LOS ANGELES, July 14 (Xinhua)-- The average temperature for the continental United States from this January through June was the warmest first half-year since 1895, scientists at U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Friday.

According to the agency's National Climatic Data Center, the average January-June temperature for the United States was 11.0 degrees Celsius, 1.8 degrees above the 20th century average.

Five U.S. states-- Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, experienced record warmth for this period, while no state was near or cooler than average, the NOAA said in a report.

Last month was the second warmest June on record and nationally averaged precipitation was below average, the report said. In the west, 11 states were much warmer than average. Only five states were cooler than normal for the month.

The continuation of below normal precipitation in certain regions and much warmer-than-average temperatures expanded drought, while much of the northeast experienced severe flooding and record rainfall during the last week of June.

In June 45 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate-to-extreme drought, an increase of 6 percent from May, while 27 percent was in severe-extreme drought, up from 20 percent in May.

Additionally, from January through June, warm, dry conditions spawned more than 50,000 wildfires, burning more than 120,000 hektares in the contiguous U.S. and Alaska, according to the report.

Record rainfall in parts of the northeast U.S. during May and June contributed to the wetter-than-normal first half of the year for that region. Heavy precipitation along the east coast from June 22-28 resulted in widespread flooding.

The global surface temperature in June was also the second warmest on record since 1880, the report said. Global land- and ocean-surface temperatures were 0.60 degrees Celsius above the 20th century mean. Enditem