Hottest 12 months on record, again

Andrew Freedman at Climate Central and Jeff Masters at Weather Underground are both up today with breakdowns and graphics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) monthly State of the Climate summary for June, which has just been released.

The big news is that for the second month in a row, the U.S. has racked up its warmest 12-month period on record (that is, July 2011 through June 2012 topped June 2011 through May 2012, the previous record holder).  June 2012 also marked the close of the warmest January-June period on record.

Two of the most notable graphics:

This shows the degree to which 2012--so far--is departing from the four warmest years in the temperature record.

And this shows how far the two 12-month periods ending in May 2012 and June 2012 exceed other 12-month periods in the historical record.