2014 hottest year on record in Calif., Nev.
By Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News
Driven by climate change and a persistent ridge of high pressure over the Pacific Ocean that caused California’s drought, 2014 was the state’s hottest year ever recorded.
Temperatures last year averaged 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit in California — 4.1 degrees hotter than the 20th century average, according to a report Thursday by federal scientists.
Three other Western states — Alaska, Arizona and Nevada — also experienced their hottest years since 1895, when modern instruments were first used. And Anchorage, Alaska, didn’t have a single day in 2014 in which the temperature dropped below zero, the first time in 101 years of record keeping.
“We do have a long-term warming trend across the globe, across the U.S. and in California,” said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which released the data. “This really warm year is just an exclamation point on top of a warming trend for that part of the country.”