How Hot It's Going To Be This Summer In The U.S.

The Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its predictions for how hot it’s going to be this summer, and the word is: very hot. Like, insanely hot. Like, we-might-as-well-all-be-hanging-out-in-hell-because-then-at-least-we-wouldn’t-have-to-deal-with-the-A/C-bill hot. You may want to start stocking up on ice packs so that you can cuddle them in your sleep.

OK, I might be exaggerating slightly (although it may not feel that way when you’re walking home from work in 100-degree weather), but it is true that almost everywhere in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska, has an increased probability of experiencing warmer than average temperatures from June to August. Areas along the coast (specifically the northeast coast and the entire western coastline) have the highest chances of bringing in hotter-than-usual temperatures, with Alaska’s Aleutian Islands winning the prize (if we want to call it that) of “Most Likely To Be Hotter Than Usual.” (I’m sure the Aleutian Islands are thrilled to have that honor in their yearbook).

The central Great Plains get to miss out on the extra-hot temperatures; Kansas, Nebraska, and most of South Dakota are not predicted to have above average temperatures.

You can see these predictions represented visually on this map from the NOAA. Notably, the darker colors do not indicate that these areas will be hotter than areas with lighter colors. The darker colors simply mean that these areas have a higher probability of experiencing above-average temperatures in the next few months.

The NOAA also released info with predictions for rain for this summer. Most of the country doesn’t need to prepare for wetter-then-normal weather, but some parts of New England, the Rockies, and the Central Plains have heightened chances of getting more precipitation than usual.

The NOAA doesn’t predict that the summer’s above-average temperatures will stick around everywhere. The southern United States can continue to expect above-average temperatures into the winter months, but it’s looking like northern and central regions will have unusually cold winters.

Images: Fotolia; Climate.gov (2)