Science Source

A Dramatic Increase in Annual Average Temperatures for U.S. Cities This Decade

States that a daily, or even monthly, temperature record (whether hot or cold) is an impressive, headline-grabbing feat
States that even more significant is when a city or town sets a record for the average temperature across an entire year; this takes all four seasons into account
Applies the same methodology employed in his post last May concerning daily temperature records
Examines data for the same 60 sites in the contiguous U.S. (plus six in Alaska and Hawaii) to determine their warmest and coolest individual years on record
Compares the yearly temperatures averaged across three different periods of record (PORs): 1895-1980, 1981-2010, and 2011-2016
Finds that, for the locations in the contiguous U.S. examined in this study, the past six years (POR 2011-2016) have seen average annual temperatures that are 1.2°F above the current 30-year climatological average used by NOAA (1981-2010); this has also occurred in Alaska and Hawaii
Finds that 41 of the 60 contiguous U.S. sites have experienced their warmest year on record in just the past six years (2011-2016)