NOAA reports:
During the first third of the year, January–April, the average temperature for the contiguous United States was 4.0 degrees F above the 20th-century average, making this period the second warmest on record. Alaska continues to break records for the warmest year to date on record, while 34 states across the West, Great Plains, Midwest and Northeast were much warmer than average. The year-to-date average precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. was 0.45 inch above the 20th-century average.
The BBC reports:
April was the seventh month in a row that broke global temperature records, NASA figures show.
Last month smashed the previous record for April by the largest margin ever, the data show.
That makes it three months in a row that the monthly record was broken by the largest margin ever.
But in terms of its departure from the 1951-1980 temperature average used by Nasa, April was equal with January 2016.
“All of these record breaking temperatures and attendant implications that we have had, such as record breaking fires for example, and droughts in India are all reminders that we cannot afford to do anything except to accelerate the solution agenda – we absolutely have no other option but to accelerate.”