What Hiatus? 2014 “in the running” for Hottest Year Ever

Preliminary data from NASA indicates warmest september on record.

“If we continue a consistent departure from average for the rest of 2014, we will edge out 2010 as the warmest year on record,” said Jake Crouch, a climatologist with NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, during a press briefing Thursday.

Specifically, if each of the remaining months of the year ranks among the top five warmest, 2014 will take the top spot, he said.

The news may come as a surprise to those living in the eastern portion of the U.S., which has seen a relatively cool year so far, with a frigid winter followed by a near-average summer (which seemed extremely mild compared to recent steamy summers). But the global picture shows that the East was “pretty much the only land area in the globe that had cooler-than-average temperatures,” Crouch said. (The western U.S., on the other hand, has been baking.)

The graph below shows where 2014 is in relation to other years at this stage. I’m told by folks that know, 2014 is “in the running” for hottest year, although it will take a pretty scorching run to be #1. Very likely to crack the top 5.

Click the image below for a larger, more readable version.