This Summer Was Hotter Than the Dust Bowl, NOAA Says

U.S.|This summertime was hotter than the Dust Bowl summer, NOAA says.

• Sept. 9, 2021, 5:23 p.m. ET

The play from June done August this twelvemonth was the hottest connected grounds successful the United States, exceeding adjacent the Dust Bowl summertime of 1936, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said connected Thursday.

The mean somesthesia this summertime successful the contiguous United States was 74 degrees, exceeding by little than a hundredth of a grade the grounds acceptable successful the summertime of 1936, erstwhile scorching vigor led to the decease of thousands of Americans and catastrophic harvest failure.

Five states — California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah — reported their warmest summers connected record, NOAA reported, portion 16 different states reported “a top-five warmest summertime connected record,” the bureau said.

The mean somesthesia successful the United States done August this twelvemonth was 55.6 degrees, NOAA said, 1.8 degrees supra the 20th period mean and the 13th warmest to day for that play of the year.

On Thursday, galore areas successful the West remained nether an excessive vigor warning, including portions of Southern Nevada, Death Valley, the Colorado River Valley and eastbound San Bernardino County, Calif., the National Weather Service said. Temperatures were expected to scope from 105 degrees successful Las Vegas to astir 120 degrees successful Death Valley.

While tying a azygous vigor question to clime alteration requires extended attribution analysis, vigor waves astir the satellite are increasing much frequent, longer lasting and much dangerous. The 2018 National Climate Assessment, a large technological study issued by 13 national agencies, notes that the fig of blistery days is increasing, and the frequence of vigor waves successful the United States jumped from an mean of two per twelvemonth successful the 1960s to six per twelvemonth by the 2010s. Also, the play for vigor waves has stretched to beryllium 45 days longer than it was successful the 1960s, according to the report.

It is each portion of an wide warming trend: The 7 warmest years successful the past of close worldwide record-keeping person been the past 7 years, and 19 of the 20 warmest years person occurred since 2000; worldwide, June 2019 was the hottest ever recorded and June 2020 fundamentally tied it.

NOAA included the details of this summer’s record-setting temperatures successful its monthly clime report, which it issued adjacent the extremity of a summertime of utmost upwind events successful the United States.

Hurricane Ida made landfall successful Louisiana connected Aug. 29 with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, making 2021 the 2nd twelvemonth successful a enactment that a Category 4 hurricane slammed the state, NOAA said.

Three days later, Ida’s remnants tore crossed the Northeast, causing deadly flash flooding that was blamed for dozens of deaths. Ida followed soon aft Tropical Storm Fred caused flash flooding and touched disconnected respective tornadoes successful the Southeast, and aft Tropical Storm Henri brought fierce upwind and torrential rainfall to overmuch of the Northeast.

Water wasn’t the lone problem. Wildfires devastated ample swaths of California. The Dixie Fire, which started successful July, has destroyed much than 927,000 acres and is present the 2nd largest occurrence successful the state’s history, NOAA said. The Caldor Fire besides grew rapidly successful August and threatened communities southwest of Lake Tahoe successful California.