National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat Builds in the West; Extremely Critical Fire Weather in the Northwest

A heat wave over the Southwest will intensify this week, peaking and expanding into the Intermountain West and northern High Plains this weekend. Critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions are forecast from the Northwest and the northern Great Basin this weekend. Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings have been issued. Read More >

After a chilly April on average, the outdoor furnace commenced across the region during the month of May.  At the Dodge City airport, the average temperature for May was a record 72.2 degrees which is a whopping 8 degrees above normal and an astonishing 1.1 degrees above the previous record of 71.1 degrees set back in 1962!  Here is a graph showing the top warmest month of May.

 

What makes this even more incredible is that there were NO daily record temperatures established!  Plus, there were NO days of 100 degrees or hotter for the month!

For the spring months of March, April, and May the average temperature was 56.5 degrees at Dodge City and this is the 15th warmest on record.