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ASTRONOMICAL SPRING FOR 2010...DEFINED AS MARCH 20 TO JUNE 20 IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE...WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD AT BOTH WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC AND WASHINGTON DULLES. AT WASHINGTON DC...THE AVERAGE SPRING TEMPERATURE OF 66.7 DEGREES BROKE THE OLD RECORD OF 66.3 DEGREES SET IN 1991. AT DULLES...THE AVERAGE SPRING TEMPERATURE OF 64.5 DEGREES BROKE THE OLD RECORD OF 63.1 DEGREES SET IN 1991. OFFICIAL CLIMATE RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1871 FOR WASHINGTON DC AND 1962 FOR DULLES.

Having just completed the warmest spring on record, Washington, DC, and other cities in the eastern United States are enduring a record-breaking heat wave that is consistent with climate change. Last week’s temperatures in Washington D.C. broke a century-old record and forecasters expect this month to be the hottest June on record for the area. These patterns fit the long-term trends of more frequent heat waves driven by climate change

Characteristics of the current heat wave in the Washington, DC area include record daytime highs, record high overnight lows, and the long string of days above 90 degrees, all of which are consistent with the trends in the U.S. driven by climate change. The back-to-back heat waves experienced in Philadelphia this June also reflect the long-term global warming trend, as do the record-breaking average temperatures witnessed this past spring in Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Temperatures of 90 or above have been reported every day this week at Reagan National Airport and on 14 of the first 25 days of the month. With more such days expected Saturday and Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters predict that this month "will likely end up being the warmest June on record."