Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
California temperatures hottest, driest in 120 years
Listen
• 1:03
(
Photo by peasap via Flickr Creative Commons
)
(
Photo by JFXie via Flickr Creative Commons
)
MENDOTA, CA - APRIL 29: Dried and cracked earth is visible on an unplanted field at a farm on April 29, 2014 near Mendota, California. As the California drought continues, Central California farmers are hiring well drillers to seek water underground for their crops after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stopped providing Central Valley farmers with any water from the federally run system of reservoirs and canals fed by mountain runoff. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
)
A bald eagle perches in an oak tree on hills of pastureland that has turned of dirt and dead grass on February 5, 2014 near Visalia, California. Now in its third straight year of unprecedented drought, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years and possible the worst in the past 500 years.
(
David McNew/Getty Images
)
If you've felt like it's been extra hot - you're right.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday confirmed California has had the hottest year since they started keeping records 120 years ago, in 1895.
"For the first eight months of 2014, California has been record warm," said Jake Crouch, a NOAA climate scientist.
Crouch said the 62.6 degree average temperature this year beat the previous record, set in 1934, by a full degree.
Support for LAist comes from
"That may not sound like much," he said. "But when we usually talk about year over year temperatures, we are talking about fractions of a degree. And so the fact that we are more than one degree above the previous record is quite a large jump.”
In Los Angeles, the average temperature this year is 65.5 degrees, more than 3 degrees warmer than average. The only year to date hotter was in 1959. Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco all have had record high average temperatures for the first eight months of the year.
The state is also the driest it's ever been since they started keeping records.
"If we look at the past 36 months, California is record dry for that period," Crouch said. "The state racked up such a huge precipitation deficit it would take to a lot of rain and snow to make that deficit up and get California out of drought."
NOAA reported 95 percent of California is in severe drought conditions and nearly 60 percent of the state is listed as D4, the worst exceptional drought conditions possible.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars. -
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Best of LAist