U.S. forecasters predict warm summer
A man tries to cool himself with a bottle of water during the first heat wave of the year June 9, 2008 in New York City
Meteorologists predict warm temperatures will stretch through the summer in the US, the Associated Press reported.
The forecast for June through August calls for warmer-than-normal weather for about three-fourths of the nation from the Southwest to the Mid-Atlantic, said the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
The AP wrote the warm weather is expected south of a line from middle New Jersey to southern Idaho. Only a small part of the northwestern US and Alaska are predicted to be cooler in the month of June, not the rest of the summer.
More from GlobalPost: US experienced warmest 12-month period on record
Last May until April was the hottest 12-month period on record for the nation with records going back to 1895.
This year so far has seen the hottest March, the third warmest April and the fourth warmest January and February in U.S. weather history. And it was one of the least snowy years on record in the lower 48.
The warmer temperatures have also increased fears of addition wildfires.
"We may see a pretty significant wildfire season in the West," meteorologist Greg Carbin of the Storm Prediction Center told USA TODAY. "Conditions aren't looking good," he said, due to an unusually dry winter in parts of the country.