Ag Weather Forum

With much of the central U.S. going through what amounts to a heat wave in January, it's worthwhile to go through details of how warm the year 2019 was during the January-through-November period. Here are some highlights from the NOAA climate report for November. The December and year-end reports will be issued Jan. 16.

The January-to-November 2019 global land and ocean surface temperature was 0.94 degrees Celsius (1.69 degrees Fahrenheit) above average and the second warmest such period since global records began in 1880. This value is 0.07 degrees C (0.13 degrees F) less than the record set in 2016.

The year-to-date global land-only surface temperature was the third highest such period on record at 1.39 degrees C (2.50 degrees F) above average. This value falls behind 2016 and 2017. The global ocean-only temperature for January-to-November 2019 was the second warmest on record at 0.77 degrees C (1.39 degrees F) above average. Only January-to-November of 2016 was warmer.

Record-warm conditions during the year-to-date period were present across parts of North America, South America, Europe, the southern half of Africa, northern and southern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Across the oceans, record-warm year-to-date temperatures were present across parts of northern and southwestern Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the western Indian Ocean. No land or ocean areas had record-low temperatures during January-to-November 2019.

Regionally, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Hawaiian region had a January-to-November 2019 temperature departure from average that ranked among the three highest such periods on record.

Some additional details:

According to Meteo France, the national year-to-date temperature anomaly for France exceeded plus 1.0 degree C (plus 1.8 degrees F) and was the third highest January-to-November period since national records began in 1900. Only January-to-November of 2018 and 2014 were warmer.

Australia had its highest maximum temperature, seventh highest minimum, and second highest mean temperature for January-to-November 2019.

The full report, including additional graphics, is at this link: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/….

It would not be a surprise to see this globally warm departure continue when the next report is issued in mid-January, which will cover the entire calendar year 2019.

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

Follow him on Twitter @BAndersonDTN

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