Last Month Was Hot, but It Didn’t Set Any Records

Warmth was bustin’ out all over in June, but while last month was hotter than normal it didn’t reach record levels, the government reported Friday.

Unusually warm weather earlier in the year, however, helped the nation stay at record levels for the first six months of the year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Friday.

On a global basis as well, June temperatures were above the long-term mean, ranking the month as the tenth warmest since 1880.

Many scientists believe that the recent string of warm years is the result of global warming caused by the release of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. Others, however, point to the El Nino-La Nina phenomena affecting Pacific Ocean temperatures.

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Data Center was releasing its climate data, its sister agency, the National Weather Service, updated its long-range summer forecast.

“The forecast for the coming summer months continues to call for hotter, drier conditions in many parts of the United States,” the Weather Service said, noting that much of the Southeast continues to suffer from severe drought conditions. Some relief is possible late in the summer if the expected increase in tropical storms occurs.

In contrast, increased monsoon conditions should make the Southwest wetter than normal this summer, the forecast said.

The nation is lucky to have not yet experienced a major, widespread heat wave, said David Unger, a meteorologist at the administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

In localized hot spells, San Francisco had an episode in June that claimed 22 lives, and a recent heat spell in the South has been blamed for four deaths in Houston and one in South Carolina.

The average June temperature across the United States was 70.0 degrees Fahrenheit, compared with a normal June average of 69.3. The hottest June on record occurred in 1933 with a national average temperature of 72.4.

For the United States, it was the 33rd-warmest June since record-keeping began in 1895.

For January through June the national average was a record 51.6 degrees, well above the 48.4-degree normal.

Here is a regional rundown of June’s temperature readings across the United States, including the normal and the record high for the month:

* Northeast: 64.8 in June, 64.4 normal, record high 68.6 in 1943. Includes New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

* East North Central: 64.0 in June, 65.3 normal, 72.4 record in 1933. Includes Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.

* Central: 71.0 in June, 71.3 normal, 77.6 record in 1952. Includes Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

* Southeast: 77.1 in June, 75.8 normal, 80.8 record in 1952. Includes Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

* West North Central: 62.4 in June, 62.3 normal, 71.6 record in 1988. Includes Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming.

* South: 77.0 in June, 77.6 normal, 83.8 record in 1953. Includes Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

* Southwest: 69.8 in June, 68.1 normal, 72.8 record in 1994. Includes Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

* Northwest: 61.1 in June, 59.9 normal, 64.8 record in 1918. Includes Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

* West: 71.1 in June, 67.7 normal, 74.0 record in 1918. Includes California and Nevada.

The climate statistics do not include Alaska or Hawaii.

On the Net: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

https://www.noaa.gov.