July Hottest Month on Record in Lower 48 States
This article is for subscribers only.
July was the hottest month in the lower 48 states in records going back 117 years, capping the hottest 12 months ever in the continental U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The average temperature in the 48 states was 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit (25.3 Celsius), or 3.3 degrees above normal, NOAA said in a statement today. The old record was set in July 1936, John Ewald, a spokesman for the agency, said in an e-mail.