19 September 2014

NOAA: Hottest August On Record. Ocean Temperatures Smash Old Record

Posted by Dan Satterfield

It was a mild summer over much of the Eastern U.S. but globally it was the hottest on record.

The NOAA, National Climate Data Center has released the global summary of temperatures this summer. It was the hottest June-August period on record, and August was also the hottest on record globally. Ocean temperatures were also hottest on record. NASA, and the Japanese Metr. Agency also compile the data (using a slightly different method ), and they also showed record temps.

Here is the data from NCDC:

Global Highlights

  • The combined average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces for August 2014 was record high for the month, at 0.75°C (1.35°F) above the 20th century average of 15.6°C (60.1°F), topping the previous record set in 1998.
  • The global land surface temperature was 0.99°C (1.78°F) above the 20th century average of 13.8°C (56.9°F), the second highest on record for August, behind 1998.
  • For the ocean, the August global sea surface temperature was 0.65°C (1.17°F) above the 20th century average of 16.4°C (61.4°F). This record high departure from average not only beats the previous August record set in 2005 by 0.08°C (0.14°F), but also beats the previous all-time record set just two months ago in June 2014 by 0.03°C (0.05°F).
  • The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for the June–August period was also record high for this period, at 0.71°C (1.28°F) above the 20th century average of 16.4°C (61.5°F), beating the previous record set in 1998.