January-April 2012 Temperatures
26 states have seen their warmest start to the year on record.
Credit: NOAA
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released their report on April 2012 and the first four months of 2012 for the lower 48 United States. We’ve got the record-breaking details below.
April 2012: Third Warmest April on Record
Each dot represents a location that set a record high for April. Darker reds indicate a greater margin of defeating the old record.
Credit: NOAA
April 2012 ranks as the third warmest April on record. A total of ten states recorded a top ten warmest April (CO, KS, MA, ME, NE, NH, NM, RI, TX, WY).
At least 332 locations in the U.S. set a record for their warmest temperature ever recorded in the month of April. Most of these were in the West and the adjacent High Plains (pictured to the left).
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia had April temperatures that were above average, but still not as warm as their incredible record-breaking warmth from March of 2012. At the beginning of this month, we pointed out that many cities also accomplished this rare feat of having a cooler April than March.
January – April 2012: Warmest on Record
Jan-Apr temperatures in the Lower 48 States from 1895-2012 (blue line), with 2012 at the far right. Long-term average and trend shown by gray and red lines, respectively.
Credit: NOAA
Given we are coming off the fourth warmest winter, the warmest March on record and now the third warmest April, it’s probably no shock that the year as a whole ranks among the warmest on record so far. In fact, the first four months of 2012 combined are the warmest on record by roughly one and half degrees. This is a wide margin considering we are talking about averaging out temperatures across the entire nation over a four month period.
The graphic at the top of this article shows that an amazing 26 states have seen their warmest start to the year on record! An additional 17 states are seeing a top ten warmest start to the year.
Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma City, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. are just some of the cities that have seen their warmest January-April on record.
A Dry Beginning to 2012 for Some
There has also been some precipitation extremes in the first four months of the year.
Both Maryland and Delaware recorded their driest January-April period on record. It was the second driest start to the year in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wyoming all recorded a top ten driest start to the year.
