Ag Weather Forum Blog

The October 2025 Global Temperature and Precipitation Analysis has been posted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The main theme of the report is persistent world warmth. The NOAA/NCEI assessment finds that October 2025 was the third-warmest October on record for the globe.

The report noted, "The global surface temperature for October 2025 was 2.21 degrees Fahrenheit (1.23 degrees Celsius) higher than the 20th-century baseline, ranking as the third-warmest October since global records began in 1850. Only two Octobers were warmer (2023 and 2024). All 10 of the warmest Octobers on record have occurred since 2015."

That October warmth is not just a one-month feature either. The entire year 2025 is on track to enter the world temperature record ledger in the top 5 for warmth. "Looking at the year-to-date, the January-October global surface temperature was the second highest on record, trailing behind the same period in 2024," the report noted. "According to NCEI's Global Annual Temperature Outlook, it is very likely that 2025 will rank among the three warmest years on record." The report also emphasizes "it is very unlikely that it (2025) will rank as the warmest year on record." That warmest year on record, of course, is last year (2024).

Record-warm values in October were widespread. "Several regions experienced their warmest October on record, including North America, the Arctic region, the Antarctic region and Oceania," the NOAA/NCEI report noted. "In addition, both South America and Africa had a top-10 warm October." High and midlatitude sectors of North America along with Australia and Antarctica are cited as having the largest departures on the warm side. Europe and Asia were also above average on their October temperatures; however, their values were outside the 10 warmest on record.

World regions with below-average temperatures were limited, according to the report. "These included a large swath of central and northeastern Asia, the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and smaller pockets in southern Africa, south-central Europe and parts of South America," the report stated. The reference to the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean appears to be a reference to the current La Nina Pacific Ocean lower-temperature event forming.

Snow cover and sea ice were also below average in October -- no surprise considering the warming in the usually cold polar regions. Northern Hemisphere snow cover in October was described as 450,000 square miles below average, which ranks in the middle range of the historical record. North America and Greenland snow cover at 510,000 square miles below average is the fifth-smallest October cover in the 58-year record. Eurasia snow cover is listed as near average.

"A lack of snow cover was particularly obvious over much of North America, western Russia and across parts of western and southern China," the report said. "Above-average snow cover extent was observed across much of Mongolia, the eastern half of Russia and across parts of southern China." The above-average snow cover goes along with the below-average October temperatures.

Global sea ice in October was also low, which coincides with the amount of warming in higher latitudes. The NOAA/NCEI report noted that global sea ice was the third smallest for October in the historical record at 940,000 square miles below the 1991 to 2020 average. "The Antarctic sea ice extent for October was also the third smallest at 490,000 square miles below average. The Arctic sea ice extent was below average by 450,000 square miles, the eighth-smallest October extent in the 47-year record," the report said.

More from the NOAA/NCEI October World Climate Assessment is available here: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/…

Bryce Anderson can be reached at bryce.anderson@dtn.com

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