NOAA Update: Globe Still on Track for Hottest Year

Set 3 - NOAA Update: Globe Still on Track for Hottest Year — Set 3

Set 2 - NOAA Update: Globe Still on Track for Hottest Year — Set 2

Set 1 - NOAA Update: Globe Still on Track for Hottest Year — Set 1

Data released today from NOAA show that this past summer (June, July, August) was the hottest on record, and that 2015 is still running as the hottest year on record globally. The NOAA data are in line with data from both NASA and the Japanese Meteorological Agency (records go back to the late 1800s).

According to NOAA’s analysis of global temperatures:

August 2015 was the hottest August on record
July 2015 was the hottest calendar month on record
June 2015 was the hottest June on record
Spring 2015 (March-May) was the hottest on record
6 of the first 8 months this year were their hottest on record

All of this comes after 2014 set the record for hottest year globally. And while each consecutive year may not be hotter than the previous one, the upward trend is clear. The 10 hottest years on record have all been since 1998. August was the 368th consecutive month where the global temperature was above normal. The burning of fossil fuels continues to increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and more heat records are expected to fall. The very strong El Niño is making it more likely that 2015 will finish as the hottest year on record.

For the U.S., the 2015 year-to-date temperature is hotter than this time last year. In 2014, the U.S. was having its 48th-hottest year on record through the end of August. This year, it is 9th-hottest (records go back to 1895). The western U.S. is leading the torrid pace as California, Nevada (tie), Washington, and Oregon are all having their hottest year on record so far. Other western states are having one of their 5 hottest years on record: Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.

And while much of the eastern U.S. is close to normal, or even below normal for the year, Florida is a big exception, having its 3rd-hottest year on record so far. There are a few cool spots in the Ohio Valley and the interior Northeast, but the level of chill there has not mirrored the extreme heat on the West Coast or in Florida.