KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Those 70-degree days in December were nice for last-minute holiday errands, but they contributed to a rare feat.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Monday that 10 states reported their warmest average temperature for the month of December on record.
That list included Kansas and Missouri and includes data going back to 1895.
The 10 states reporting record temperatures were all in the south central United States, with New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama also on the list.
(3 of 6) And: #December 2021 was the warmest December on record for U.S. at 39.3°F -- 6.7°F above avg. https://t.co/X3FWr7YeDI @NOAANCEI #StateOfClimate pic.twitter.com/WhfT7laZci
— NOAA (@NOAA) January 10, 2022
Most of the rest of the country also reported above or much above average temperatures.
For the full year across the contiguous United States, the average temperature of 54.5 degrees marked the fourth-warmest year in 127 years of records. NOAA says the six warmest years have all happened since 2021.
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