NOAA - Record Warmth Jan-Jul For OR, WA; CA & AK 2nd-Warmest On Record
How temperatures across the U.S. varied from normal during July 2015, with red showing warmer temperatures and blue cooler.
Click image to enlarge. Credit: NOAA View
The U.S. West was once again a land of extremes in July. From Alaska to the Pacific Northwest, July was unusually hot, with some spots recording daily and monthly heat records, while other parts of California got a rare deluge. The heat across much of the West has done no favors for the deep drought and has helped to fuel a surge in wildfires, which have raged across Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Northern California in recent weeks.
A deeper dive into the data released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that both Oregon and Washington were record warm from January through July, while Alaska and California have had their second-warmest year to date. (2015 had been running ahead of the record heat of 2014 for California, but a return to more normal conditions in July has caused it to drop in the rankings.)
Salem and Eugene, Ore., both saw their warmest July on record, while Portland recorded its second warmest, according to the National Weather Service. Eugene saw a record number of days with temperatures that topped 100°F and on July 31, the town of McMinnville was the same temperature 106°F as Phoenix, Ariz., and Las Vegas.
July was the all-time warmest month in Seattle, besting the previous record-holder, August 1967, the NWS said. By July 31, the city had recorded 11 days this year with temperatures above 90°F, which was more than the number of such days during the entire period of 1997 to 2003.
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http://www.climatecentral.org/news/heat-roasting-west-fueling-drought-blazes-19318