[4] Nation experiences warmest first half of year; wildfires claim 1.3 million acres across nation
Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues its monthly state of the climate report for June, 2012. The average temperature [5] for the contiguous U.S. during June was 71.2°F, which is 2.0°F above the 20th century average. Scorching temperatures during the second half of the month led to at least 170 all-time high temperature records broken or tied [6]. The June temperatures contributed to a record-warm first half of the year [7] and the warmest 12-month period [8] the nation has experienced since recordkeeping began in 1895.
Precipitation totals [9] across the country were mixed during June. The Lower 48, as a whole, experienced its tenth-driest June [10] on record, with a nationally-averaged precipitation total of 2.27 inches, 0.62 inch below average. Record- and near-record dry conditions [9] were present across the Intermountain West, while Tropical Storm Debby dropped record precipitation across Florida. Full NOAA release [11]
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