The United States had its hottest summer on record this year, narrowly edging out the previous milestone that was set 85 years ago during the Dust Bowl.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the average temperature this summer for the contiguous U.S. was 74 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.6 degrees warmer than the long-term average.

The heat record caps off a season full of extremes, with parts of the country experiencing persistent drought, wildfires, record-breaking heat waves, hurricanes and other extreme weather exacerbated by climate change.

This summer beat the previous record set in 1936 by a hair, coming in at less than 0.01 degrees warmer than during the Dust Bowl year, when huge portions of the West and Great Plains were parched by severe drought.

Though this year’s summer was technically hotter than 1936, the very small gap puts the two years “neck and neck,” in what NOAA called a “virtual tie.”

“Sixteen additional states had a top-five warmest summer on record. No state ranked below average for the summer season,” NOAA officials wrote in the climate report.

In June, the Pacific Northwest suffered through a heat wave that shattered all-time temperature records in Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

More than 35 cities in the western U.S. tied or set heat records during the multiday heat wave, where temperatures soared to up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some places.

Global warming is making heat waves and other extreme weather events both more likely and more severe, and climate scientists have said conditions this summer offer a glimpse of what could become more common in the future.

NOAA’s report highlighted other extreme events that plagued the country in August, including devastating floods from Tropical Storm Fred, which hit western North Carolina; Tropical Storm Henri, which soaked parts of the Northeast; and flash flooding that killed at least 22 people in Tennessee.

Hurricane Ida, which battered Louisiana and left a trail of destruction from the Gulf Coast into the Northeast, also drenched huge swaths of the country from late August into September.

“With 35 fatalities accounted for during August, it was the deadliest month for flooding across the U.S. since Hurricane Harvey in 2017,” NOAA officials wrote in the report.

Dry conditions in the Western U.S. have also fueled a catastrophic wildfire season.

In California, the Dixie Fire became the second largest in the state’s history, while the Caldor Fire forced thousands to flee from South Lake Tahoe in late August.

Louisiana wildlife officials say they have documented more than 100 oil-soaked birds after crude oil spilled from a refinery flooded during Hurricane Ida.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said a growing number of oiled birds had been observed within heavy pockets of oil throughout the Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, as well as nearby flooded fields and retention ponds along the Mississippi River.

Jon Wiebe, a biologist running the state restoration program, said 10 oiled birds have been captured and transported to a rehabilitation location for cleaning. Five additional dead birds were recovered and bagged as evidence, he said.

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A summary issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency said it had received 43 notifications of significant inland oil spills and chemical releases in its jurisdiction after Ida.

The agency’s compliance arm has issued 10 requests to facility operators seeking information to determine whether federal environmental laws were violated during the storm, potentially triggering penalties and fines.

That is a small fraction of the 1,539 reports of pollution a U.S. Coast Guard hotline has received since the Category 4 storm made landfall made landfall Aug. 29 at Port Fourchon, the primary port for the offshore oil and gas industry.

The Coast Guard said Thursday it was actively supervising the cleanup and mitigation efforts at 564 sites. Another 197 reports were listed as unverified because there was no remaining evidence of pollution.

Asked about reports of levee failures near the refinery the day after Ida hit, Phillips 66 spokesman Bernardo Fallas told AP there was “some water” in the facility and stressed that operations were shut down in advance of the storm.

Asked two days after the storm about potential environmental hazards emanating from the facility, Fallas referred a reporter to a statement on the company’s website saying its response is focused “on ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and our surrounding communities.”

On Day Three, after the AP sent Phillips 66 aerial photos showing extensive flooding at the refinery and what appeared to be petroleum in the water, Fallas conceded the company could had “discovered a sheen of unknown origin in some flooded areas” of the refinery and that all pollution had been “secured and contained within refinery grounds” at that time.

This image provided by NOAA taken Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021 and reviewed by The Associated Press shows oil slicks at the flooded Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse, La.

State and federal regulators responded to the spill site after AP provided the photos of the spill Wednesday and the company acknowledged a “sheen of unknown origin” at its flooded refinery.

A Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality assessment team sent to the refinery last week reported a sizable spill of heavy crude oil at the site was being addressed with booms and absorbent pads.

A levee meant to protect the plant had breached, allowing floodwaters to flow in during the storm and then back out as the surge receded.

Despite the gap in the levee remaining open for days after the storm, Fallas once again asserted Thursday no oil spilled beyond the land owned by Phillips 66.

“The breach has been secured,” Fallas said. “Clean-up crews continue to remove oil and sheen contained within some flooded areas of the refinery.

There has been no offsite impact. We continue to work with all appropriate regulatory agencies.”

No estimate for how much oil might have spilled from the refinery has yet been made public by state or federal regulators.

When fully operational, the Alliance Refinery can process more than 255,000 barrels of crude oil per day into gasoline and other petroleum products.

The company listed the aging refinery for sale last month, before the storm hit, citing poor market conditions.

The facility remained shut down Thursday, with no timetable to reopen.

Following inquires, Fallas also confirmed that a Phillips 66 pipeline in an uninhabited area outside Paradis, Lousiana, leaked during Ida.

Records show the company reported to the Coast Guard on Aug. 31 that 2,700 barrels of isobutane, a liquified flammable gas often used to fuel camping stoves, had spilled.

“The site was isolated and brought under control last week,” Fallas said. “The product vaporized to the atmosphere when it was released; there was no impact to soil or water. The pipeline remains shut down while repairs are underway.”