NOAA statistics show last month hottest June ever

WA SHINGTON» Earth sizzled to its hottest June on record as the climate keeps going to extremes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that June averaged 60.6 degrees, about 1.7 degrees warmer than the 20thcentury average.

It beat 2016 for the hottest June, with records going back to 1880. NASA and other groups also concluded last month was the hottest June on record.

Europe shattered June temperature records by far, while other records were set in Russia, Africa, Asia and South America. France had its hottest month in history, which is unusual because July is traditionally hotter than June.

The Lower 48 states were near normal.

“Earth is running a fever that won’t break thanks to climate change,” North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello said in an email. “This won’t be the last record warm summer month that we will see.”

It seems likely that July will be a record hot month too, said Berkeley Earth climate scientist Robert Rohde.

The United States set a record for most precipitation.

The 12-month period from July 2018 to June 2019 was the wettest on record.

The first half of 2019 is tied with 2017 for the second hottest initial six months of the year, behind 2016. So far, the year is 1.7 degrees warmer than the 20th-century average.

This heat “is what we can expect to see with a warming climate,” said Freja Vamborg, a climate scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service in Europe.