Summer 2021 Neck and Neck with Dust Bowl Summer for Hottest on Record

news image
Special Stories
15 Sep 2021 1:30 AM
[Information from NOAA, NOAA Climate, and NOAA NCEI]  Hurricane Ida, numerous wildfires and devastating floods, capped off a summer of record heat and rainfall for many states throughout the country. 2021 summer temperature (June–August) tied 1936 for the warmest summer on record, meaning this summer’s heat was equal to the extreme conditions the country experienced during the height of the Dust Bowl. Summers in the U.S. are growing warmer by 1.23 degrees F per century. Meteorological summer | June through August The average temperature during meteorological summer for the contiguous U.S. was 74.0 degrees F, 2.6 degrees above average. This technically exceeds the record heat of the 1936 Dust Bowl Summer, but the difference is extremely small (less than 0.01 of a degree F).* Summer temperatures were above average to record warmest from the West Coast to the Great Lakes and into the Northeast as well as across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast. A record 18.4% of the contiguous U.S. experienced record-warm temperatures. California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah each reported their warmest summer on record, as 16 other states had a top-five warmest summer on record. No state ranked below average for the summer season, although temperatures were below average regionally across portions of the southern Plains and Southeast. Warm overnight temperatures heavily influenced the warm summer temperatures, especially across portions of the Southeast, where daytime temperatures were below average for the season.   The average summer precipitation total was 9.48 inches — 1.16 inches above average — making it the eighth-wettest summer in the historical record. Precipitation was above average across portions of the Great Basin and Southwest,  from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes and across much of the eastern U.S. Mississippi had its wettest summer on record while Alabama, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York had a summer that ranked among their five wettest. Meanwhile, Minnesota had its seventh-driest summer on record as precipitation was below average from the Northwest to the western Great Lakes and into the central Plains. Year to date | YTD, January through August The average U.S. temperature for the first eight months of 2021 was 55.6 degrees F — 1.8 degrees above the 20th-century average — making it the 13th-warmest such YTD on record.  It was above average from the West Coast to the Great Lakes and into the Northeast as well as across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. California and Maine each reported their third-warmest YTD, while 16 other states had a top-10 warmest YTD. Temperatures were below average across much of the southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley.
The nation saw an average of 21.19 inches of precipitation for the YTD, 0.48 of an inch above the long-term average, which ranked in the middle third of the record. January-August precipitation was above average from the Deep South to the Midwest, across the Southeast and portions of the Northeast. Mississippi had its third-wettest YTD on record, while Montana had its fifth driest. California, Minnesota and North Dakota all had a top-10 driest YTD on record. Precipitation was below average from the West Coast to the western Great Lakes and across portions of northern New England. Edited for WeatherNation by Mace Michaels
All Weather News
More
Snow & Ice Slide Through the Mid-Atlantic

Snow & Ice Slide Through the Mid-Atlantic

Snowfall rates of 2"/hour are being reported

12 Feb 2025 2:30 AM
Snowy Period Ahead for Colorado

Snowy Period Ahead for Colorado

The jet stream shifts south and targets Color

12 Feb 2025 2:30 AM
Heavy Snow Returns to the Plains

Heavy Snow Returns to the Plains

Another Colorado Low will start to cut throug

12 Feb 2025 2:20 AM
Latest Arctic Blast For Northern U.S.

Latest Arctic Blast For Northern U.S.

NORTHERN PLAINSA blast of arctic air remains

12 Feb 2025 2:05 AM
Deep South Stays Stormy This Week

Deep South Stays Stormy This Week

A series of systems will impact the Midsouth

12 Feb 2025 1:40 AM
Another Batch of Record Warmth in the South

Another Batch of Record Warmth in the South

By now, the South is no stranger to warmer we

11 Feb 2025 4:00 AM
Strong Earthquake in Western Caribbean Saturday Night

Strong Earthquake in Western Caribbean Saturday Night

Around 6PM ET, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake was

9 Feb 2025 11:00 AM