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California Is Having Its Warmest Year In Recorded History
Westwood Boulevard (Photo by Hugh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
In the words of Nelly, "It's getting hot in herre." During the first half of 2014, California had its hottest year ever on record.
From January to June 2014, California's average temperature was 58°F, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. To put that in perspective, that is 4.8°F higher than the average in the 20th century, and 1.1°F higher than in 1934—the previous title-holder of the warmest year.
And if you're wondering what that means for Angelenos, we got the second warmest average temperature in our city in the first half of 2014 in the last 70 years, the L.A. Times reported. That was an average of 63°F in Los Angeles.
But it doesn't stop there—we just keep getting awards. From January to June, we also got the third driest year on record since 1895.
California's parched earth doesn't seem to be getting any better either. The Times reported that last week's U.S. Drought Monitor map showed that 81 percent of California is experiencing extreme drought and just three months ago, we were at 68 percent.
Yup, it's shorts weather. (Image via NCDC)
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