2016 2nd Warmest Year on Record

Following only the drought-riddled year 2012, 2016 will go down as the second warmest year on record in the United States.

USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey said El Nino played a major role.

“In the winter of 2015-16, we had a near record strength El Nino. A lot of that warm water transported heat into the atmosphere and it takes a long time for that warmth to dissipate and that’s one of the reasons that we saw such a warm year in 2016.”

Rippey said the nation’s average temperature was 54.9 degrees.

Temperature records have been kept for 122 years.