Heat Wave Lifts June to Record Hot Temp for U.S.

Thanks in part to the epic heat wave that sent temperatures skyrocketing in the Southwest, last month was the hottest June on record for the contiguous U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday.

June was 3.3°F above the 20th century average of 68.5°F, beating the previous record set in 1933 by 0.2°F, according to NOAA data.  That bump of heat comes amid what is the hottest year to date by a good margin for the world as a whole.

Outside of the contiguous U.S., Alaska continued to bake, with its ninth warmest June and by far warmest year-to-date.

This was the first record hot month for the Lower 48 this year, and it boosted the year-to-date temperature to 3.2°F above the 20th century average.  That means that at the halfway point of the year, the U.S. is having its third warmest year-to-date, up from the fourth spot at the end of May.

While temperatures were above average across the contiguous states, they were particularly so across much of the West and the Central Plains.  In particular, “the record-breaking heat wave in the Southwest during June played an important role in boosting the contiguous U.S. average temperature to record territory,” Jake Crouch, a climatologist with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, said in an email.

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