2016 Third Warmest for U.S. Through July

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2016-third-warmest-for-us-through-july-20590

By Andrea Thompson
Aug. 8, 2016

In the midst of the dog days of summer, the U.S. is still having its third-hottest year on record through July. The month also saw two states — New Mexico and Florida — clinch their hottest July, while Alaska continued to stay on track for its warmest year in the books.

For the contiguous U.S., the year-to-date temperature was 54.3°F (12.4°C), or 3.0°F (1.7°C) above the 20th century average, according to data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Every state was warmer than average for the same period.

“The January-July period was the third warmest by a fairly wide margin,” NOAA climatologist Jake Crouch said in an email.

The U.S. has been just one hotspot on the planet, which is having its warmest year on record by a good margin. The globally hot year is largely the result of the excess heat trapped by ever increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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tags: extreme weather