The first eight months of 2012 are the warmest January to August in the contiguous United States since record-keeping began in 1895, federal scientists said yesterday.

The period includes the record-breaking heat of July 2012, officially the hottest month ever recorded in the lower 48 states.

The steamy July weather helped push this summer into position as the third-hottest ever recorded in the contiguous United States, behind 2011 and 1936, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

Temperatures were above average in June and again last month. August 2012 ranks as the 16th warmest on record, with an average temperature of 74.4 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average.

That keeps 2012 on track to become the warmest year in the lower 48 states since record-keeping began.

Recent analyses by scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center suggest that if August to December temperatures hew to the 20th-century average, 2012 will still stand as the warmest year on record in the contiguous United States (ClimateWire, Aug. 17).

The continental United States has been hotter than the 20th-century average for the past 15 months.

Almost 63 percent of lower 48 states are in drought

This year's summer temperatures in 16 states in the West, Plains and Upper Midwest rank among those states' 10 hottest, including record-breaking conditions in Colorado and Wyoming, each more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average summer.

Much of the central United States was also unusually dry, continuing the severe drought that developed in late spring and intensified over the summer in many areas. By the end of August, just under 63 percent of the lower 48 states was experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

In Nebraska, one of the states hardest hit by the drought, summer precipitation was more than 62 percent below the seasonal average of 9.46 inches, a record.

Wyoming's precipitation also fell to a record low this summer, 58 percent below the average of 2.3 inches.

And Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and South Dakota all experienced summers that rank among their 10 driest ever.

In the Southeast, Hurricane Isaac brought drenching rains that helped drive Louisiana and Mississippi to their second-wettest Augusts on record.