June 2010 Temperature Update: 8th Warmest in U.S.

The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) preliminary analysis for June 2010, posted this morning, shows that average temperatures in the U.S. were the 8th warmest in 116 years of records. Out of 9 climatic regions, 3 were much above normal, 2 were above normal, and 3 were near normal. Only the Pacific Northwest was below normal. It was the second warmest on record for the Southeast, 5th warmest for the South, and the 7th warmest for the Central Region.

Three states (North Carolina [tied], Delaware, and New Jersey) had their warmest June on record. It was the second warmest for:

• Maryland
• Virginia
• South Carolina
• Florida
• Louisiana

Nearly every state from Texas and Oklahoma eastward to the Atlantic Coast and northward through the Ohio Valley and Mid Atlantic to southern New England had a top 10 warmest June. Oregon and Washington were the only states with below normal temperatures.

For the first half of 2010, 4 states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island) had their warmest January-June. Eight other Northeast and Great Lakes states have had a top-ten first half. Florida had its 7th coolest year to date.

In the second quarter, every state east of the Mississippi and a few to the west were much warmer than normal. Eleven states had a record warm April-June:

• Louisiana
• Maine
• New Hampshire
• Massachusetts
• Delaware
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut [tied]
• New Jersey
• Maryland
• Virginia
• North Carolina

A total of 20 states had their warmest or second warmest second quarter. The West and Northwest had below normal to much below normal temperatures. It was the 4th coolest in Oregon and the 11th coolest in Idaho.

Images (click to enlarge): U.S. June average temperature since 1895, statewide temperature ranks for June 2010 and second quarter 2010 (April-June); from NCDC