Seattle just had its sixth-hottest summer on record
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Seattle just saw its sixth-hottest summer on record, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Details: Between June and August, Seattle's average temperatures were about 2.2°F higher than the average from 1981 to 2020, per NOAA.
- The average summer temperature in Seattle this year was 66.8°F, compared to a 1981–2020 average of 64.6°F.
Meanwhile, Seattle also just had its ninth-driest summer on record, receiving only 1.58 inches of rain. That's a little over half the city's average summer precipitation from 1981 to 2020, NOAA reports.
The big picture: Numerous states saw a much hotter than average summer. In addition, some spots received unusually heavy precipitation and others entered flash drought territory, according to NOAA's data, Axios' Erin Davis and Andrew Freedman report.
- The odds and severity of extreme heat events are rapidly increasing as the climate warms in response to human emissions of greenhouse gases.
- This past summer featured the warmest June, July and August on record globally, with temperatures reaching some of the highest values ever recorded on a global basis.