SPOKANE, Wash.– 2024 is in the books, and it punctuates one of the hottest periods in Spokane’s history. Climate records go back to February 1881 in Spokane. This is the longest continuous weather record in the Inland Northwest at 144 years.
Of the 143 complete years in the record, 2024 is the 4th warmest.
2023 is bumped down to 7th. 2021 is tied for 9th and 2015 remains in 2nd place. This means that 36% of the hottest years on record happened in the last decade. More than half of the months in 2024 were in the warmest 25% of the total climate record.
Speaking of decades, the years 2015-2024 are in 2nd place for the hottest 10 year block in the record. 1932-41 remains the hottest 10 years in the Inland Northwest for now. You can read more about why the 1930s were some of the hottest years in American history here.
There is little doubt that the emergence of the El Niño climate pattern in 2023 and lasting through early 2024 contributed to the warmth we experienced the last two calendar years. El Niño years tend to be much warmer globally than other years. This natural climate cycle acts as a wave on top of the human-driven climate change that becomes more apparent each year as temperatures continue to increase around the world.
Global temperatures show a clear warming in late 2023 and early 2024 when El Niño was underway, but overall temperatures across the world have been unprecedented since summer 2023. 2024 is 99% likely to be the world’s hottest year on record when the data for December is processed later this month. You can read further about why the 2024 record is more significant here.
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