February temperatures (preliminary)
Global composite temp.: +0.20 C (about 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.24 C (about 0.43 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Southern Hemisphere: +0.15 C (about 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
Tropics: +0.03 C (about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit) above 30-year average for February.
January temperatures (revised):
Global Composite: +0.26 C above 30-year average
Northern Hemisphere: +0.46 C above 30-year average
Southern Hemisphere: +0.06 C above 30-year average
Tropics: - 0.26 C below 30-year average
(All temperature anomalies are based on a 30-year average (1981-2010) for the month reported.)
Notes on data released March 2, 2018:
Compared to seasonal norms, the coldest spot on the globe in February was in northern Manitoba, Canada, near the Caribou River Park Reserve. Temperatures there were 5.95 C (about 10.71 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than seasonal norms.
Compared to seasonal norms, the warmest place on Earth in February was northwest of Wrangel Island, in the East Siberian Sea. Tropospheric temperatures there averaged 6.89 C (about 12.40 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than seasonal norms.
As part of an ongoing joint project between UAH, NOAA and NASA, Dr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Dr. Roy Spencer, an ESSC principal scientist, use data gathered by advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites to get accurate temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth. This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas where reliable climate data are not otherwise available.
The satellite-based instruments measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude of about eight kilometers above sea level. Once the monthly temperature data are collected and processed, they are placed in a "public" computer file for immediate access by atmospheric scientists in the U.S. and abroad.
The complete version 6 lower troposphere dataset is available here:
http://www.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/v6.0/tlt/uahncdc_lt_6.0.txt
Archived color maps of local temperature anomalies are available on-line at:
http://nsstc.uah.edu/climate/
Neither Christy nor Spencer receives any research support or funding from oil, coal or industrial companies or organizations, or from any private or special interest groups. All of their climate research funding comes from federal and state grants or contracts.
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