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First Half of 2017 Hottest on Record for Parts of U.S. Sunbelt

 United States

Statewide rankings for average temperature during June 2017, as compared to each June since 1895. Darker shades of orange indicate higher rankings for warmth, with 1 denoting the coldest month on record and 123 the warmest. Image: NOAA/NCEI

From the deserts of Arizona to the swamps of the Chesapeake, 2017 has already been a memorably scorching year—and it’s only half over. The first six months of 2017 were the second warmest on record for the contiguous U.S. (behind only 2012) in observations going back to 1895, according to NOAA’s national climate summary for June. The nation is well synched with the planet as a whole, which has been running second only to 2016 for its warmest year on record.

Four states sweated through their all-time warmest January-to-June period: North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Every one of the contiguous U.S. states has experienced a top-twelve-warmest year thus far, except for an eight-state arc running from California to the Dakotas.