August 8, 2016

July in NM tied for hottest month in state history

If you thought it was hot last month, it wasn’t just your imagination. The latest numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information found that July 2016 not only tied the hottest July in New Mexico history, but tied the hottest month ever in New Mexico. The average temperature in […]

Matthew Reichbach

If you thought it was hot last month, it wasn’t just your imagination.

Map from NOAA of July 2016 temperatures in the contiguous United States.

The latest numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information found that July 2016 not only tied the hottest July in New Mexico history, but tied the hottest month ever in New Mexico.

The average temperature in New Mexico “was 76.8°F, 4.1°F above average, tying July 2003 as the warmest month for the state.”

The NOAA noted that eighteen states overall “had July temperatures that were much above average.”

In addition to New Mexico, Florida also its warmest July on record.

Map of July 2016 precipitation numbers from the NOAA.

In more bad news for New Mexico, it was one of the states with “below-average precipitation.”

The latest numbers from the National Drought Mitigation Center show that just over 95 percent of the state is abnormally dry and 27 percent is in a moderate drought; both numbers are up versus one year ago. No parts of the state are in a severe or extreme drought, let alone exceptional.

Overall, the average temperature in the contiguous United States. was 14th-warmest on record for the month.

The January-July temperature in the contiguous United States “was 54.3°F, 3.0°F above the 20th century average, making it the third warmest on record.”