IT is summer time in the US as well as Bangladesh and, of course, it is warm. But how bad or good is it compared to the past and what bodes for the future? The average temperature for the contiguous U.S. during June was 71.2°F, which is 2.0°F above the 20th century average. The June temperatures contributed to a record-warm first half of the year and the warmest 12-month period the nation has experienced since recordkeeping began in 1895. The US, as a whole, experienced its tenth driest June on record, with a nationally-averaged precipitation total of 2.27 inches, 0.62 inch below average, says a feature released by the Environmental News Network.
It is not hotter everywhere. Rainfall varied significantly from place to place. The largest temperature departures in the US occurred in an area encompassing the panhandle of Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, eastern Colorado, and northwestern Kansas where the departures from normal temperature ranged from 6.0-10.0 degrees F (3.3-5.6 degrees C) above normal. The only areas in the Region to have lower than normal temperatures were northwest Wyoming and a few pockets of North Dakota. The warm pattern caused many locations across the Region to be ranked in the top 10 warmest Junes on record.
In Bangladesh precipitation was significantly lacking in the pre-monsoon months. In the US most of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas received less than 50 percent of normal precipitation. There were even large areas of the Region that received less than 5 percent of normal precipitation, including western and central Wyoming, northwest Colorado, and central Nebraska. According to the U.S., Seasonal Drought outlook released on June 21st, drought conditions were expected to improve only in eastern North Dakota and the far northwest corner of South Dakota. Weather experts says such variations are set to increase in future.