Record-breaking high temperatures becoming the norm is turning out to become a scorching reality this summer.
On the first day of summer, June 20, 2012, the northeastern United States broiled. The mercury hit 94 degrees Fahrenheit at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, beating the 93°F record set in 1995, reported the AP. The 1953 high of 96°F at LaGuardia Airport was beaten by 2 degrees.
Further north, there was no reprieve from the heat on the first day of summer. Hartford, Connecticut residents sweated in 97°F heat, which broke the 1995 record of 96°F. Even in Vermont and Maine, thermometers were breaking records. Burlington, Vt. hit 95°F beating the record of 94°F. Houlton, Maine reached 90°F, breaking the record by 1 degree.
Washington D.C. (98°F) and Philly (97°F) were both one degree shy of breaking records.
"You're talking about almost 15 degrees above normal," said Kristin Kline, a weather service meteorologist in Mount Holly, N.J. told the AP.
It wasn't just the Yankees sweating it out this year. The entire northern hemisphere had its warmest May on record at 1.53°F above average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Nor was it just the global north sitting in the frying pan. NOAA reported that the globally-averaged land surface temperature for May 2012 was the all-time warmest May on record, at 2.18°F above average.
IMAGE: A hot dog keeps cool by the pool (Dudemeng, Wikimedia Commons)