Weather Wednesday: 2024 shaping up to be hottest year on record

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — This week’s segment focuses on 2024’s heat records.

Climate scientists say the year is on its way to be the hottest on record. Forecasters say that contributes to extreme weather across the U.S., creating “billion-dollar extreme weather events.”

From wildfires in New Mexico to the earliest category 5 hurricane on record in Texas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the U.S. has already experienced 19 disasters.

Each one of those disasters caused more than a billion dollars in damages. The second most since scientists began tracking them in 1980.

Watch the full segment in the video player to learn more about this year’s heat records.

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