U.S. experiences warmest 12-month period on record
The past twelve months were the warmest twelve months in U.S. history, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on Tuesday, in their monthly "State of the Climate" report. Temperatures in the contiguous U.S. during May 2011 - April 2012 broke the previous record for warmest 12-month period, set November 1999 - October 2000, by 0.1°F. The past twelve months have featured America's 2nd warmest summer, 4th warmest winter, and warmest March on record. Twenty-two states were record warm for the 12-month period, and an additional nineteen states were top ten warm. NOAA said that the January - April 2012 period was also the warmest January - April period since record keeping began in 1895. The average temperature of 45.4°F during January - April 2012 was 5.4°F above the 20th century average for the period, and smashed the previous record set in 2006 by an unusually large margin--1.6°F.

Figure 1. The ten warmest 12-month periods in the contiguous U.S. since record keeping began in 1895. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.

Figure 2. The average temperature of 45.4°F during January - April 2012 was the warmest on record: 5.4°F above the 20th century average for the period, and was 1.6°F above the previous record set in 2006. January - April temperatures have been rising at about 1.9°F per century since 1895. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.
April 2012: 3rd warmest on record
April 2012 was the third warmest April in the contiguous U.S. since record keeping began in 1895. Ten states had a top-ten warmest April, and no states were cooler than average. But what's really remarkable about April was that eight states--Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia--had average April temperatures cooler than their March temperatures, even though their April temperatures were still above the long-term average for the month. These statistics show just how remarkably warm March 2012 was. Most extreme was Illinois, where April 2012 temperatures ranked in the top 20% for warmest Aprils, yet were cooler than March 2012 temperatures.

Figure 3. Temperature rankings for April 2012 in the Contiguous U.S. Ten states had a top-ten warmest April, and no states were cooler than average. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.

Figure 4. NOAA's U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) for January - April shows that 2012 had the most extreme weather on record.
Most extreme January - April on record
NOAA's U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI), an index that tracks the highest 10 percent and lowest 10 percent of extremes in temperature, precipitation, and drought, was 42% during the January-April period, over twice the average value, and the greatest on record. Remarkably, 82% of the contiguous U.S. had maximum temperatures that were in the warmest 10% historically, and 68% had warm minimum temperatures in the top 10%, with records going back to 1910. The previous records were 56% (2000) and 57% (1992) for maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively. The percentage area of the U.S. experiencing top-10% drought conditions during January - April was 19%, which was the 17th greatest since 1910. Extremes in precipitation as computed by the CEI were near average for the January - April period.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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I'll say from firsthand being in high school right now, that they care more about passing tests and SOLs then they do if you actually LEARN the material. Just cram, memorize, and repeat.
What's a book?
Ugh, really?
You contradicted yourself
one could argue that access to these things is the reason this country has a cognitive dissonance on the subject.
I would much rather have that than have the government as the only source of information, which is a far more dangerous situation for a people.
This is poor logic. To see why let's apply it in a courtroom. "Your Honor, my client can't be guilty of this murder since people drop dead of natural causes on a daily basis --and always have! So, disregard the evidence implicating my cllient."
I'm not an attorney, but I'm nearly 100% sure that that client is going to prison.
I've answered a few of your questions to the best of my ability, so I think I've earned the right to ask one or two.
1. Why do you think that "beyond the shadow of a doubt" is the scientific standard?
2. What degree of certainty do you think can be supported in attributing the current warming primarily to human activity? And why?
So far, I'm with you.
Now, you're getting strange. This might surprise you (and others), but I have never read a word that Al Gore wrote that wasn't being quoted by someone who didn't like Gore or the science behind AGW.
Al Gore is not a scientist. He has never published any scientific paper. He carries no more weight scientifically than you or me. He is a non-issue in climate science. If you don't like him, don't pay attention to him.
Not to mention that we aren't noticing the cartel storms creeping across the border.
Sound familiar?
The odium can fall on the person asking the question, too, as indicated in my previous sarcastic post. If they question the validity of the photo on the grounds given, why stop there? Why stop the accusations with just this picture? It really is a nasty question that was raised regardless of how it is phrased.
How?
LOL! Do you know what a 78 record is or an 8 track tape?
That is why I homeschool. :)
Boy did i start a nasty argument.
Calm down everyone.
Al gore
Made
This
Theory
Known
You said it didn't have a strong rotation but you thought it had a tornado
What if AGW goes the way of Spontaneous Generation in 500,000 more years , what how do we know that the CO2 is having an effect, but not that much of one?
WuMail me with your answers so there is not another argument.
And i am currently reading your link.
It is quite intersting, but i tends not to reference very far back into Earth's 4billion year history.
That has always concerned me about AGW, whether it is real, partially real, or false.
Yea man I listen to country music:)
OK, you agree that the planet is getting hotter.
Now, do you think that the planet heats and cools based on magic or because of physical reasons?
If for physical reasons, then what might be operating?
The Sun could be getting hotter. That's caused heating in the past. (The Sun has actually been putting out less heat lately.)
There could have been a large number of super hot volcanoes blowing out heat. (There haven't been.)
A new mountain range could have risen which changed the way air circulates. That's been one reason for climate change in the past. (Hasn't happened recently.)
The Earth could have moved closer to the Sun. That's a cause of past warmings. (It hasn't moved closer lately.)
What have we observed that has changed?
There's a lot more CO2 in the atmosphere and it clearly has come largely from burning fossil fuels.
What do we know about CO2 in the atmosphere?
It traps heat from escaping the planet. Without some CO2 in our atmosphere we would be an ice ball. We've known how CO2 transmits like but blocks heat for more than 100 years.
So, we know the planet is heating. We know that CO2 (and other greenhouse gas) levels have risen. We know that greenhouse gases trap heat.
We know that the observed heating is not due to Earth orbit, increased solar input, increased volcanic activity or any other known physical reason.
We know that the observed heating is consistent with the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases we measure in the atmosphere.
It's kind of down to CO2, some unknown physical force or an invisible fire-breathing planet-warming dragon.
Which do you think most likely?
--
Now let's look at financial motivations.
Al Gore was already a rich guy before he began speaking out about global warming. Furthermore he has donated 100% of his "global warming" income (speeches, books, etc.), so he's made nothing.
On the other hand there are fossil fuel interests. These folks make very major money from coal, oil and natural gas. Trillions of dollars. If we switch to renewable energy their profits will go away.
Who would you guess is more likely to lie to you?
Another piece of the puzzle.
Hahaha it's better than the other crap my generation listens to at least
Something made out of Trees, with marks inside it, made from derivatives of oil, plant dye and sometimes blood.
They ran on for a couple of thousand years and regularly got burnt because of their content, ( a bit like witches.)
Their main downfall was they used to suffer from damp and parasite attack, along with being heavy and impossible to attach to e-mails.
I'm must say that some of the comments being posted are quite insulting...i'm from Jamaica and most of the population is quite educated despite the fact that Jamaica lacks the resources of richer countries
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
543 PM EDT TUE MAY 8 2012
FLC027-082245-
/O.NEW.KTBW.FA.Y.0008.120508T2143Z-120508T2245Z/
/00000.N.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000 Z.OO/
DESOTO FL-
543 PM EDT TUE MAY 8 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A
* URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR...
EASTERN DESOTO COUNTY IN FLORIDA.
* UNTIL 645 PM EDT
* AT 543 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
RAINFALL RATES OF THREE INCHES PER HOUR ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS
OVER THE ADVISED AREA...LOCALIZED FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
KEEP CHILDREN FROM BEING SWEPT AWAY IN FLOODED DITCHES AND DRAINS.
FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR AND MAY STALL YOUR
VEHICLE. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP
VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.
&&
LAT...LON 2727 8175 2728 8160 2714 8158 2717 8170
$$
Lol
Not to mention, but I will, Slide rules, Log tables and Calculus!
That's not a contradiction.
Is that an answer or a spasm?
ive used a slide rule, and calculus is still around.
How do u post radar on here?
He said, he would be surprised if there was a tornado with it. So he's pretty much saying it's not producing a tornado. Not a contradiction.
I said I didn't think it had one
Calculus is feared by every school boy
Log tables must be a log book I'm assuming
Slide rules im not sure about, cut me some slack I just made 14
I know what a cb radio is
Hey gro what's your 10 20
It looks like it will go tornado warned soon as well.
Go to the View/Save This Image feature. When you're on that page, just copy and past the URL under 'Image' just like you would do with a regular picture.
My bad
What about AP Calc.
Brain frier.
Cant wait.
It's gettin a nice hook
And you have every right to feel insulted... Once again today, several of the comments posted, in additon to being way off topic, have been very rude... Before you hit that Post Comment button, think:
1. Is this on topic? If not, don't post it
2. Could this be perceived as rude by someone or insulting to someone? If yes, don't post it.
3. Is this comment going to make some type of positive contribution to the blog? If no, don't post it.
That and mathxl make me wanna cry
77.5 dBZ in that darkest area where very large hail is likely falling.
It is my fault, i started us down that road.
Had no idea it would lead to there.
Sorry.
Yeah... TVS just popped up... It was tornado warned earlier but rotation weakened... It's coming back now though
I don't know. I don't see any strong rotation and it's also bowing out.
Where in my question did I call ANYONE uneducated???..I asked how with such limited resources are they aware of climate change? Who is informing them? How is the information given to them or how is it accessible to them. My grandparents were farmers and if you walked up to them today and tell them the reason their corn isnt growing because of climate change, they would be like what? Most farmers have seen these conditions before in their lifetime..there have always been droughts, famine, rain, no rain..etc and most farmers will always go back back to a time in their life where this has happened before. Just tell me who is informing these tea farmers that this is not changeable..that this will continue because the earth is going through GW.
Bring on the rain
When you posted that i thought i got banned
Some of the animated ones you can't post. Which one are you trying to post?
Oh yea!! thats getting ready to jump
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