2006 – Hottest Year So Far in U. S. History

“The average temperature for the continental United States from January through June 2006 was the warmest first half of any year since records began in 1895.”

– NOAA

July 17, 2006, temperature map for mainland United States.

July 18, 2006 Asheville, North Carolina – The following is the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Agency’s summary of America’s “record warm first half of year, widespread drought and northeast record rainfall.”

NOAA report on July 14, 2006: “The average temperature for the continental United States from January through June 2006 was the warmest first half of any year since records began in 1895, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Last month was the second warmest June on record and nationally averaged precipitation was below average. The continuation of below normal precipitation in certain regions and much warmer-than-average temperatures expanded moderate-to-extreme drought conditions in the contiguous U.S. However, much of the Northeast experienced severe flooding and record rainfall during the last week of June. The global surface temperature was second warmest on record for June.

U.S. Temperature Highlights

The average January-June temperature for the contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) was 51.8 degrees F (11.0 degrees C), or 3.4 degrees F (1.8 degrees C) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. Five states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri) experienced record warmth for the period. No state was near or cooler than average.

The nation observed the second warmest June on record this year. In the West, 11 states were much warmer than average. Only five states (Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and South Carolina) were cooler than normal for the month.

The June statewide average temperature for Alaska was near average, and January-June was 0.55 degrees F (0.30 degrees C) cooler than the 1971-2000 average.

U.S. Precipitation Highlights

The average precipitation for June 2006 across the continental U.S. was 0.3 in. (8 mm) below the 20th century average.

Record rainfall in parts of the Northeast during May and June contributed to the wetter-than-normal first half of the year for that region. Heavy precipitation along the East Coast from June 22-28 resulted in widespread flooding. For example, Washington’s Reagan National Airport reported 11.37 inches (289 mm) during that time and a record June total of 14.02 inches (356 mm). More than 10 inches (254 mm) of rain fell in Federalsburg on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in a 24-hour period.

In June, 45 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate-to-extreme drought (based on the Palmer Drought Index), an increase of 6 percent from May, while 27 percent was in severe-extreme drought (up from 20 percent in May). Additionally, from January through June, warm, dry conditions spawned more than 50,000 wildfires, burning more than 3,000,000 acres in the contiguous U.S. and Alaska, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Global Highlights

It was the second warmest June on record for global land- and ocean-surface temperatures since records began in 1880 (1.08 degrees F/0.60 degrees C above the 20th century mean) and the sixth warmest year-to-date (January-June) (0.90 degrees F/0.50 degrees C).”

Eastern Gulf of Mexico Coast Temperatures

Current water temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit near Pensacola, Florida are 90 degrees F; Naples, Florida = 87.6 F; and Key West, Florida = 84.9 degrees F. [Source: National Oceanographic Data Center.]

More Information:

In 2007, NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. NOAA’s U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey was established in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson, followed by formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s.

Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and more than 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network of Earth.

For further information about global warming, please see reports below in the Earthfiles Archives:

06/24/2006 — “High Confidence” Earth Is Warmest in 400 Years – Maybe Even 2,000
04/08/2006 — Recent Caribbean Coral Reef Die-Off Biggest Ever Seen
03/17/2006 — Planet Earth’s Ice Melt
02/20/2006 — Mysterious Deaths of Whales in Mexico
11/18/2005 — Is the Sun Heating Up?
10/07/2005 — Warmer Sea Surfaces, Increased Wind Power Making Hurricanes Stronger
09/29/2005 — 2005 Arctic Summer Ice Melt – Largest On Record
09/23/2005 — 9 X-Class Solar Flares Between September 7 – 19, 2005.
09/23/2005 — Phenomenon of “Instant” Hurricanes in 2005
09/15/2005 — Animal Mutilations Reported in Switzerland, Hollywood and Kansas
08/26/2005 — What Is Killing Amphibians Around the World?
08/26/2005 — Another Cattle Mutilation in Canada
08/18/2005 — Unusual Summer Swarm of Arkansas Copperheads
08/05/2005 — Scientists Puzzled by “Bizarre” Pacific Coast Die-offs in 2005
05/11/2005 — Greenland Sea Cold Water Re-Cycling Has Nearly Stopped. Britain Expected to Become Cooler.
05/07/2005 — Did Milky Way Gas and Dust Turn Earth Into Icy Snowball Four Times?
03/25/2005 — Glow of Distant Worlds Seen For First Time
02/26/2005 — Collapse of Societies: From Easter Island to Iraq – to Western World?
02/21/2005 — Updated – Bull and Cow Mutilations Northwest of Corpus Christi, Texas
02/03/2005 — Kyoto Protocol Goes Into Effect February 16, 2005. British Scientists Warn Global Temperatures Could Climb Higher Than Earlier Estimates.
01/22/2005 — From U. S. to Arctic – A Sea Change in the Weather
12/31/2004 — Abrupt Climate Change Occurred Worldwide 5,200 Years Ago
11/02/2004 — North Pole Summers Without Ice?
10/15/2004 — Ever-Increasing Carbon Dioxide Build-Up in Atmosphere Since 1958
09/17/2004 — Cat 4 and 5 Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan in Four Weeks -Unprecedented in American Recorded Weather History
08/27/2004 — Global Warming Impact On Birds – More Extinctions Expected
08/14/2004 — Oceans Are Absorbing A Lot of Greenhouse CO2. As Chemistry Changes, What Happens to Sea Life?
08/01/2004 — Sixth Straight Year Hundreds of Birds Die at Roestler Lake, North Dakota.
02/27/2004 — Abrupt Climate Change: Scenario from A Pentagon-Commissioned Report
01/02/2004 — Earth’s Speeded Rotation Puzzles Scientists
11/29/2003 — Glaciers Melting Around the World So Fast Water Supplies Threatened
10/29/2003 — Fifth Intense Solar X-Flare – What’s Happening On the Sun?
05/30/2003 — Scientists Surprised by Common House Fly Fossils in Antarctica
12/14/2002 — Arctic Rivers’ Fresh Water Flows Could Change Atlantic Ocean Current
11/14/2002 — What Happened 12,000 Years Ago That Killed So Many Animals?
10/21/2002 — Mt. Kilimanjaro’s Ice Cap Is Melting Fast
08/27/2002 — August 2002: Severe to Moderate Drought in 37 States
07/20/2002 — Extinctions of Earth Life Are Accelerating Rapidly
06/04/2002 — EPA Admits Humans Burning Fossil Fuels Big Factor in Global Warming
03/30/2002 — Drought Worsens in United States
03/21/2002 — Antarctic Peninsula Is Melting – And So Is Arctic Ice
02/13/2002 — January 2002 Warmest On Record For Whole World
01/30/2002 — Latest Satellite Data Shows Surprisingly Thicker Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica
01/05/2002 — Global Warming Update – Could Increasing CO2 Gas Be Transformed Into Limestone?
12/22/2001 — Scientists Warn That Climate and Earth Life Can Change Rapidly
04/18/2001 — April Environmental Updates
03/24/2001 — Alps Permafrost Melting
03/21/2001 — Earth Hasn’t Been This Warm Since the Pliocene 3 Million Years Ago
03/04/2001 — Disappearing Glaciers – Evidence of A Rapidly Warming Earth
02/25/2001 — Environmental Updates
02/18/2001 — Environmental Updates; Mysterious Deaths of 2000 Atlantic Brant Geese
02/07/2001 — 94% Decline In Aleutian Islands Sea Otter Population
01/28/2001 — U. N. Global Warming Forecast: Up to 10.5 Degrees F. Hotter At End of 21st Century
01/07/2001 — Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Punched 22 Miles Through Earth’s Entire Crust
11/26/2000 — Environmental Updates
10/30/2000 — Science, Environment and Medical Updates
09/10/2000 — Arctic Ice Melt Threatens Polar Bears
09/10/2000 — Largest-Ever Antarctic Ozone Hole
07/09/2000 — The “Cell from Hell” Is Back in North Carolina Estuaries
07/02/2000 — Brown Tide Devastating Long Island’s Great South Bay Shellfish
06/17/2000 — Spring 2000 – Hottest On Record in U. S.
05/14/2000 — British Cell Phone Safety Alert and Interview with Robert O. Becker, M. D.
05/07/2000 — Serious Drought in the Great Lakes
04/20/2000 — Severe Arctic Ozone Loss and Deep Ocean Warming
03/12/2000 — Environmental Updates and Mysterious Fires Near Scott, Arkansas
01/13/2000 — Computer Projections About Earth Weather 2000-2100
01/09/2000 — Global Warming Alert from NOAA and U.K.
12/25/1999 — Y2K Nuclear Concern and Global Warming Update
09/26/1999 — Could Ancient Microbes in Polar Ice Cause Epidemics?
07/25/1999 — Maryland Fish Kills; Global Warming; and Warm Oceans and Disease
06/04/1999 — Global Warming Linked to Increasingly Warmer and Wetter Winters in Europe & Western North America
05/05/1999 — Two Antarctic Ice Shelves Almost Gone
02/28/1999 — Chickadee Beak Deformities in Alaska