8 Western States On Pace For Hottest Year on Record

Jon Erdman
Published: November 6,2015

The year 2015 remains on a record warm pace in Florida and much of the western U.S., according to a NOAA report released Friday.
January through October was the warmest such period on record in eight western states – Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – according to NOAA's October U.S. State of the Climate report.

Statewide temperature rankings for January-October 2015. Red-shaded states denote those who had a record warm January-October period in 2015. (NOAA/NCEI)
(NOAA/NCEI)

Only the first 10 months of 1990 were warmer in Florida than January-October 2015. Wyoming's warmth so far this year was only topped by that from January-October 2012. Records from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information date to 1895.
(MORE: Florida's Record November Heat)
Three other states – Colorado (fourth warmest), New Mexico (fifth warmest) and North Dakota (10th warmest) – chalked up a top 10 warmest year-to-date.
When combining temperature data over the Lower 48 as a whole, January-October was the sixth warmest on record in the 121-year database, 2.0 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average. Only 2012, 2000, 1934, 2006 and 1998 were warmer, according to NOAA-NCEI.
(MORE: 2014's Extreme Weather Events Influence By Warming Climate)

Contiguous U.S. January-October mean temperatures since 1895. The year 2015 is at the far right of the graph, sixth warmest January-October on record.
(NOAA/NCEI)

On the other end of the spectrum, seven states from the Ohio Valley to northern New England have remained cooler than average from January through October.
It was the sixth coolest first 10 months of any year in Bangor, Maine's 77-year period of record, according to an analysis from the Southeast Region Climate Center (SERCC). It has also been a top 10 coolest January-October in Montpelier, Vermont (ninth coolest), and Watertown, New York (eighth coolest).
October, alone, was the warmest since 1963 in the Lower 48 and fourth warmest on record since 1895.
Washington state set a record warm October, while California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming sweated through their second warmest Octobers. Six other western states from Texas to Nevada had a top 10 warmest October.
(MORE: Link Between Heat, Climate Change Stronger Than Ever)
According to the SERCC, several cities in the West had their hottest October on record, including:

• Lewiston, Idaho
• Los Angeles
• Medford, Oregon
• Portland, Oregon
• Reno, Nevada
• Sacramento, California
• San Diego
• Salt Lake City
• San Jose, California
• Yakima, Washington

Only Maine was significantly cooler than average in October.

Wet and Dry Highlights

Not surprisingly, South Carolina's historic drenching in early October propelled the state to its second wettest October in the 120-year database, topped only by October 1990.
This soaking also triggered flooding in parts of North Carolina, leading to their eighth wettest October.

October 2015 precipitation departures from average. The wettest areas, relative to October average, are denoted in darkest green (parts of the Carolinas and Texas). The driest areas are denoted by darker brown shading.

Later in the month, a parade of torrential rain pushed Texas to its fifth wettest October. It was the wettest October in the Lone Star State since 2002.
(RECAP: Deep South Late October Flooding)
Waco, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Columbia, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Hartwell, Georgia, each had their wettest October on record, according to the SERCC.
Despite a burgeoning late summer/early fall drought, January through October was among the top 10 wettest such periods in both Oklahoma and Texas, largely due to the epic rainfall in May, June and October.
January through October was the third wettest such period in the Lone Star State, and wettest since 1941.
Dallas-Ft. Worth had their wettest year-to-date through Halloween, according to the SERCC. Numerous other locations in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico had one of their top three wettest first 10 months of a year.
It's no surprise the first 10 months of 2015 were among the top 10 driest in both California (fourth driest) and Oregon (third driest). Connecticut (seventh driest) also made that top 10 list.
It's been the driest year-to-date through Halloween in 121 years of records in San Francisco, according to SERCC.

MORE: A World of Change (Images from NASA)