Swath of States Experiencing Hottest Year to Date

For a swath of states from New Mexico over to Florida and up to Ohio, 2017 has been the hottest year on record through April.  For the Lower 48 as a whole, the year is the second warmest in records going back to 1895.

Several states in the mid-Atlantic had their hottest April on record and a few Southeastern states were near-record warm, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data released Monday.

The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. through April was 43.7°F (6.5°C), 4.5°F (2.5°C) above the 20th century average, NOAA said. This put the four-month period behind only 2012, which saw major heat waves and drought across much of the central part of the nation.

The exceptional heat of February is what’s keeping 2017 so high in the rankings, Jake Crouch, a NOAA climatologist, said in an email. With eight months left, though, it is unclear whether 2017 will stay warm enough to ultimately beat 2012 as the hottest calendar year for the Lower 48.

“I think that the potential development of the El Niño and how the drought conditions expand or intensify going into summer will be the two things to watch on determining how warm 2017 ultimately ends up being,” Crouch said. The current forecast slightly favors the development of El Niño in late summer or fall.

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