Fall 2024 was Nation’s Warmest on Record

By noaa.gov.

Last month wrapped up a record-warm meteorological fall across the U.S. This year-to-date period is also running as the nation’s warmest on record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Below are highlights from NOAA’s U.S. climate report for November 2024:

Climate by the numbers

November 2024

The average November temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 45.3 degrees F (3.6 degrees above average), ranking as the nation’s sixth-warmest November on record.

Alabama, Louisiana, Maine and Mississippi each saw their record-warmest November, with an additional 25 states experiencing a top-10 warmest November on record.

The nation’s average precipitation across the contiguous U.S. was 2.98 inches (0.75 of an inch above average), ranking as the 17th-wettest November on record.

Oklahoma had its wettest November on record and Kansas had its second-wettest, which helped improve the drought conditions across large portions of the central U.S.

Meteorological fall

It was a record meteorological fall (September through November 2024) across the contiguous U.S. The average fall temperature was 57.6 degrees F (4.1 degrees above average), ranking as the warmest fall in NOAA’s 130-year climate record.

Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Wisconsin had their warmest falls on record, with an additional 18 states ranking among the top-three warmest falls.

The U.S. fall precipitation total was 6.23 inches, 0.65 inch below average, ranking in the driest third of the September — November record. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine and New Jersey each saw their driest falls on record.

Year to date (YTD, January through November 2024)

With just one month left in 2024, the YTD average temperature was 57.1 degrees F — 3.3 degrees above average — ranking as the nation’s warmest such YTD on record. Twenty-two states had their warmest January–November on record.

The YTD precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 29.15 inches (1.57 inches above average), ranking in the wettest third of the historical record.

read more at noaa.gov.