CA, OR, NV, WA All On Track For Hottest Year On Record; 2 Have Already Set Summer Record

August is synonymous with sweltering summer heat, and that was certainly the name of the game for much of the country this year, temperature data released Wednesday shows. Those sultry temperatures helped two western states see their warmest summers on record, and could help push those and others to their warmest year on record.

August also helped bolster the average temperature for the contiguous states, which saw their 12th warmest summer and ninth warmest year-to-date in the last 121 years, according to the monthly data kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Such record warmth becomes more and more likely as the globe heats up thanks to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Except for a relatively cool oasis at the center of the country (created by copious rainfall that helped keep temperatures down), most of the country had above-normal temperatures for August, as well as the summer as a whole. In particular, parts of New England, Hawaii and the Southern Plains roasted in sometimes-record heat during the month.

Two western states — Washington and Oregon —­ had their hottest summers on record, driven in part by stifling August weather. Those two states, along with California and Nevada have recorded their warmest January-August, and are poised to potentially see their hottest years ever.




Wildfires raging across the Northwest during mid-August 2015, as seen by the Suomi NPP satellite.
Click image to enlarge. Credit: NASA

EDIT

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/four-western-states-warmest-year-19419