"It was the warmest May on record, about a degree and a half warmer than the 20th-century average," said Deke Arndt, head of climate monitoring for NOAA. It was unusually hot all over the world, including 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average in Alaska.
April was the fourth hottest on record, but ended a record-setting first four months of the year worldwide.
May also saw a heat wave that killed at least 2,200 people in India. It is the fifth deadliest heat wave in recent records, according to the International Disaster Database.
Domestically, temperatures for the month were about average, but the amount of rainfall was anything but. NOAA's report said not only was it the wettest May on record, it was the wettest month -- period -- in 121 years of measurements. The precipitation total in the contiguous U.S. was 4.36 inches in May, nearly an inch and a half above average.
Fifteen states had a wetter than average month. Oklahoma and Texas set new records with rainfall that more that doubled their long-term averages.
Those states were pummeled by a line of storms last month that caused major flooding and destroyed or damaged at least 1,000 homes and left more than two dozen people dead. They're not out of the woods. The remnants of Tropical Storm Bill were still hammering Oklahoma and Texas with inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday.
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