According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, this June was the second-hottest since the organization started keeping records 130 years ago.
The NCEI's monthly report showed the average temperature in the continental U.S. was 71.8 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.4 degrees above the long-term average.
Arizona and New Mexico recorded their hottest Junes ever, and 18 other states set a top-10 hottest record for the month.
For the six-month stretch of January through June, the mainland U.S. saw an average temperature of 50.9 degrees, which is the second-hottest such stretch on record. New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania and West Virginia set records for their hottest January-June period, and 24 other states set top-five records for the same span.
Some 130 million people have felt the unusual heat nationwide so far this year. It also caused some 24 million people in the West, South and Northeast to experience the warmest overnight temperatures ever recorded in the month.
The persistent heat has been blamed for at least two deaths in national parks.
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In June, heavy rainfall led to catastrophic flooding in the Midwest. Later, Hurricane Beryl set multiple records as the earliest Category 4 and then Category 5 hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic basin. The storm killed at least nine people in the Caribbean and at least three people in Texas.
Now Houston faces down days of recovery from the storm, which made landfall at Category 1 strength and knocked out power for about 2 million customers in the region. State officials say sweltering heat indexes are now in the forecast as recovery crews try to get the power back on.
The NCEI says four billion-dollar disasters were confirmed in June. Hailstorm events occurred in April in Texas and in May in Colorado, a severe weather event spread over the Central, Southern and Eastern U.S. in May and a tornado outbreak struck the Central U.S. in May.
Looking ahead, the NCEI says temperatures are likely to remain elevated across the U.S. West and Southwest through July. Wildfire potential is expected to remain elevated across much of the West and in parts of the South and East U.S.
