‘Hot, wet and wild’ 2016 weather as US has warmest June

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal meteorologists say America’s warm, wild and costly weather broke another record with the hottest June.

The month’s average temperature in the Lower 48 states was 71.8 degrees, 3.3 degrees above normal, surpassing the Dust Bowl record set in 1933. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Jake Crouch says the nation has been quite hot all year, with natural variability and long-term warming causing June’s heat.

And 2016 is flirting with the record for most billion-dollar disasters. So far, NOAA calculates that there have been eight billion-dollar disasters in the first half of this year, not counting the West Virginia flooding, which is still being calculated. Seven hit Texas with floods and storms.

Since 2000, the U.S. has averaged five billion-dollar disasters a year. There were eight in 2015.

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