Summer 2006 Second Warmest Ever for US
The National Climactic Data Center released the official temperature and precipitation figures for Summer, 2006, from June to August, and for the entire year through August. The average temperature nationwide was 74.5 degrees, 2.4 degrees above normal, and second only to the 1936 dust bowl year for warmest temperature ever.
The heat made the January-August, 2006 the warmest ever for the eight month stretch, eclipsing the previous record holder of 1934. Here in Georgia, we had the 22nd warmest summer ever, and the 24th warmest year to date temperature since record keeping began in 1895. The real heat was felt in the plains states, where Texas, Oklahoma, both Dakotas, and Missouri recorded their warmest years to date ever.
On the precipitation side, the summer was the 41st dryest out of the 112 years measured, and year to date, the 26th dryest. Precipitation was helped out with a wet August in many areas of the country.
Georgia had its 12 dryest summer period, and the 8th dryest year to date period. New York had its wettest summer ever, while for the year, both New England and the west coast have had abnormally large amounts of rainfall.
