2020 has been the hottest year on record so far in Florida, and among the hottest in 126 years in a number of eastern states, according to a government report.
NOAA's June State of the Climate report released Wednesday found the first six months of 2020 was Florida's warmest January through June period on record, edging out the previous record-holder, 2017, in records dating to 1895.
January-June average temperature in Florida from 1895 through 2020. The red arrow denotes the record-warm first six months of 2020 in the Sunshine State.Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando and West Palm Beach were record-warm for any first six months of a year, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
2020 kicked into high gear with the state's hottest and second-driest March dating to 1895. On one mid-April day, Miami failed to drop below 80 degrees for the first time on record in April.
(MORE: The 20 Weirdest Things We've Seen in 2020's Weather So Far)
It only grew more miserable in June.
As National Hurricane Center meteorologist Eric Blake noted, Miami had its hottest week on record in late June. In the last 10 days of the month, it dipped below 80 degrees only once – the morning after Father's Day. Miami ended June by tying its second-hottest all-time temperature of 98 degrees.
Much of the eastern, southern and southwestern U.S. was much warmer than average in the first half of 2020.
New Orleans also had its hottest January through June in 75 years, according to the SERCC, slightly warmer than the first six months of 2012.
New Jersey (third-warmest), Massachusetts (fourth-warmest) and Rhode Island (fourth-warmest) each had one of the warmest first halves of a year on record, according to the NOAA report.
Average temperature percentiles from January through June 2020, compared to average. Areas in the dark red contours were record-warm for any January-June period dating to 1895.Wettest Year-to-Date in Southeast
The first half of 2020 also shattered precipitation records in parts of the Southeast.
It's been the wettest January through June on record in Tennessee, paced by persistent soakings in the eastern half of the Volunteer State. It's been the second-wettest first half of any year on record in both Bristol and Chattanooga, and the fifth-wettest such period in Knoxville, according to the SERCC.
Several other Southeast cities clobbered their previous record-wet starts to 2020, including Birmingham, Alabama (49.17 inches); Greenville, South Carolina (44.41); and Roanoke, Virginia (35.58).
Birmingham and Greenville topped their previous January through June records that had stood since 1929 and 1912, respectively.
Precipitation percentiles from January through June 2020, compared to average. Areas in the dark green contours were record-wet for any January-June period dating to 1895.Roanoke, Virginia, has had four separate flood events along the Roanoke River in 2020 in February, April, May and June.
North Carolina (fourth), Alabama (fifth) and West Virginia (fifth) each had one of the wettest first halves of a year on record, according to the NOAA report.
On the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota (sixth) and Colorado (eighth) each had a top-10 driest January through June. Baker City, Oregon, and Dillon, Montana, each had the driest first six months of any year on record, according to the SERCC.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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