Southern hemisphere land-surface temps record warm for the month
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — For all the tweeting, squawking and general clamor from global warming deniers, you’d think the Earth was on the brink of a new ice age, but the facts show otherwise.
Once again during September, the average global temperature was near record highs, at 1.15 degrees above the 20th century average — tied with 2003 as the fourth-warmest on record.
Even without the warming effect of El Niño, the average global ocean temperature was .97 degrees above the 20th century average, tying with 2006 as the fourth-warmest on record. For the year, land and sea surface temperatures together are on pace to register as the sixth warmest on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center, which released its monthly climate update a few days late due to the shutdown.
The numbers were similar for the U.S., where the average September temperature across the lower 48 states was a full 2.5 degrees above the 20th century average, making it the sixth-warmest September on record.
The warmest regions in the U.S. were across the West, the Great Plains, and much of the Gulf Coast, with seven states reporting top-10 September warmth: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
Near- and below average temperatures were reported from across the eastern U.S., with the coolest readings in the region east of the Great Lakes and parts of the central Eastern Seaboard.
For the year to date, 2013 is 22d-warmest year to date, and second-wettest, with precipitation running 2.09 inches above average.
Globally, the southern hemisphere was record-warm for September, even with a few cool spots in South America and eastern South Africa. Land surface temperatures south of the equator ran 2.16 degrees above average, the third-highest monthly anomaly on record (behind August 2008 and November 2009.
According to the NCDC, the high average land surface temperatures were due largely to record-high temperatures across most of the Australian continent, setting the stage for Australia’s current wildfire disaster. The average September temperature across Australia was 4.95 degrees above the long-term average.
Across the northern hemisphere,there were record-warm readings across parts of central and southern Asia, the Middle East and southwestern Canada, while large parts of northern North America, northern Europe, and much of central and southern Asia were much warmer than average.
Cooler and much-cooler-than-average temperatures occurred across much of central and eastern Russia, along with most of eastern Europe and western Greenland.
Information compiled from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: National Overview for September 2013, published online October 2013, retrieved on October 23, 2013 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2013/9.
- Summer of 2013 the 8th warmest on record (summitcountyvoice.com)
- Climate: August 2013 tied as 4th-warmest ever (summitcountyvoice.com)
Filed under: climate and weather, El Niño, global warming, La Niña, seasons Tagged: | Australia heatwave, climate, global temperature records, global warming, National Climatic Data Center, Southern hemisphere record warmth