May 2007 Global Climate Report | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Global Highlights:

Based on preliminary data, globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the third warmest on record for boreal spring (March - May 2007) and the fourth warmest for May.
March - May 2007 temperatures were above average in Europe, Asia, western Africa, eastern Brazil, and most of the contiguous U.S. Cooler-than-average conditions occurred in southern Alaska and parts of Argentina and Chile.
Precipitation during March - May 2007 was above average in Uruguay, the central and northeastern region of the contiguous U.S., northwestern Australia, southern Brazil, and most of Europe. Drier than average conditions were observed in the southeastern and western U.S., the eastern coast of Australia, and parts of Asia.
ENSO conditions remained in a neutral phase during May.

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 March - May 2007 and May 2007 are shown on the dot maps below. The dot maps, below left, provide 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 maps, below right, are 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.

Anomalously warm temperatures covered much of the globe throughout the first few months of the year. The January-May 2007 year-to-date map of temperature anomalies shows the presence of warmer than average temperatures across all land areas with the exception of cooler than average temperatures in Alaska and Argentina. Warmer than average Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) occured in the northwestern Pacific, North Atlantic and the North Indian Ocean. Cooler than average conditions were observed in the northeastern Pacific and some areas in the South Atlantic, South Indian, and South Pacific oceans.

During boreal spring, temperatures were above average in Europe, Asia, western Africa, eastern Brazil, and most of the contiguous U.S. Cooler than average conditions occurred in southern Alaska and parts of Argentina and Chile. Warmer than average SSTs were observed across the North Atlantic, North Indian, and northwestern Pacific oceans. Cooler than average SSTs were observed in areas of the eastern equatorial and northeastern Pacific Ocean and parts of the South Pacific and South Indian oceans.

Current season's Land Surface Temperature Dot map

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

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During May, there were above average temperatures across the contiguous U.S., Europe, Asia, and western Africa. Cooler than average temperatures were observed in Finland and southern areas of South America. Warmer than average SSTs occurred in the North Atlantic, North Indian, and northwestern Pacific oceans. In the Niño regions, SST anomalies were near or slightly below average, indicative of a neutral ENSO phase. Please see the latest ENSO discussion for additional information.

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 March - May 2007 and the May 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 February 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).

The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for May was the fourth warmest on record. The global surface temperature for the combined January-May period tied with 1998 as the warmest January-May on record. Separately, the global land-surface temperature was the warmest on record for boreal spring (March-May), as well as for the year-to-date period and second warmest for May. The May ocean-surface temperature was the 9th warmest in the 128-year period of record as near average to cooler than average conditions were present across the equatorial Pacific.

Current Month / Seasonal / Year-to-date

May	Anomaly	Rank	Ties	Warmest (or Next Warmest)Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.93°C (+1.67°F) +0.37°C (+0.67°F) +0.52°C (+0.94°F)	2nd warmest 9th warmest 4th warmest	2001 2003	2005 (+0.94°C/1.69°F) 1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F) 1998 (+0.62°C/1.12°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.15°C (+2.07°F) +0.38°C (+0.68°F) +0.67°C (+1.21°F)	2nd warmest 8th warmest 2nd warmest		2001 (+1.17°C/2.11°F) 2005 (+0.60°C/1.08°F) 2005 (+0.73°C/1.31°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.30°C (+0.54°F) +0.36°C (+0.65°F) +0.36°C (+0.65°F)	25th warmest 10th warmest 11th warmest	1990,1991	1981 (+1.11°C/2.00°F) 1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F) 1998 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)

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March-May	Anomaly	Rank	Ties	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.15°C (+2.07°F) +0.40°C (+0.72°F) +0.60°C (+1.08°F)	warmest 8th warmest 3rd warmest		2005 (+1.13°C/2.03°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 2005 (+0.65°C/1.17°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.33°C (+2.39°F) +0.42°C (+0.76°F) +0.76°C (+1.37°F)	2nd warmest 5th warmest 2nd warmest	2003	2000 (+1.35°C/2.43°F) 2005 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) 2005 (+0.77°C/1.39°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.61°C (+1.10°F) +0.38°C (+0.68°F) +0.42°C (+0.76°F)	8th warmest 9th warmest 8th warmest		2005 (+0.95°C/1.71°F) 1998 (+0.57°C/1.03°F) 1998 (+0.62°C/1.12°F)

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January-May	Anomaly	Rank	Ties	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.26°C (+2.27°F) +0.43°C (+0.77°F) +0.65°C (+1.17°F)	warmest 6th warmest warmest	1998	2002 (+1.15°C/2.07°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 2002 (+0.64°C/1.15°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.47°C (+2.65°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F) +0.83°C (+1.49°F)	warmest 4th warmest warmest		2002 (+1.34°C/2.41°F) 1998 (+0.50°C/0.90°F) 2002 (+0.76°C/1.37°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.63°C (+1.13°F) +0.42°C (+0.76°F) +0.45°C (+0.81°F)	4th warmest 8th warmest 6th warmest		2005 (+0.88°C/1.58°F) 1998 (+0.57°C/1.03°F) 1998 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)

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

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 boreal spring, above average precipitation fell over areas that include Uruguay, the central and the northeastern region of the contiguous U.S., northwestern Australia, southern Brazil, and most of Europe. Drier than average conditions were observed in the southeastern and western U.S., the eastern coast of Australia, and parts of Asia.

During May 2007, above average precipitation fell over areas that include the central U.S. and most of Europe and Asia. Below average precipitation was observed in the Middle East, the eastern U.S., and parts of South America and Australia. Additional details on flooding and drought can also be found on the May Global Hazards page.

Precipitation Dot map in Millimeters for March-May

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Precipitation Dot map in Millimeters for May

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ENSO SST Analysis

Last week of the month's ENSO condtions Map

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Sea Surface Temperature anomalies were near average or slightly cooler than average across the equatorial Pacific, indicative of a neutral ENSO phase (shown in the adjacent animation of weekly sea surface temperature anomalies). A comprehensive summary of May 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.

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 Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Global Climate Report for May 2007, published online June 2007, retrieved on April 18, 2024 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/200705.

Metadata

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ncdc:C00672

Additional Resources

Temperature and Precipitation Maps

Temperature Anomalies Time Series

Global Highlights:

Contents of this Section:

Citing This Report

Metadata