Summer 2018 labeled 4th warmest on record in U.S.

Average U.S. temperature 2.1 degrees above average

ROANOKE, Va. – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released their State of the Climate report Thursday.

This revealed that the summer of 2018 was the fourth warmest on record in across the U.S. Keep in mind that summer, climatologically speaking, goes from June 1 to August 31. This is easier for record keeping, rather than going from each year's summer solstice to autumnal equinox.

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Locally, we didn't break any heat records. However, this summer has been warmer than average in most parts of the StormTeam 10 viewing area.

We did, however, break humidity records (those start in 1950) for Danville and Lynchburg. It's also been the second most humid summer on record for Roanoke.

Part of why we haven't seen record heat has to do with the fact that we also had a more active storm track. This lead to higher rain totals, especially for areas like Lynchburg and Danville. Blacksburg's summer started off very dry, before turning wetter. That's why the rain deficit was still an inch and a half.

For a look at NOAA's full report, be sure to click here.


About the Author

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.

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