's mother, who was driving behind them. Nobody in the truck was injured, although the truck was "completely fried."

Toward the beginning of summer, videos were taken of a hailstorm at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. An outdoor concert saw a thunderstorm pour golf ball-sized hail onto the crowd, injuring at least 90 people.