WASHINGTON — Earth sizzled to its 13th straight month of record heat in May, but it wasn’t quite as much of an over-the-top scorcher as previous months, scientists say.

Record May heat, from Alaska to India and especially in the oceans, put the global average temperature at 60.17 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NOAA. That’s 1.57 degrees above the 20th-century average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

There’s still a good chance that June will break records even as El Nino, one of two main reasons for record heat, dissipates, scientists say. NOAA’s July through September forecast is for hotter-than-average temperatures in the entire United States except a tiny circle of southeastern Texas.

“We’re in a new neighborhood now as far as global temperature,” said Deke Arndt, NOAA’s climate monitoring chief.

But it’s not quite as broiling as it has been. May only broke the record — set in 2015 — by .04 degrees. It’s the first time since November that a month wasn’t a full degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the 20th-century average. March and February this year were 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

Arndt, like nearly every major climate scientist, said the record warm temperatures are due to a strong El Nino placed on top of man-made global warming from heat-trapping gases that come from the burning of fossil fuels.

The El Nino has just dissipated and forecasters expect its cooler flip side, La Nina, to kick in soon, which should keep global temperatures a bit lower than they’ve been, but still warmer than 20th-century average, Arndt said

But that may not be quite enough to keep 2016 from being the third straight record hot year, Arndt said.