Nation’s Hottest May on Record Leaves Dust Bowl in the Dust

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/nations-hottest-may-record-leaves-dust-bowl-dust?cm_ven=hp-slot-4

Bob Henson · June 6, 2018, 12:42 PM EDT

After one of the coldest Aprils in U.S. history, last month delivered a stunning switch—the warmest May for the contiguous U.S. in records going back to 1895. May came in at 5.21°F above the 20th-century average, which beats out the Dust Bowl month of May 1934 (4.51°F above the 20th-century average). This is the third time in the past three years that a longtime monthly U.S. heat record has been eclipsed: December 2015 toppled a 1939 record, and June 2016 pushed out June 1933.

May’s warmth was remarkably well-distributed around the country. Whereas the nationally chilly April (13th-coldest on record) still had above-average warmth over the western U.S., every one of the Lower 48 states came in well above average for May—a rare feat. A total of 41 states had a top-ten-warmest May, and eight of those states had a record-warm May: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. The Oklahoma record is especially impressive given that western Oklahoma was near the epicenter of the devastating 1930s Dust Bowl.

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