From dessicating drought to blistering heat, the lower 48 states have taken it on the chin so far this year when it comes to extreme weather events.

In fact, as measured by the federal government's Climate Extremes Index, the January-through-September period has been the most extreme such nine-month period on record.

According to a report released on Tuesday by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), the extremes index was more than twice the average value during the January-through-September period, marking the CEI value since such records began in 1910.

The NCDC said that record warm day and overnight temperatures contributed to the record, as did the widespread dry conditions.

The CEI's value for the January-to-September period was a record 45.2 percent, meaning that 45.2 percent of the contiguous U.S. experienced top 10 percent extreme weather conditions.

That beat the old record of about 38.48 percent, set during the same period in 1934  (which was also one of the hottest years on record in the U.S.).