First Half 2012 Heat Records Outpace Cold By Over 11 to 1; June Ends With 29th Consecutive Warm Week

Although it began on a relatively mild note, June 2012 ended with a rush of high temperature records, including many monthly records and even some all-time records. The nearly 2300 new daily heat records were about 50% more numerous than in May, although the ratio to cold records declined to 4.6 to 1. This was the lowest since February's 4.4 to 1. For the year to date, the ratio is now over 11 to 1. Heat records have outnumbered cold records for 18 consecutive months since December 2010.

Based on unadjusted National Weather Service data, the average temperature for the 48 contiguous states in the week ending June 30 was 73.4°F, which is 1.7°F above average. Temperatures were above average in every region except the Southeast, Northwest, and West. This marks the 29th consecutive week, dating back to early December, with warmer than average U.S. temperatures. For the month as a whole, the average was 70.2°F, or 1°F above normal.

Over 83% of National Weather Service reporting stations were at or above normal temperatures. The warmest locations relative to average were in Colorado (Colorado Springs and Denver) and Nebraska (North Platte), each at +14°F. The coldest was Redding, California at -8°F