Hot Enough for Ya? Just Wait for This Summer

If you're among the Americans trying to get that beach body ready, it looks like you'd better get cracking, because you might not want much more than that swimsuit on during this summer. NOAA is predicting a sultrier than usual June through August in the US, with basically the entire map affected, but particularly the West and New England. Details:

• El Niño and La Niña: The former is fading out, and the latter should be taking hold. That involves cooler temperatures in the Pacific later this summer, but Axios notes that "these transitions are associated with hotter-than-average summertime conditions across large parts" of the United States. For more, the Washington Post goes into the dance between the two siblings.

• But: "Clearly, greenhouse gases are the #1 primary driver of climate trends over the US," says Michelle L'Heureux, head of the department that predicts El Niño and La Niña at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
• What's on deck: The Northeast and a swath from Texas to the Pacific Northwest—though not California and locales on the coast—have the best chance of seeing hotter-than-average temperatures. The Plains are projected to see less rain than usual, while the Southeast may be wetter than normal.
• Everywhere else: North Dakota is the only state in the lower 48 that's forecast to have possibly status-quo temperatures, and everyone else is forecast to be above average. Parts of Alaska are looking higher than normal, while other parts are below normal.

(More heat wave stories.)