Enough new record temperatures when plotted by location nearly perfectly defines the the continental United States. There were nearly 9,000 records set or tied in the month of July 2011, "including 2,755 highest maximum temperatures and 6,171 highest minimum temperatures (i.e., nighttime records)."
The records were collated and are archived by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who will, I'm sure, have their budget slashed for keeping such subversive records.
In the graphic, the upper display shows the locations where daytime temperatures tied or exceeded the previously recorded maximum temperature. The lower graph shows the location of the highest minimum nighttime temperatures.
This image plots how many times a heat record was broken or tied in a given location. Some cities reached daily high temperatures 19 out of the 31 days in the month. The largest concentration of these records occur in the southern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast U.S., which were gripped by a series of heat waves pushing heat indices well into the 100’s (Fahrenheit) for many days at a time.
The temperature records are based on the National Climatic Data Center's Cooperative Summary of the Day data set.
U.S. Weather Records Archived by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center
Heat Defines the Country in July