If you think it’s been unusually hot in Florida so far this year, you now have proof to back your claim from the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The NCEI says Florida’s average temperature from January through April 2017 was nearly 67 degrees. That’s the warmest since records have been kept starting in 1895.
NOAA climatologists say the February heat wave in Florida is what pushed our temperature average up. High temperatures coupled with a lack of rain have led to a nightmare scenario of drought and wildfires across Florida.
The most extreme drought is in Osceola, Polk, and Highlands counties. All of central Florida, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, is in a severe drought.
The Sunshine State is not alone when it comes to heat discomfort. Fourteen states from the southwest to the mid-Atlantic also had their highest average temperatures in the first four months of this year. And many more states checked in much warmer than average during the first third of the year.
The coterminous United States had its second highest average temperature for January through April last year. And the planet had its third straight year of record heat in 2016.