Record High Temperatures Recorded for May

If you noticed over the past few months that it has been warmer outside, you weren’t alone.  Since the beginning of the year, the continental United States has experienced record-setting high temperatures.

In the period from January through May, the average high temperature in the lower 48 states was 49.2° F (9.5° C).  This was five degrees above normal, according to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday and made the past 12 months the warmest 12-month block on record.

May 2012 was the second warmest May on record with an average temperature of 64.3° F (17.9° C) in the lower 48 states.

In March of this year, more than 50 cities reported the warmest March on record.

In addition, the winter of 2011-2012 was the fourth warmest winter on record and the warmest since 1999-2000.

If you look back 12 months, the period from June 2011 through May 2012 was the warmest 12-month block since records started to be kept more than a century ago.

(Photograph: Jonathan Spira)