USA Temperatures in 2014: Extremes Never Seen Before

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that “so far in 2014, much of the United States has been unusually cold. Not only that, but much of the United States has been unusually warm.”

In most years, national extremes are either unusually warm or unusually cool—but not both.

New York has experienced cooler than average temperatures, as has most of the East Coast.

The real extremes have come in the Mississippi Valley (cold) and California (hot).

Another thing that sets 2014 apart so far, according to NOAA, is that a solid 40 percent of the country has experienced these unusually hot or cold temperatures.

“Never before have such large areas of the country experienced such radically different temperature extremes as they have so far this year,” the article states.

(Another thing the report includes: a graph showing the trend over the past 100 years for national extremes of unusual coolness or warmth. In recent decades the extremes have been far more likely to be warmer than usual.)

See the full article, “2014 temperature extremes: U.S. runs hot and cold,” here.

GRAPHIC: NOAA