COLORADO, USA — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released final 2021 temperature figures on Monday, and Colorado set at least one notable temperature record.
Final temperatures statistics are in for 2021, and they paint an historically hot picture for Colorado. The final six months of 2021 were, by far, the hottest final six months of a year on record in Colorado.
From July 1 through Dec. 31, Colorado's average statewide temperature was more than four degrees above average.
In Denver, the final six months of 2021 were by far the city's driest on record.
If you combine the record heat with the record drought, conditions were ripe for the fast spread of the Marshall Fire. The fire will likely go down as the costliest wildfire in Colorado history.
Overall, 2021 finished as Colorado's 4th-hottest year on record, with an average statewide temperature of 47.5 degrees. That's 2.9 degrees over the long-term average. Seven of Colorado's 10 hottest years on record have taken place in the last 10 years.
Nationwide, 2021 was the U.S.'s 4th-hottest year on record, according to NOAA. Each of the country's six hottest years on record have taken place since 2012.
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