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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Climate of 1998
Warmest Winter on Record

National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC
March 10, 1998

The global land surface mean temperatures for December through February of 1998 indicate the long-term trend of increasing global temperatures continues. This current season's global land mean reached a record-breaking high of 1.16 degrees C above normal. This 1998 value is preliminary in that the values for February of 1998 are from about two-thirds the usual number of stations. As data are being received, scientists at The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center are automatically updating The Global Historical Climatology Network data base to maintain a global climate perspective in near real-time.

These results, partially driven by the powerful El Nino conditions, follow the record warmth of 1997 and include the near-record conditions (0.77 degrees C above normal) for January 1998 and (1.38 degrees C above normal) for February 1998. This is consistent with a totally independent data source, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Optimum Interpolation (NCEP OI) blended satellite, ship, and buoy sea surface temperature (SST) going back to 1982, which also shows record warmth for the December-February season, 1997-98.

The warmest part of the century-long global record is the most recent few decades. The period with both NCEP OI SST and GHCN Land data is shown directly above. For a longer perspective, see the annual global land and sea surface temperature anomalies for the period 1900-1997.

For further information on the climate of 1997 and 1998, contact:
    Robert Quayle
    NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
    151 Patton Avenue
    Asheville, NC 28801-5001
    fax: 828-271-4328
    email: rquayle@ncdc.noaa.gov

or

    Mike Crowe
    NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
    151 Patton Avenue
    Asheville, NC 28801-5001
    fax: 828-271-4328
    email: michael.crowe@noaa.gov

for further information on GHCN, contact:

    Thomas Peterson
    NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
    151 Patton Avenue
    Asheville, NC 28801-5001
    fax: 828-271-4328
    email: thomas.c.peterson@noaa.gov

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NCDC / Climate Resources / Climate Research / Climate of 1998 / Search / Help

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