Summer sizzles to hottest on record worldwide

If you sweated out the summer, you weren't alone.

The months of June, July and August were the planet's hottest on record, according to a report released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This year remains on track to beat the hottest on the books worldwide, crushing 136 years of records.

“The world is dominated by areas that are record warm or more than average right now,” said NOAA climate scientist Deke Arndt. “The warmth has truly been widespread across the oceans and land.”

From January to August, global temperatures soared 1.51 degrees above average. Six of those months hit record highs. Countries in the Middle East suffered a stifling heat wave this summer, with Iran soaring to a heat index of 163 degrees in July. Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada are also seeing record heat.

Compounding the situation is a growing El Niño, a climate pattern defined by warmer-than-average water in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Some of this year's heat records come from El Niño, but climate change also plays a role, Arndt said.

“Long term climate change is like climbing a flight of stairs, El Niño is like standing on your tippy toes on those stairs,” Arndt said. “We would not have threatening records repeatedly if we had not been climbing the stairs for years.”

An earlier report found a 97% chance that El Niño, which typically brings wetter-than-average conditions to the Southwest, will continue through the 2015-2016 winter, rivaling the strongest one on record in 1997. 

About a third of the regions facing drought in the U.S. could get much needed rainfall this winter as a result of El Niño. About 97% of California is in drought, fueling the state's raging wildfire season.

Still, there's a high probability the dry conditions will continue in the Northwest and northern California in the coming months, according to Thursday's report. Montana, parts of which are already in a dry spell, could also see drought develop.

Parched California could benefit by forecast of big El Niño

Northwest sizzled with record hot summer; Midwest saw near record rain

Here is NOAA's temperature forecast for autumn:

• Higher than normal temperatures for much of the northern U.S. states, Alaska, the West Coast and the East Coast
• Cooler than normal for Texas by the Gulf Coast

Here is the agency's precipitation forecast for autumn:

• Higher rainfall along Alaska's coasts, Southern California and the lower half of the states
• Lower rainfall for Great Lakes region, the Northeast and the Northwest