San Angelo Hits Record High Temperatures in 2016

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – Recent reports released by both the NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirm that 2016's global warmth hit record highs for the third consecutive year in a row. In San Angelo, temperatures have also been higher than usual.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report earlier this year, in which experts identified El Niño as the major cause for the current record warmth across the globe. NOAA defines El Niño as the warm phase in a 2-phase recurring climate pattern across the tropical pacific. The cool phase has been named La Niña. Together both are called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or “ENSO” for short.

ENSO can shift back and forth irregularly every two to seven years and each phase triggers “predictable disruptions of temperatures, precipitation, and winds.” However, NOAA warned, “These changes disrupt the large-scale air movement in the tropics, triggering a cascade of global side effects.”

Thus, the earth has been seeing a constant rise in temperatures. Scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information found that the first eight consecutive months of 2016 experienced record warm heat across the globe.

NASA also credits El Niño for the record levels, which in turn has “led to record low sea extents” by mid-2016.

Watch the video below or read more here on how El Niño and the earth’s warmer temperature have impacted that arctic sea ice extent.  

Globally, the average temperature was recorded as 58.69 degrees Fahrenheit. This is 1.69 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20^th century average. NOAA also notes that 2016's average temperature was 0.07 degrees Fahrenheit higher than 2015's.

San Angelo too has been witnessing more higher temperatures than usual. The average annual temperature for 2016 was recorded as 67.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the normal average temperature of 65.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Below is a list of the highest temperature recorded each month in 2016 as provided by the San Angelo National Weather Service. 

The Highest Temperature Reached Per Month in San Angelo in 2016