May 2018 was the hottest of any May in 124 years of recording keeping for the continental United States, eclipsing the extreme heat of that month in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl era. The average temperature for the Lower 48 states last month was 65.41 degrees Fahrenheit, 5.21 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1901-2000 average, according to the state of the climate report released by NOAA on Wednesday.
That knocked out May 1934 for the warmest May on record. Rounding out the top five warmest Mays are 1936, 2012 and 2000. Eight of the 12 calendar months have now notched warmth records since 1998: January (2006), March (2012), April (2006), May (2018), June (2016), September (1998), November (1999) and December (2015). Last month, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia broke state warmth records. Another eight states from Washington to Rhode Island had their second-warmest Mays. READ MORE
