State of the Climate
Global Analysis
January 2007

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

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Global Analysis Report

Note: The data presented in this report are preliminary. Ranks and anomalies may change as more complete data are received and processed. Effective November 2011, the GHCN-M version 3.1.0 dataset of monthly mean temperature replaced the GHCN-M version 3 monthly mean temperature dataset. Beginning with the October 2011 Global monthly State of the Climate Report, GHCN-M version 3.1.0 is used for NCDC climate monitoring activities, including calculation of global land surface temperature anomalies and trends.

For more information about this newest version, please see the Modifications to Pairwise Homogeneity Adjustment software to address coding errors and improve run-time efficiency.

Global Highlights:

Based on preliminary data, globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the warmest on record for January 2007.
January temperatures were above average in Europe, Asia, western Africa, parts of South America, and the northeast half of the United States. Cooler-than-average conditions occurred in eastern Russia, eastern Alaska, and the southwestern contiguous U.S.
Precipitation during January was above average in Scandinavia, England, Indonesia, northern Europe, southern Brazil, and the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes of the contiguous U.S. Drier than average conditions were observed in India, Japan, western U.S., southern Europe, and the eastern coast of Australia.
ENSO conditions weakened but persisted in a warm phase (El Niño) during January.

The data presented in this report are preliminary. Ranks and anomalies may change as more complete data are received and processed. The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

Introduction

Temperature anomalies for January 2007 are shown on the dot maps below. The dot map, below left, provides a spatial representation of anomalies calculated from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) data set of land surface stations using a 1961-1990 base period. The dot map, below right, is a product of a merged land surface and sea surface temperature anomaly analysis developed by Smith and Reynolds (2005). Temperature anomalies with respect to the 1961-1990 mean for land and ocean are analyzed separately and then merged to form the global analysis. Additional information on this product is available.

During January, there were above average temperatures across Europe, Asia, western Africa, parts of South America, and the northeast half of the United States. The anomalously warm conditions over Europe and Russia led to the 2nd lowest January snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent. Cooler than average temperatures were observed in eastern Russia, eastern Alaska, and the southwestern contiguous U.S. Warmer than average Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) occurred in the North Atlantic and the Niño regions. SSTs decreased in the Niño regions during the month of January, but were between 0.5°C and 1.0°C above average. Please see the latest ENSO discussion for additional information on the 2006/2007 El Niño event.

Current month's Land SurfaceTemperature Dot map

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Current month's blended Land and sea surface Temperature Dot map

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The mean position of upper level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure (depicted by positive and negative 500-millibar height anomalies on the January map) are generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively. For other Global products see the Climate Monitoring Global Products page.

Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2007 at the weekly SST page.

Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Effective with the January 2006 report, NCDC transitioned from the use of the Operational Global Surface Temperature Index (Quayle et al. 1999) to the blended land and ocean dataset developed by Smith and Reynolds (2005). The differences between the two methods are discussed in Smith et al. (2005).

Based on preliminary data, the global land and ocean surface temperature for the month of January was 0.85°C (1.53°F) warmer than the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F), surpassing the previous record set in 2002, which was 0.71°C (1.28°F). The global land surface temperatures for the month were warmest on record as well, with a departure of 1.89°C (3.40°F) warmer than average. The global ocean surface temperatures were 4th warmest in the 128-year record, approximately 0.05°C (0.09°F) cooler than the record established in 1998.

Current Month

January	Anomaly	Rank	Warmest Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.89°C (+3.40°F) +0.47°C (+0.85°F) +0.85°C (+1.53°F)	warmest 4th warmest warmest	2002 (+1.44°C/2.59°F) 1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) 2002 (+0.71°C/1.28°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+2.28°C (+4.10°F) +0.49°C (+0.88°F) +1.16°C (+2.09°F)	warmest 2nd warmest warmest	2002 (+1.87°C/3.37°F) 1998 (+0.51°C/0.92°F) 2002 (+0.93°C/1.67°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.71°C (+1.28°F) +0.46°C (+0.83°F) +0.50°C (+0.90°F)	4th warmest 6th warmest 4th warmest	2006 (+0.79°C/1.42°F) 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F) 1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F)

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The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

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Precipitation

The maps below represent anomaly values based on the GHCN data set of land surface stations using a base period of 1961-1990. During January 2007, above average precipitation fell over areas that include Scandinavia, England, Indonesia, southern Brazil, and the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes of the contiguous U.S. Below average precipitation was observed in India, Japan, western U.S., southern Europe, and the eastern coast of Australia. Additional details on flooding and drought can also be found on the January Global Hazards page.

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Precipitation Dot map in Percent for January

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ENSO SST Analysis

Last week of the month's ENSO condtions Map

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Sea Surface Temperatures decreased across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during January, as the El Niño episode weakened but persisted (shown in the adjacent animation of weekly sea surface temperature anomalies). A comprehensive summary of January 2007 ENSO conditions can be found on the ENSO monitoring page. For the latest advisory on ENSO conditions go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion.
Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks since 2003 at the weekly SST page.

References

Peterson, T.C. and R.S. Vose, 1997: An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network Database. Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 78, 2837-2849.

Quayle, R. G., T. C. Peterson, A. N. Basist, and C. S. Godfrey, 1999: An operational near-real-time global temperature index. Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 333-335.

Smith, T. M., and R. W. Reynolds (2005), A global merged land air and sea surface temperature reconstruction based on historical observations (1880-1997), J. Clim., 18, 2021-2036.

Citing This Report

NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for January 2007, published online February 2007, retrieved on May 25, 2012 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2007/1.