Arizona on pace for yearly heat record after warmest September ever
Oct 10, 2018, 12:47 PM | Updated: 8:12 pm
PHOENIX – After experiencing record heat in September, Arizona is on pace for its hottest year ever measured.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the average temperature in the state last month was 76.2 degrees.
That broke the September record of 75.6 degrees set in 2001 and was a 5 percent increase from the 72.4 degree average for the month in 2017.
The average September temperature in the state from 1901-2000 was 72 degrees.
The agency’s data spans 124 years, back to 1895.
Through the first nine months of the year, the average temperature in Arizona was 66.2 degrees, beating the record of 65.7 degrees set in 2000.
So far this year, the average temperature has been 3.9 degrees higher than the mean of 62.3 degrees recorded from 1901 to 2000.
Four of the six hottest January-September periods in Arizona history have occurred in the last five years.
September 2018 was record warm for 7 states and top 10 warm for 22 additional states: https://t.co/5e3wItWiqC #StateOfClimate pic.twitter.com/KSV1nKEAxs
— NOAA NCEI Climate (@NOAANCEIclimate) October 9, 2018
The Grand Canyon State wasn’t alone in experiencing record heat last month. Six other states — Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Utah and West Virginia – also had their hottest Septembers.
Neighboring New Mexico joined Arizona in having its hottest January-September average.
For the contiguous United States, the average of 67.8 degrees in September was 2.9 degrees higher than the 20th-century average for the month.
ICYMI The first 9 months of 2018 ranked as the 8th warmest January to September on record for the contiguous United States: https://t.co/5e3wItWiqC pic.twitter.com/FYpRm0uyn1
— NOAA NCEI Climate (@NOAANCEIclimate) October 10, 2018
The January-September U.S. average of 57 degrees was the eighth-warmest in history.
It’s not just the heat that’s approaching all-time highs in the nation.
Fueled by Hurricane Florence’s deluge on the East Coast, last month was the third-wettest September in U.S. history.
The country’s rainfall totals for January-September were the 13th-highest on record.
