July Was Globally The Fourth Hottest On Record

Red planet? Most of the Earth was warmer than normal in July.

As we've been writing incessantly here, there's been a whole lot of heat waves hitting big areas of the Northern Hemisphere this summer, particularly in July.

So how did the month pan out on the Earth as a whole?

Turns out on a global basis, it was the fourth hottest July on record. Each of the past four Julys have been the hottest on record, with the top one being 2016.

It's not surprising that July, 2018 came out close to the hottest, but not THE hottest. The fading La Nina weather pattern tends to suppress global temperatures a little bit. Long range forecasts call for another El Nino to develop, which tends to nudge up the heat for the Earth a notch. So I think we're still facing hot times ahead.

Especially since climate change is adding to the heat.

In July, 2018, extreme heat in northwestern Europe, parts of southwest Asia, much of the United States and western Africa was offset ever so slighlty by relatively cool conditions in central Russia, an area south of Greenland, and parts of Chile and Argentina.

Year to date, we're also having the fourth hottest year on record on Planet Earth. At least so far.

Here in Vermont, we did have the hottest July on record which also meant we had the hottest month on record. August is on pace to be among the top 10 hottest in Burlington, Vermont, and maybe even THE hottest if temperature trends continue.

Other than tomorrow, which could be a very slightly cooler than average, the rest of the month looks like it will be on the relatively warm side here in Vermont.

I'm not sure, but I don't think this will be Vermont's hottest summer on record because June wasn't particularly warm. It was just close to average, and even a little on the cool side in parts of the state.