Florida had its hottest start of the year since 1990

It’s been a scorching start to 2017, but you don’t need to tell that to a Floridian. Four states had record high average temperatures in the first half of this year: The Carolinas, Georgia and, of course, Florida.

Looking at 123 years of data, the National Centers for Environmental Information noted that much of the U.S. had above average temperatures from January to June, about 3.4 degrees above average. This was the second-warmest average for the U.S., just 1.2 degrees cooler than 2012.

For Florida, it equaled the hottest first six months of the year, first set in 1990.

From January to June in Bradenton, high temperatures ranged from 83 degrees to 97 degrees, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay bureau. The Bradenton area broke a high temperature record for April at 96 degrees.

So far this month, the Fourth of July was the hottest at 94 degrees. The last time a record was made was in 1942 at 98 degrees.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Florida had its hottest start of the year since 1990."