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Climate of 2007 - January in Historical PerspectiveNational Climatic Data Center 15 February 2007 |
Global Highlights:
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Contents of this Section: |
The data presented in this report are preliminary. Ranks and anomalies may change as more complete data are received and processed. The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page. |
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During January, there were above average temperatures across Europe, Asia, western Africa, parts of South America, and the northeast half of the United States. The anomalously warm conditions over Europe and Russia led to the 2nd lowest January snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent. Cooler than average temperatures were observed in eastern Russia, eastern Alaska, and the southwestern contiguous U.S. Warmer than average Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) occurred in the North Atlantic and the Niño regions. SSTs decreased in the Niño regions during the month of January, but were between 0.5°C and 1.0°C above average. Please see the latest ENSO discussion for additional information on the 2006/2007 El Niño event.
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The mean position of upper level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure (depicted by positive and negative 500-millibar height anomalies on the January map) are generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively. For other Global products see the Climate Monitoring Global Products page. |
Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2007 at the weekly SST page. |
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Effective with the January 2006 report, NCDC transitioned from the use of the Operational Global Surface Temperature Index (Quayle et al. 1999) to the blended land and ocean dataset developed by Smith and Reynolds (2005). The differences between the two methods are discussed in Smith et al. (2005).
Based on preliminary data, the global land and ocean surface temperature for the month of January was 0.85°C (1.53°F) warmer than the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F), surpassing the previous record set in 2002, which was 0.71°C (1.28°F). The global land surface temperatures for the month were warmest on record as well, with a departure of 1.89°C (3.40°F) warmer than average. The global ocean surface temperatures were 4th warmest in the 128-year record, approximately 0.05°C (0.09°F) cooler than the record established in 1998.
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Current Month |
January | Anomaly | Rank | Warmest Year on Record |
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GlobalLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+1.89°C (+3.40°F) +0.47°C (+0.85°F) +0.85°C (+1.53°F) |
warmest 4th warmest warmest |
2002 (+1.44°C/2.59°F) 1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) 2002 (+0.71°C/1.28°F) |
Northern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+2.28°C (+4.10°F) +0.49°C (+0.88°F) +1.16°C (+2.09°F) |
warmest 2nd warmest warmest |
2002 (+1.87°C/3.37°F) 1998 (+0.51°C/0.92°F) 2002 (+0.93°C/1.67°F) |
Southern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.71°C (+1.28°F) +0.46°C (+0.83°F) +0.50°C (+0.90°F) |
4th warmest 6th warmest 4th warmest |
2006 (+0.79°C/1.42°F) 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F) 1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F) |
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As shown in the time series to the right, mean Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during January 2007 was below average. Much of this was due to anomalously warm conditions across Asia, Europe, Canada, and the northeast half of the U.S. January 2007 snow cover extent on the Northern Hemisphere was the 4th lowest extent on record. Mean Northern Hemisphere January snow cover extent for the 1967-2007 period of record is 46.9 million square kilometers.
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Snow cover for January 2007 across North America was above average. This was in part due to a series of snow and ice storms that struck the U.S. during the month of January. Mean North America January snow cover extent is 17.5 million square kilometers for the 1967-2007 period of record. |
As depicted in the time series to the right, Eurasia's snow cover extent in January was the 2nd lowest on record behind 1981. Monthly mean temperatures above 5.0°C covered much of Europe and Russia. Average Eurasian January snow cover extent is 29.4 million square kilometers for the 1967-2007 period of record. |
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Current Month |
January | Anomaly | Rank | Warmest Year on Record | Trend |
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UAH mid-trop | +0.34°C/+0.61°F | 2nd warmest | 1998 (+0.48°C/0.86°F) | +0.06°C/decade |
*RSS mid-trop | +0.44°C/0.79°F | 2nd warmest | 1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F) | +0.13°C/decade |
**UW-UAH mid-trop | +0.45°C/+0.81°F | 2nd warmest | 1998 (+0.62°C/1.12°F) | +0.12°C/decade |
**UW-*RSS mid-trop | +0.55°C/+0.99°F | 2nd warmest | 1998 (+0.66°C/1.19°F) | +0.19°C/decade |
*Version 02_1 |
Current Month
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January | Anomaly | Rank | Coolest Year on Record |
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UAH stratosphere | -0.53°C (-0.95°F) | 7th coolest | 2006 (-0.84°C/-1.51°F) |
*RSS stratosphere | -0.43°C (-0.77°F) | 8th coolest | 2006 (-0.82°C/-1.48°F) |
*Version 02_1 |
For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in January, see the Global Hazards page. |
Christy, John R., R.W. Spencer, and W.D. Braswell, 2000: MSU Tropospheric Temperatures: Dataset Construction and Radiosonde Comparisons. J. of Atmos. and Oceanic Technology 17 1153-1170. |
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
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