Through September, 2012 hottest year on record in Baton Rouge

The first nine months of 2012 were the warmest on record for the contiguous United States, and for many locations across the nation, including Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. The National Climatic Data Center reports Baton Rouge’s average temperature of 73.1 degrees through September is 2.2 degrees higher than the average for the years 1981-2010. The Crescent City has been even hotter. New Orleans’ median temperature of 74.9 degrees this year is 3 degrees higher than the historical average. Nationwide, September was the 16th consecutive month in which average temperatures in the lower 48 states were higher than historical norms. The national average temperature of 59.8 degrees through September stands at 3.8 degrees above this century’s average. January through September has also been the 11th-driest start to a year on record. As of Oct. 2, 64.6% of the contiguous U.S. continued to experience drought conditions. You can check out a table of all U.S. metro area average temperatures through September, and see how they stack up to the heat of years past, here.