Hottest July On Record Across US Lower 48, Heat Misses Oregon & Washington

It seems like everyday in July 2012  I was talking about extreme heat somewhere in the United States.

And now NOAA, the agency that tracks long term trends (among many other things!) says it was the hottest July ever recorded in the United States– when you look at what happened in the lower 48 states, overall.

Here are some of the crazy specifics:

Officials say a record amount of the U.S. is experiencing drought and the heat was more extreme than back in the dust bowl days of the 1930s!

Oregon & Washington: Missed By The July 2012 Heatwave

Here are the highlights (lowlights?) of what happened in Portland, Oregon during July 2012. Seattle was even cooler than Portland.

Overall, average temperatures were just slightly below normal. But our high temperatures were, overall, were two degrees cooler than an average July. That’s a pretty big number in this case!