Ag Weather Forum

Following is the summary of just how warm Planet Earth was during the month of July. Many records were set.

From the NOAA State of the Climate July report:

For the 15th consecutive month, the global land and ocean temperature departure from average was the highest since global temperature records began in 1880. This marks the longest such streak in NOAA's 137 years of record keeping. The July 2016 combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces was 0.87 degree Celsius (1.57 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average, besting the previous July record set in 2015 by 0.06 deg C (0.11 deg F). July 2016 marks the 40th consecutive July with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th century average. The last time July global land and ocean temperatures were below average was in 1976 (-0.09 deg C / -0.16 deg F). Although continuing a record streak, July 2016 was also the lowest monthly temperature departure from average since August 2015 and tied with August 2015 as the 15th highest monthly temperature departure among all months (1,639) on record. However, since July is climatologically the globe's warmest month of the year, the July 2016 global land and ocean temperature (16.67 deg C / 62.01 deg F) was the highest temperature for any month on record, surpassing the previous record set in July 2015. July 2016 was the 379th consecutive month with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th century average. The last month with temperatures below the 20th century average was December 1984 (-0.09 deg C / -0.16 deg F).

Warmer- to much-warmer-than-average temperatures were observed across much of all land masses, with record warmth observed mainly across parts of Indonesia, southern Asia, and New Zealand. Near- to cooler-than-average conditions were limited to the northwestern and north-central contiguous U.S., eastern Canada, southern South America, southwestern Australia, north central Russia, Kazakhstan, and India. According to NCEI's Global Regional Analysis, all six continents had at least a top eight warm July, with Asia observing its second highest July average temperature, behind 2010.

Warmer-than-average nighttime (minimum) temperatures continued to plague Australia during July 2016, with daytime (maximum) temperatures varying across the region. Overall, the national average mean temperature was 0.99 deg C (1.78 deg F) above the 1961--1990 average, the ninth highest July mean temperature since national temperature records began in 1910. The nationally-averaged minimum temperature was 1.59 deg C (2.86 deg F) above average—the fifth highest on record. Regionally, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia each had a top 10 warm July minimum temperature.

Unusually warm conditions engulfed Hong Kong during July 2016. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 29.8 deg C (85.6 deg F), which is 1.0 deg C (1.8 deg F) above average—tying with 2014 as the highest July temperature since records began. July 9, 2016 recorded a daily maximum temperature of 35.6 deg C (96.1 deg F), the second highest daily temperature for July on record.

July 2016 temperatures were warmer-than-average in New Zealand, with the most notable temperature departures (1.20 deg C / 2.16 deg F or greater) observed across the south. New Zealand's mean temperature during July 2016 was 8.6 deg C (47.5 deg F), which is 0.7 deg C (1.3 deg F) above the 1981--2010 average. This was the tenth highest July temperature since national records began in 1909.

The Kingdom of Bahrain recorded a mean temperature of 36.0 deg C (96.8 deg F) for July 2016, which is 2.1 deg C (3.8 deg F) above average—tying with 2012 as the highest July temperature since national records began in 1902. Daytime (maximum) and nighttime (minimum) temperatures were also much warmer than average, observing the highest minimum temperature (33.2 deg C / 91.8 deg F) for July on record and the eighth highest maximum temperature (39.8 deg C / 103.6 deg F) since 1946.

Much-warmer-than-average conditions were observed across the countries surrounding the Persian Gulf. According to records of the U.S. Air Force 14th Weather Squadron, several locations across Kuwait observed temperatures higher than 45.0 deg C (113.0 deg F) during July 2016. The highest maximum temperature during July 2016 was recorded in Mitribah, Kuwait when temperatures soared to 52.5 deg C (126.5 deg F) on July 22. According to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), if this value is approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it would be the highest temperature ever recorded in Asia and in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Spain's nationally-averaged mean temperature for July 2016 was 25.5 deg C (77.9 deg F), which is 1.5 deg C (2.7 deg F) above the 1981--2010 average—tying with 1994 as the fourth highest July temperature since 1961. Spain's highest July temperature was recorded in 2015 at 26.5 deg C (79.7 deg F).

The worldwide ocean surface temperature during July 2016 was 0.79 deg C (1.42 deg F) above the 20th century average, the highest global ocean temperature for July in the 137-year record. This value surpassed the previous record set in 2015 by 0.04 deg C (0.07 deg F). July 2016 marks the 40th consecutive July with global ocean temperatures at least nominally above the 20th century average. July 2016 tied with August 2015 as the eighth highest departure from average among all 1,639 months in the record. The 13 highest monthly global ocean temperature departures have all occurred in the past 13 months.

According to the percentiles map, much-warmer-than-average temperatures engulfed most of the world's oceans during July 2016, with record high sea surface temperatures across parts of the western, southwestern, central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, northeastern Indian Ocean, and the southern and western Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, cooler-than-average conditions were limited to parts of the southern oceans. The only ocean area with record cold temperatures was east of the Drake Passage off the southern tip of South America.

ENSO neutral conditions (neither El Nino nor La Nina) prevailed across the tropical Pacific Ocean during July 2016. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, La Nina is slightly favored to develop during August--October 2016, with about 55--60 percent chance of La Nina during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter 2016/17. This forecast focuses on the ocean surface temperatures between 5 deg N and 5 deg S latitude and 170 deg W to 120 deg W longitude, called the Nino 3.4 region.

Bryce

Twitter @BAndersonDTN

(CZ/)

© Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.