The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Summary of Global Extremes from a Record Hot 2023
Dear Diary. Dr. Jeff Master’s monthly summaries on Yale Climate Connections are outstanding for encapsulating how warm our planet is becoming because of climate pollution. He and I think that by presenting reports of record temperatures the public can read how out of whack our climate is becoming. His summaries are a warning that if we don’t do something to stymie fossil fuel use, even worse reports of extreme temperatures in the future will be a result. And this global report presented today for 2023 is the direst Dr. Masters has ever written in my opinion.
We are at a crossroads in 2024. If we don’t see trends of carbon concentrations in the atmosphere leveling off by the end of this decade and if global average temperatures don’t substantially lower below the +1.5°C level after this El Nino episode ends between 2024 and 2030, then Dr. James Hansen will be correct, and an era of accelerated warming will commence with our carbon budget being exhausted such that we can no longer have any wiggle room for climate mitigation. That would mean that susceptible areas that are already marginally habitable because of harsh summer heat from the Middle East into Southern Asia, and even across portions of the Desert Southwest, would become uninhabitable with a retreat of humanity toward cooler climates. Such effects would produce societal upheaval due to massive levels of immigration that our species is not prepared for and will not contend with well given my understanding of history and human nature.
In any case, here Dr. Master’s lengthy disturbing summary for 2023, which was the warmest year in human history:
2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record » Yale Climate Connections
2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record
It was the warmest year on record for 29% of the global population, 77 countries, and 3 continents; 21 nations or territories set an all-time extreme heat record.
by JEFF MASTERS JANUARY 12, 2024
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 23: Activists with Shut Down DC participate in a demonstration to call on members of Congress to do more about Climate Change near the U.S. Capitol on February 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. Temperatures in parts of DC reached a high of almost 80 degrees, continuing what meteorologists have said will go down as among the top five warmest winters on record for the U.S. Capital. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The world broke the record set in 2016 for the warmest year on record in 2023 by a large margin: 1.18 degrees Celsius (2.12°F) above the 20th-century average, NOAA reported Jan. 12. NASA, the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, Berkeley Earth, and the UKMET Office also rated 2023 as the warmest on record.
Compared to temperatures in the preindustrial era of the late 1800s, last year’s global average temperature as computed by these five groups was between 1.34 degrees Celsius and 1.54 degrees Celsius warmer. (These differences arise largely from using different baseline years for pre-industrial climate, such as 1850 versus 1880, and from slight differences in how researchers account for data-sparse areas such as the Arctic, especially prior to 1900.)
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for 2023. North America, South America, and Africa all had their warmest year on record. Asia and Europe had their second-warmest year on record, while Oceania had its 10th-warmest year on record. No regions experienced record cold. (Image credit: NOAA)
Figure 2. Change in average yearly temperature from 1994 to 2023. The regions with the strongest warming have been the Arctic, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the waters off the Northeast and Western U.S. coasts. (Image credit: NOAA)
According to NOAA, the 10 warmest years on record since 1880 were the most recent 10 years — 2014 through 2023. This year vaulted to the top largely on the strength of an extraordinary burst of record warmth in the second half of the year (see embedded post from the European Commission below). The previous warmest year on record was 2016
Global ocean temperatures and land temperatures in 2023 were both the warmest on record, said NOAA. According to Berkeley Earth, 2023 was the first year the global average land temperature was more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and it was also the first year that global average ocean surface temperatures were more than 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
2023 smashed the prior record, becoming the hottest year at between 1.34C and 1.54C above preindustrial levels based on reports from five different monitoring groups.
— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 12, 2024
For more details see our massive new State of the Climate report over at @CarbonBrief https://t.co/IFUVl7Wwuo pic.twitter.com/TAp7nfmu3I
Global satellite-measured temperatures in 2023 for the lowest eight kilometers of the atmosphere were the warmest in the 45-year satellite record by a large margin, according to the University of Alabama Huntsville. The previous record was set in 2016. According to Berkeley Earth, 17% of the Earth’s surface experienced a locally record-high annual average temperature in 2023. Local record annual averages impacted an estimated 2.3 billion people — 29% of the global population — with 77 countries setting new national records for their annual average, including China, Japan, Bangladesh, Germany, Ukraine, Mexico, and Brazil.
2023. Warmest. Year. Ever.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) January 9, 2024
Each month from June to December in 2023 was warmer than the corresponding month in any previous year, with a global average temperature of 14.98°C.
Climate change affects us all and we must maintain our ambitious #EUGreenDeal climate goals.
The @CopernicusECMWF team announce that 2023 was hottest on record, about 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels.
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) January 9, 2024
"2023 was an exceptional year, with climate records tumbling like dominoes," says @OceanTerra
Great graphics in this BBC article about the data: https://t.co/Hfhf7Y9mqp pic.twitter.com/0htILfLkyl
As detailed in our Jan. 9 post, for the United States, 2023 was the fifth-warmest year in history going back to 1895. It was the warmest year on record for five states in the Southern Plains and New England: 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Every state from the Mississippi Valley eastward had a top-ten warmest year, and none of the contiguous states were cooler than average.
Figure 3. Rankings of average temperature in 2023 for each contiguous U.S. state across records going back to 1895. Higher numbers (from 1 to 129) denote warmer values. (Image credit: NOAA/NCEI)
The two main human-emitted heat-trapping gases — carbon dioxide and methane — both reached all-time highs in 2023, with the methane growth rate hitting its highest level on record. Although CO2 concentrations have hit a new high each year for decades, the increase in methane has been more irregular: There was an unexpected leveling off in the 2000s, followed by a sharp increase in the 2010s and 2020s.
ICYMI – the latest monthly observations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄)… 🥹
— Zack Labe (@ZLabe) December 26, 2023
For more data/info: https://t.co/UFCoZRMQqo pic.twitter.com/P5mfchlqJu
Warmest year on record for total ocean heat content
The total heat content of the world’s oceans in 2023 was the warmest in data going back to the 1950s, according to a Jan. 11, 2024, paper by Cheng et al., New Record Ocean Temperatures and Related Climate Indicators in 2023, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. In the uppermost 2,000 meters of the oceans, there were approximately 15 zettajoules more heat in 2023 than in 2022, which held the previous record (a zettajoule is one sextillion joules — 10 to the 21st power). To put those numbers into context, understand that humans use a total of about 0.5 zettajoules of energy per year.
Our 2023 ocean heat content data (via @Lijing_Cheng et al: https://t.co/KrGR6W5nvr).
— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) January 11, 2024
2023 is a new record BUT the annual increment is smaller than past two years, due to El Nino, which leads to a release of heat FROM the ocean subsurface to the ocean surface and atmosphere. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/mkZAmDte1N
More than 90% of the increasing heat from human-caused global warming accumulates in the ocean as a result of its large heat capacity. The remaining heating manifests as atmospheric warming, a drying and warming landmass, and melting land and sea ice. Increasing ocean heat content causes sea level rise through thermal expansion of the water and melting of glaciers in contact with the ocean, resulting in higher coastal erosion and more damaging storm surges. Ocean heat content also produces stronger and more rapidly intensifying hurricanes; causes more intense precipitation events that can lead to destructive flooding; contributes to “marine heat waves” that damage or destroy coral reefs; and disrupts atmospheric circulation patterns.
An unexpected global temperature record
At the beginning of 2023, it was not expected that 2023 would set a new global temperature record. In January 2023, NOAA gave less than a 7% chance that 2023 would be the warmest year on record. As Tweeted last week by climate scientists Zeke Hausfather and Gavin Schmidt (see below), annual-average global temperatures can usually be predicted from the long-term trend caused by global warming, combined with an adjustment for the state of ENSO (the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or whether or not an El Niño or La Niña event was present). However, this method failed to anticipate that 2023 would be a record-breaking year, and it is unclear why.
Global temperatures in 2023 were really weird.
— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 5, 2024
For almost every other year we can pretty reliably predict temperatures (red dot and bars) based on the long term trend, the prior year, and the El Nino / La Nina conditions at the start. For 2023 this model completely breaks down: pic.twitter.com/sBcIMxTVaW
What's up with 2023? (Not just the temperature!)https://t.co/lPWG02n7RP via @RealClimate
— Gavin Schmidt (@ClimateOfGavin) January 5, 2024
Some possible explanations for the unusual warmth of 2023 have been given:
1) A recent decrease in aerosol pollution (in part, from recent regulations to reduce pollution from commercial ships), which has led to more sunlight being absorbed by the surface. Climate scientist James Hansen championed this explanation in a January 4 post. He made the concerning prediction that the unusual global warmth of 2023 will persist: “By May the 12-month running-mean global temperature relative to 1880-1920 should be +1.6-1.7°C and not fall below +1.4 ± 0.1°C during the next La Nina minimum. Thus, given the planetary energy imbalance, it will be clear that the 1.5°C ceiling has been passed for all practical purposes.”
2) Natural variability, brought on, in part, by the rapid switch-over to a strong El Niño event in late 2023 from a three-year-long La Niña event. Regarding the unusual global oceanic warmth in 2023, atmospheric dynamics expert Paul Roundy at SUNY-Albany had this to say on Twitter in October 2023:
“The main reason for the very strong warming this year above the long-term trend is that three years of La Niña warmed the extratropics by reducing wind-driven evaporation and by increasing incoming solar radiation. Normally the midlatitude warmth would have had time to moderate through a neutral year or two before El Niño emerged, but 3 years of compounded extratropical warming occurred, then El Niño emerged almost immediately, so the tropical warmth and the midlatitude warmth occurred simultaneously.”
3) The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in 2022, which shot a large amount of water vapor into the stratosphere, potentially causing global warming. One study estimated that the water vapor could lead to several years of enhanced global warming, thus raising the odds that at least one year will temporarily breach the 1.5°C threshold. However, the aerosol particles also emitted during the eruption may have actually made the volcano’s net effect on the Earth a cooling rather than a warming.
NOAA is giving a 33% chance that 2024 will surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record; climate scientist Gavin Schmidt puts the odds at 55%, assuming that the usual prediction method (which failed in 1992 and 2023) works. “What happens in 2024 will be important,” Schmidt commented. “Does it go back to being predictable based on ENSO (in which case 2024 is expected to just be a little warmer than 2023), or does the positive anomaly persist?”
Global tropical cyclones below average in number, but with many major storms and a Category 5 in every basin
A total of 78 named tropical cyclones occurred across the globe in 2023, which was below the 1980-2023 average, according to the Colorado State Real-Time TC Activity page. Of those, 45 reached the equivalent of hurricane strength (winds of 74 mph or higher), and 30 reached the equivalent of major hurricane strength (winds of 111 mph or higher). This was the seventh-highest number of major storms since 1980. The global accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE — an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms — was near average. However, for the first time on record, all seven of the world’s cyclone-spawning oceanic basins produced at least one storm equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. The widespread record oceanic warmth of 2023 likely helped raise the intensity of many of this year’s storms.
El Niño continues but is expected to end by May
Strong El Niño conditions persisted during December, but neutral conditions are expected to emerge by the Northern Hemisphere spring (73% chance in April-May-June), NOAA reported in its January monthly discussion of the state of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, or ENSO.
Long-range ENSO predictions are typically not reliable until after northern spring. However, the odds of La Niña in late 2024 are rising. Cooler-than-average waters are strengthening below the surface of the western tropical Pacific, and there is increasing long-range model support for a transition to La Niña later this year. There is also some climatological support: In records going back to 1950, all four of the El Niño events that were as strong as the current one transitioned to La Niña conditions in the following year. The January NOAA and Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society forecast have raised the odds from the previous month, now calling for La Niña to be the most likely outcome as soon as June-August 2024. For the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season (August-September-October), the forecast called for a 64% chance of La Niña, a 30% chance of ENSO-neutral, and a 6% chance of El Niño. El Niño conditions tend to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity through an increase in wind shear, but La Niña conditions tend to have the opposite effect.
Arctic sea ice: 9th-lowest December extent on record
Arctic sea ice extent during December 2023 was the ninth-lowest in the 45-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. They commented that in 2023, “sea ice extent followed a pattern typical of the past decade, with persistently below-average extent in the northernmost Atlantic (Barents and Norwegian Seas) and large summer retreat along the eastern Siberian coast. However, the pace of sea ice decline (e.g. summer minimums or monthly average extents) has slowed since 2012, and the 2012 record low summer minimum has not been surpassed. While explanations have been offered to account for this ‘hiatus,’ notably involving variations on ocean heat transport to the Arctic Ocean, questions remain.
Antarctic sea ice: a record-low year
Antarctic sea ice extent in December was the second-lowest on record, behind the record low set in 2016. For the year, Antarctic sea ice extent set new records for the lowest yearly average extent and lowest minimum extent; each month from May through October had a new record-low monthly extent. According to the 2023 “State of the cryosphere” report from the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, “The unprecedented reduction in Antarctic sea ice extent since 2016 represents a regime shift to a new state of inevitable decline caused by ocean warming.” Carbon Brief has a good summary of the report, which says that a 2-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures above preindustrial levels would commit the world to truly alarming levels of sea level rise of “between 12 and 20 meters” (39 to 66 feet) over a period of centuries. The report said that with current emissions, one meter (3.3 feet) of sea level rise could occur by 2070, with three meters (9.8 feet) possible by the early 2100s.
A slew of heat records in 2023
International weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera monitors the pulse of the planet in remarkable detail, and he logged 21 nations or territories that set or tied their all-time reliably measured heat records in 2023; three nations set an all-time cold record in 2023. Six nations or territories — the U.S. Virgin Islands, Chad, Saba, Vietnam, Barbados, and Peru — beat or tied their old all-time heat record twice in 2023; French Guiana beat their previous all-time heat record three times; and Laos beat its previous all-time heat record an astounding four times. According to Herrera, the record for most national/territorial all-time heat records in a year is 24, set in 2019. In 2022, 12 such records were set.
Among global weather stations having at least 40 years of record-keeping, Herrera documented 595 that exceeded (not just tied) their all-time heat record in 2023 and 35 that set an all-time cold record. For comparison, 762 stations set their all-time heat record in 2022, and 404 in 2021.
The 21 places that set or tied an all-time national/territorial heat record in 2023
Thailand: 45.4°C (113.7°F) at Tak Agromet, April 15
Laos: 42.7°C (108.9°F) at Luang Prabang, April 18; beaten one day later with 42.9°C (109.2°F) at Sayaburi, April 19; beaten again on May 6 and May 7 with 43.5°C (110.3°F) at Luang Prabang
Vietnam: 44.1°C (111.4°F) at Hoi Xuan, May 6; beaten again with 44.2°C (111.6°F) at Tuong Duong, May 7
Singapore: 37.0°C (98.6°F) at Ang Mo Kio, May 13 (tie)
Chad: 48.0°C (118.4°F) at Faya, May 25; tied again on June 16
China: 52.2°C (126°F) at Sabao, July 16
Vatican City: 42.9°C (109.2°F) at Roma Macao, July 18
Cayman Islands: 35.3°C (95.5°F) at Owen Roberts airport, July 22
Albania: 44.0°C (111.2°F) at Kucova, July 25
Morocco: 50.4°C (122.7°F) at Agadir, August 11
U.S. Virgin Islands (U.S.): 35.6°C (96.1°F) at St. Croix, August 14 (tie); beaten on September 9 with 36.1°C (97°F) at St. Croix
Dominica: 36.6°C (97.9°F) at Canefield Airport, August 27
Aruba: 36.5°C (97.7°F) at Queen Beatrix Airport, August 28 (tie)
Saba: 34.4°C (93.9°F) at Juancho Yrausquin Airport, August 29; tied again on September 8
Martinique (France): 36.6°C (97.9°F) at Ducos, September 15
St. Barthelemy (France): 35.5°C (95.9°F) at Gustavia, September 15 (tie)
French Guiana (France): 38.1°C (100.6°F) at Grand Santi, September 15; beaten on September 25 with 38.8°C (101.8°F) at St. Laurent do Moroni; beaten again with 39.1°C (102.4°F) at Grand Santi, October 14
Guyana: 40.1°C (104.2°F) at Ebini, September 26
Peru: 41.4°C (106.5°F) at Tingo de Ponaza, September 27; beaten again with 41.6°C (106.9°F) at Inapari, October 7
Suriname: 38°C (100.4°F) at Zanderj Airport, September 30 (tie)
Barbados: 35.6°C (96.1°F) at Bridgetown, September 30; tied on October 1 at the same station
The 3 places that set or tied an all-time national/territorial cold record in 2023
Myanmar: -6.0°C (21.2°F) at Hakha, Jan. 17 (tied)
China: -53.0°C (-63.4°F) at Jintao, Jan. 22
Cyprus: -12.8°C (9°F) at Trodos Mt. Station, Feb. 8 (tied)
A total of 175 monthly national/territorial heat records beaten or tied in 2023
In addition to the 21 all-time national/territorial records listed above (plus seven, for the records set in two different months in Laos, Chad, Saba, French Guiana, Peru, Barbados, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), 147 nations or territories set monthly all-time heat records in 2023, for a total of 175 monthly all-time records. Here are the additional 147 monthly heat records set in 2023:
- Jan. (13): Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Cyprus, Nigeria
- Feb. (4): Chile, Taiwan, Pakistan, Cyprus
- March (3): Botswana, Vietnam, Taiwan
- April (12): Cabo Verde, Botswana, Turkmenistan, Mauritius, Antigua and Barbuda, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Andorra, Saba, St. Barthelemy, Laos
- May (9): Mauritius, Solomon Islands, Botswana, Cambodia, Cocos Islands, Panama, Saba, Maldives, French Guiana
- June (15): Botswana, Vietnam, Tuvalu, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Aruba, Saba, Senegal, Costa Rica, China, Chad, Solomon Islands, Morocco, French Guiana, Guyana
- July (11): Mauritius, Liechtenstein, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, Italy, Malta, El Salvador, Tanzania, St. Barthelemy, Martinique, Guyana
- August (17): Qatar, Niger, Mauritius, Chile, St. Barthelemy, Turkey, Thailand, Botswana, France, Bolivia, Paraguay, Martinique, Chad, Suriname, French Guiana, U.S. Virgin Islands, Kenya
- September (9): Saba, Mauritius, Chad, Norway, St. Barthelemy, Djibouti, French Guiana, Peru, Ireland
- October (22): Spain, Andorra, Saba, Guyana, France, Austria, Poland, Taiwan, Oman, Iran, Slovenia, Mauritius, Singapore, Colombia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Belize, Honduras, Senegal, Moldova, Paraguay, Dominica
- November (20): Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Bangladesh, Cyprus, Malta, Tunisia, Philippines, Greece, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Taiwan, Spain, Mauritius, South Africa, French Southern Territories, Maldives, Paraguay, Martinique, U.S. Virgin Islands
- December (12): Croatia, Maldives, Hong Kong, North Korea, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Gibraltar, Spain, Thailand, Congo Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Dominica
A total of nine monthly national/territorial cold records beaten in 2023
In addition to the three all-time cold records listed above, six nations or territories set a monthly all-time cold record in 2023, for a total of nine monthly cold records for the year:
- Feb. (1): Montenegro
- March (2): St. Eustatius, Martinique
- June (1): Finland
- August (2): French Polynesia, Montenegro
Notable global heat and cold records for 2023
- Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 53.9°C (129.0°F) at Saratoga Spring, Calif. (USA), July 16
- Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -62.7°C (-80.9°F) at Tongulah, Russia, January 18
- Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.5°C (121.1°F) at Roebourne, Australia, December 31
- Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -83.2°C (-117.8°F) at Concordia, Antarctica, July 25
- Highest 2023 average temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.7°C (85.5°F) at Surabya AP, Indonesia
- Highest 2023 average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 32.2°C (90.0°F) at Matam, Senegal
Earth’s all-time record for hottest yearly average temperature was 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in 2010 and 2016.
Fifteen notable hemispherical and continental temperature records set in 2023
- Lowest temperature reliably recorded in January in the Southern Hemisphere: -51.2°C (-60.2°F) at Concordia, Antarctica, Jan. 31;
- Highest temperature ever recorded in April in Europe: 38.8°C (101.8°F) at Cordoba, Spain, April 27;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in Africa for any month: 39.6°C (103.3°F) at Adrar, Algeria, July 6;
- Highest temperature ever recorded in July in Europe: 48.2°C (118.8°F) at Jerzu and Lotzorai, Italy, July 24;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in July in Europe: 36.2°C (97.2°F) at Palermo, Italy, July 24;
- Highest temperature ever recorded in Africa in August (tie): 50.4°C (122.7°F) at Agadir, Morocco, August 11;
- Highest temperature ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere in August (tie): 45.0°C (113°F) at Villamontes, Bolivia, August 23;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in Oceania and in the whole Southern Hemisphere in August: 28.8°C (83.8°F) at Funafuti, Tuvalu, August 31 (previous record: 28.7°C at August Nui, Tuvalu, on August 14);
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in South America and the Southern Hemisphere in September: 30.6°C (87.1°F) at Base Aerea Jara, Paraguay, September 3;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in the world in October: 33.9°C (93.0°F) at Abu al Bukoosh (United Arab Emirates), October 6;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in South America in October: 31.6°C (88.9°F) at Nueva Asuncion (Paraguay), October 23;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere in November: 30.8°C (87.4°F) at Das Island, United Arab Emirates, November 1;
- Highest temperature ever recorded in Europe in November: 35.1°C (95.2°F) at Sisi, Crete, November 4;
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in South America: 34.6°C (94.3°F) at Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, November 18; and
- Highest temperature ever recorded in Africa in November: 46.7°C (116.1°F) at Augrabies Falls, South Africa, November 27.
December 2023: Earth’s warmest December on record
December 2023 was the warmest December since global record-keeping began in 1850, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information reported January 12, as did NASA. In the NASA database, December 2023 had the third-highest departure above average of any month in the 144-year database, behind only September 2023 and November 2023.
Notable global heat and cold marks for December 2023
– Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 41.0°C (105.8°F) at Tambacounda, Senegal, and Mayes, Mali, December 3;
– Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -59.8°C (-75.6°F) at Summit, Greenland, December 26;
– Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.5°C (121.1°F) at Roebourne, Australia, December 31; and
– Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -43.9°C (-47.0°F) at Concordia, Antarctica, December 8.
Major weather stations’ new all-time heat or cold records in December 2023
Among global stations with a record of at least 40 years, seven stations set (not just tied) all-time heat records in December 2023, and nine stations set an all-time cold record:
Maumere (Indonesia) max. 37.2°C, December 4;
Mendoza (Argentina) max. 41.8°C, December 16;
Mendoza Airport (Argentina) max. 44.9°C, December 16;
Xiaodian (China) min. -24.0°C, December 17;
Qinghe (China) min. -22.6°C, December 17;
Datong (China) min. -31.9°C, December 17;
Halls Creek (Australia) max. 46.1°C, December 19;
Yunzhou (China) min. -33.2°C, December 20;
Yangqu (China) min. -27.0°C, December 20;
Baoding (China) min. -23.3°C, December 20;
Shunping (China) min. -22.0°C, December 20;
Qingshuihe (China) min. -31.3°C, December 21;
Rongcheng (China) min. -23.4°C, December 21;Agalega Island (Mauritius) max. 35.4°C, December 26;
Tanah Merah (Indonesia) max. 37.9°C, December 26; and
Winton (Australia) max. 47.2°C, December 30.
(Courtesy of Maximiliano Herrera)
Bob Henson contributed to this post.
Dr. Jeff Master’s 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record was first published on Yale Climate Connections, a program of the Yale School of the Environment, available at: http://yaleclimateconnections.org. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5).
Here are more “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Update on North America cold spell:
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
First -50C/-58F of the season in CANADA 🇨🇦 at Keg River,Alberta.
In USA -45F at Bozeman Airport ,Montana 🇺🇸, just 1F from its all time lowest temperature set in January 1957 and December 1983.
Second winter in a row Bozeman hits -45F. https://t.co/C91VR5W4Lb
While the big freeze is taking most of North America with up to -44F at Butte,Montana, the first monthly records to fall this 2024 in the United States were of highest temperatures.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
Pompano Beach Florida,didn't drop below 78F tonight, its highest TMIN ever recorded in January. https://t.co/cYByqPvE9q
Coldest wind chill vs. warmest heat index across Lower 48:
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 13, 2024
Montana near -70°F
Florida near 90°F
160°F difference at 1 PM pic.twitter.com/RFXzjcuN2l
More insane heat from Thai "winter":
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
MIN. TEMP. tonight at Bangkok was 27.5C with suffocating humidity.
Not a single night dropped <25C this month and not a single daily average <29C.
And it will get worse.
No place on Earth had ever had this heat in its coldest month of the year pic.twitter.com/9GBjuU1C2b
ASIAN HEAT WAVE
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
Today 52 chinese stations had their warmest day for mid January and 4 for all January.
After a pause, the warmth will return even fiercer with records moving to Southern China,Vietnam,HK,Taiwan,Lao,Thai,…
IN CENTRAL ASIA insane 25C with nights at +15C. https://t.co/5sk8nbLGPf pic.twitter.com/cICUa0N68D
After an insanely hot day,we got a crazy summer night in Canary Islands,Southern Morocco and Madeira.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
TMINS locally >23C in Canary Islands🇪🇸, locally rising at 26/27C in the middle of the night. AIR CON night
MOROCCO🇲🇦TMIN 22.9C Sidi Ifni
MADEIRA🇵🇹Tmin 19.3C record for January https://t.co/grJvxGwcCg
First 35C of the season in New Zealand.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
Widespread >30C in the Eastern parts of both islands
AUSTRALIA with extreme heat:47.8C at Marble Bar which is having the longest streak >43C/110F ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.
37C in Indonesia and dozens of records smashed. https://t.co/Dy5Lks4lGp
Endless record heat allover Oceania and Asia.
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
Min. 28.9C Funafuti,TUVALU.
Highest January TMIN again in MICRONESIA:28.4C at Chuuk.
Highest TMIN on record at Warburton AUSTRALIA with 32.6C
TMIN +3.8C Kalpa,INDIA Himalaya Highest in January
Record Tmax 36.2C Waingapu INDONESIA https://t.co/bHR2b3fbAh
Once again MEXICO 🇲🇽with an insane heat wave:
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
January heat Records were smashed allover the Highlands including in MEXICO CITY with 28.8C (2309m asl).
Crazy 35.7C at Oaxaca 1500m.
Those temperatures should occurr in June, not in January.
Unprecedented load of winter heat. https://t.co/mVgco1PeGK
Record high in #Miami today… we reached 87°. The old record for the date was 84° (set in 2018).
— Brian McNoldy (@BMcNoldy) January 12, 2024
Here is more brand-new December and 2023 climatology:
[4] GLOBAL DATA -NASA
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
After a record warm December with an anomaly of+0.77C vs 1991-2020.
2023 is obviously confirmed also by NASA as the hottest year on record
+0.56C vs 1991-2020 +1.17 vs 1951-1980
It beats by +0.16C 2016 and 2020,thanks to an exceptional 2nd half of the year. pic.twitter.com/OnUrs89CGm
Last month was the warmest December on record globally in this dataset…
— Zack Labe (@ZLabe) January 13, 2024
[(Preliminary) GISTEMPv4 data/info: https://t.co/Y7TeMNRXTb] pic.twitter.com/H2FvMY5mpo
After the hottest November on record,
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
December 2023 in #Turkey was also record:
With an average temperature of +8.3C and an anomaly of +3.5C it was the HOTTEST December on record.
2023 had an average temperature of 15.14C, +1.25C above normal and was the 3rd hottest year. https://t.co/yPJrhaMECB
December 2023 in #Kazakhstan was another very mild month with temperature anomalies ranging from normal to +4C above normal (left map)
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) January 13, 2024
It was wetter than normal in most of the country except for the South which was very dry with precipitations anomalies from 15% to 281% (right) pic.twitter.com/siKGx8ay4q
Here is More Climate News from Saturday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
It can be simultaneously true that the world as a whole is exceptionally warm this week (second to only 2016 for this time of year), and that half the United States representing around 1% of the planet is exceptionally cold: pic.twitter.com/0zqdwNe8uK
— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 13, 2024
“New York City, which was recently reclassified as a ‘humid subtropical’ climate, has clocked nearly 700 consecutive days with less than an inch of snowfall. It’s definitely over the snow-loss cliff, and as global temps increase, more places will follow.” https://t.co/94rAajJNPm
— David Wallace-Wells (@dwallacewells) January 13, 2024
One of these is, unfortunately, not like the others… https://t.co/RlBuPVYUhU pic.twitter.com/LovufQq5L1
— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 13, 2024
#Antarctic Sea Ice down 31% is hugely concerning. The #Earth is losing its natural #Albedo, which helps to keep Earth's energy in balance. It's estimated to be down ~0.6% since pre-industrial. That's the equivalent of adding another ~100ppm of #CO2 into the atmosphere! pic.twitter.com/TH3PHcgSYK
— Peter Dynes (@PGDynes) January 13, 2024
What Dubai and others cities across the world could look like if sea levels continue to rise https://t.co/glVIerx0BH via @MSN #ClimateCentral
— Climate Central (@ClimateCentral) January 13, 2024
Your 'moment of doom' for Jan. 13, 2024 ~ Paris is burning.
— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) January 13, 2024
"The global annual average for 2023 in our dataset was estimated as 1.54 ± 0.06 °C above the average during the period 1850 to 1900, which is traditionally used as a reference…"https://t.co/fiBNKGjxvv
More from the Weather Department:
At least 18 people were killed in Colombia when a landslide caused by heavy rainfall crashed into a line of cars and submerged the vehicles.
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) January 13, 2024
Thirty people were injured, and officials fear the death toll could rise. pic.twitter.com/AqiBq3Ipel
Dangerously cold temperatures and wintry precipitation will create hazardous conditions for much of the nation well into next week. Freezing rain today in western Oregon and snow/ice in the South Sunday/Monday pic.twitter.com/FWQoqTRcSP
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 13, 2024
No big deal, just feels almost 150° colder in west ND compared to south FL this morning. pic.twitter.com/jfVyDt5knJ
— Brian McNoldy (@BMcNoldy) January 13, 2024
Ice, Snow In The South Next Week
— James Wilson (@tornadokid3) January 13, 2024
From The Weather Channel iPhone App https://t.co/9Z21bHrwPg pic.twitter.com/EBoL7xunHN
Wind chills are going to be between -25°F and -30°F tonight during the #Chiefs–#Dolphins game.
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) January 13, 2024
Frostbite can occur in as little as 15
minutes in these conditions.
Dangerous cold for the players and fans 🥶 pic.twitter.com/vnI7nGr5JK
Omaha battled Winter Storm #Gerri yesterday, enduring blizzard conditions, snow blowing sideways, and visibility reaching dangerously low levels. pic.twitter.com/lOqpREF7UE
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) January 13, 2024
Weather through Tuesday night. SFL frontal line stalls out. Big cold front pushes down pulling up some juice that will eventually head back towards the SE/Florida. Wintry weather dipping south with all of this. https://t.co/Hk3pbO7x8H pic.twitter.com/PbNB5cAnCn
— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) January 13, 2024
When you see a dew point of -76F, it is not a real value. Most Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) stations report -76F (-60C) when the dew point is lower than -36F (-38C). pic.twitter.com/aQih7GsJ2y
— Brian Brettschneider (@Climatologist49) January 13, 2024
Awesome simulated radar from updated HRRR model for Portland.
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 13, 2024
It projects 7"-13" more snowfall today! pic.twitter.com/N4LqeTqd7k
Snow chances looking likely Monday/Tuesday this week here across some parts of the south. Especially west of the Smokies… with Gatlinburg area showing several inches on both the GFS/EURO maybe. https://t.co/9vJiyrZa4F pic.twitter.com/m9fvDN5DSx
— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) January 13, 2024
Have you ever seen this before? 😲
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) January 13, 2024
A Colorado resident captured a rare meteorological phenomenon this week as a blanket of snow slowly melted off a car, creating a fascinating folding pattern. https://t.co/pnmLMSeUsz pic.twitter.com/dpzoTa29YD
Today’s News on Sustainable Energy, Traditional Polluting Energy from Fossil Fuel, and the Green Revolution:
This solar energy farm in Kosovo is a true farm. Sheep and goats are brought in and graze to their heart's content.
— Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) January 13, 2024
We have so many solutions. Implement them.#ActOnClimate #climate pic.twitter.com/o59jrSjlF9
Reforestation involves the process of replanting trees in areas where forests have been cut down or destroyed.Afforestation,on the other hand,focuses on establishx forests in areas where there were no previous tree cover. Both practices are essential for combating climate change. pic.twitter.com/6Te82phcBO
— Tangwa Abilu.🌿🌏🌾🍀🍃.SDG's. (@AbiluTangwa) January 13, 2024
More on the Environment and Nature:
Fact: The #ClimateCrisis is real. Scientists have been warning us about environmental catastrophes for decades and we need to stay informed if we want to secure the future for our children and their children. https://t.co/NmVzklBzrn
— Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) January 13, 2024
Humans will not stop until all the birds are gone, having already driven
— GO GREEN (@ECOWARRIORSS) January 13, 2024
MORE THAN 1 in 9 BIRD SPECIES TO EXTINCTION
with likely severe, and irreversible, ecological and evolutionary consequences.
A rate 80 (60–95) times the background extinction rate.https://t.co/xBhizFRKT5
More on Other Science and the Beauty of Earth and this Universe:
Children living near green spaces ‘have stronger bones’ https://t.co/wnQRMAXHWS
— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) January 13, 2024
From the rocky edges of Antarctica to a dormant volcano in Indonesia, scientists catalogued dozens of new species of plant and fungi in 2023.
— Yale Environment 360 (@YaleE360) January 13, 2024
Read about 10 particularly curious species @YaleE360: https://t.co/Kd6LPmSym9 pic.twitter.com/xAYDhVOffA
Lovely, aren’t they? pic.twitter.com/muItgX3qdz
— Marlo Garnsworthy 🌊❄️ Icebird.bsky.social (@MarloWordyBird) January 12, 2024
Saturday and you want to do something good for yourself? Go to the forest, breathe oxygen-rich and purified air, enjoy the peace and quiet and help your body to increase its own killer cells through the terpenes produced by the trees. Small pleasure, big effect for you.💚🌳🌲🍀💚 pic.twitter.com/NfBrYO4RwH
— Green is a mission (@Greenisamissio1) January 13, 2024