State of the Climate
Global Analysis
February 2009

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

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Global Highlights:

Based on preliminary data, the globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the ninth warmest on record for February and the eighth warmest for boreal winter (December-February) and the January-February year-to-date period.
Warmest above-average temperatures during December 2008 - February 2009 were present across Mexico, eastern and northern Europe, western Russia, southern Asia, and most of the continental U.S. Cooler-than-average temperatures occurred across Alaska's panhandle, southern Canada, the northern U.S., and southern and eastern Russia.
Precipitation during December 2008 - February 2009 was above average across the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, Malaysia, northeastern Australia, southeastern Africa, southern Europe, the midwestern continental U.S., and northern parts of South America. Drier-than-average conditions were observed in the southern Pacific islands, the southeastern and south-central contiguous U.S., Alaska's panhandle, northern Europe, southeastern Asia, and parts of southern South America.
Cold phase El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (La Niña) conditions were present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during February 2009.

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 December 2008 - February 2009 and February 2009 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 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.

February's Land Surface Temperature Anomalies in degree Celsius

February's Land Surface Temperature
Anomalies in degrees Celsius

February's Blended Land and Sea Surface
Temperature Anomalies in degrees Celsius

During February 2009, warmer-than-average temperatures were present across Mexico, northwestern Africa, southern Australia, eastern Europe, western Russia, southern Asia, eastern Brazil, western Alaska, eastern Canada, most of the continental U.S., and southern South America. In contrast, cooler-than-average temperatures occurred throughout Alaska's panhandle, northern Alaska, most of Russia, and parts of western Europe, and the Fenno-Scandinavia region.

Sea surface temperatures (SST) during February 2009 were warmer than average across most of the Atlantic, Indian, and western Pacific oceans. SST anomalies in all Niño regions remained below average during February 2009, however some warming took place across the regions. Please see the February 2009 ENSO discussion for additional information.

Notable temperature extremes during February 2009 include southern Australia's record breaking heatwave. The region, which was affected by an earlier heatwave during the last week of January, was scorched by a second heatwave during the first week of February. The most intense heat occurred on February 7. Several locations set new temperature records, including an all-time state record for Victoria when temperatures reached 48.8°C (119.8°C) in Hopetoun, shattering the previous record of 47.2°C (117.0°F) set in January 1939. A complete summary of Australia's heatwave is available, courtesy of Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). The extreme heat was accompanied by very dry conditions that contributed to the development of deadly wildfires. The wildfires claimed 210 lives. Please visit NCDC's February 2009 Global Hazards page for more information.

Across the United States, northern Florida experienced unusually cold temperatures during February 4-7. The chilly temperatures affected citrus groves, causing minor fruit damage as temperatures plummeted to -2.2°C (28.0°F). Tallahassee, FL saw a new record low as temperatures fell to -10.0°C (14°F) on February 5, surpassing the previous record of -8.9°C (16°F) set in 1996.

Additional details on extreme temperatures can also be found on the February 2009 Global Hazards page.

December-February Land Surface Temperature Anomalies in degree Celsius

December-February Land Surface Temperature
Anomalies in degrees Celsius

December-February Blended
Land and Sea Surface Temperature
Anomalies in degrees Celsius

During the boreal winter, temperatures were above average across most land areas, with the exception of cooler-than-average conditions in Alaska's panhandle, southern Canada, the northern contiguous U.S., western Europe, northwestern Africa, southern and eastern Russia, and northern Australia.

According to a report by the Met Office (released 25 February 2009), the United Kingdom was expected to experience its coldest winter since the winter of 1995/1996. As of 23 February 2009, the UK's mean temperature for winter (1 December 2008 - 23 February 2009) was 2.9°C (37.2°F). The average winter temperatures for the United Kingdom is 3.7°C (38.7°F), based on the 1971-2000 mean. The report is available, courtesy of the Met Office.

Anomalously warm temperatures covered much of the global land during the first two months of the year. January-February 2009 warmer-than-average temperatures occurred in most land areas of the world, with the exception of cooler-than-average conditions across parts of western Alaska, northwestern South America, the north-central continental U.S., southeastern Canada, northern Australia, northwestern Africa, western Europe, and central and eastern Russia. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were warmer than average across the Atlantic, Indian, and western Pacific oceans. Cooler-than-average SSTs were present across the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, along the western coast of North America, along the western coast of northwestern Africa, and most of the southern oceans.

The mean position of the upper-level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure (depicted by positive and negative 500-millibar height anomalies on the December 2008 - February 2009 map and the February 2009 map, respectively) are generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively. For other Global products, please see the Climate Monitoring Global Products page.

Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2009 at the weekly SST page.

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Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Current Month / Seasonal / Year-to-date

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 ranks found in the tables below are based on records that began in 1880.

The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the ninth warmest on record in February and the eighth warmest on record for boreal winter (December-February) and the January-February year-to-date period.

February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 130 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.88°C (+1.58°F) +0.36°C (+0.65°F) +0.50°C (+0.90°F)	12^thwarmest 8^th warmest 9^th warmest	2002 (+1.67°C/3.01°F) 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F) 1998 (+0.83°C/1.49°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.97°C (+1.75°F) +0.31°C (+0.56°F) +0.56°C (+1.01°F)	13^th warmest 7^th warmest 10^th warmest	2002 (+2.16°C/3.89°F) 1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F) 2002 (+1.05°C/1.89°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.58°C (+1.04°F) +0.42°C (+0.76°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F)	8^th warmest 10^th warmest 8^th warmest	1983 (+0.94°C/1.69°F) 1998 (+0.57°C/1.03°F) 1998 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)

February's Global Land and Ocean plot

February's Global Hemisphere plot

December- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 130 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.84°C (+1.51°F) +0.39°C (+0.70°F) +0.51°C (+0.92°F)	9^th warmest 7^th warmest 8^th warmest	2007 (+1.41°C/2.54°F) 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F) 2007 (+0.73°C/1.31°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.93°C (+1.67°F) +0.34°C (+0.61°F) +0.56°C (+1.01°F)	9^th warmest 8^th warmest 8^th warmest	2007 (+1.65°C/2.97°F) 1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) 2007 (+0.94°C/1.69°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.55°C (+0.99°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F) +0.46°C (+0.83°F)	8^th warmest 8^th warmest 6^th warmest	1998 (+0.81°C/1.46°F) 1998 (+0.57°C/1.03°F) 1998 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)

December-February Global Land and Ocean plot

December-February Global Hemisphere plot

January- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 130 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.93°C (+1.67°F) +0.38°C (+0.68°F) +0.52°C (+0.94°F)	8^th warmest 7^th warmest 8^th warmest	2002 (+1.56°C/2.81°F) 1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F) 2007 (+0.73°C/1.31°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.05°C (+1.89°F) +0.32°C (+0.58°F) +0.60°C (+1.08°F)	8^th warmest 7^th warmest 8^th warmest	2002 (+2.01°C/3.62°F) 1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) 2002 (+0.99°C/1.78°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.52°C (+0.94°F) +0.43°C (+0.77°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F)	10^th warmest 10^th warmest 10^th warmest	2003 (+0.82°C/1.48°F) 1998 (+0.56°C/1.01°F) 1998 (+0.60°C/1.08°F)

January-February Global Land and Ocean plot

January-February Global Hemisphere plot

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 boreal winter, above-average precipitation fell over areas that include the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, Malaysia, northeastern Australia, southeastern Africa, southern Europe, the midwestern continental U.S., and northern parts of South America. Drier-than-average conditions were observed in the southern Pacific islands, the southeastern and south-central contiguous U.S., Alaska's panhandle, northern Europe, southeastern Asia, and parts of southern South America.

During February 2008, above-average precipitation fell over areas that include the Philippines Islands, northeastern Australia, central and eastern Europe, southeastern Africa, north-central continental U.S. and across parts of northern South America. Drier-than-average conditions were observed across most of the eastern, south-central, and northwestern contiguous U.S., Alaska's panhandle, western Europe, southeastern Asia, and southern Australia.

February's Precipitation Anomalies in Millimeters

December-February Precipitation Anomalies in Millimeters

Although much of Australia's southeastern region was experiencing exceptionally dry conditions and the northeast had wetter-than-normal conditions, precipitation across the nation was near normal (3 percent above normal) during February 2009 [Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM)]. However, Victoria and South Australia experienced their eighth and fourth driest February on record, respectively. Meanwhile, Queensland was drenched by heavy rains that caused devastating floods. During December 2008 - February 2009, Australia as a whole had 33 percent above-normal precipitation, resulting in their tenth wettest summer on record. Queensland had its sixth wettest summer on record with 49 percent above-normal precipitation, but northern Queensland had its wettest year-to-date (January-February) period since 1991. Victoria had its second driest January-February period (BoM).

Heavy rain across northern Argentina spawned flooding and a deadly mudslide that claimed two lives and damaged over 300 homes. Torrential downpours across western Colombia triggered floods, causing six fatalities and leaving 14 others missing.

Details on flooding and drought can also be found on the February 2009 Global Hazards page.

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ENSO SST Analysis

First week of February's ENSO condtions Map

Click here for animated loop

As shown in the adjacent animation, SST anomalies across the equatorial Pacific remained below average during February 2009. However, all the Niño region anomalies showed a slight warming compared to January's anomalies. The Oceanic Niño Index [three-month (December-January-February) running mean] was -0.8°C (-1.4°F), which is below the threshold of -0.5°C (-0.9°F), indicating La Niña conditions. A comprehensive summary of February 2009 ENSO conditions can be found on the ENSO monitoring page. For the latest advisory on ENSO conditions go to NOAA's 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.

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Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent

Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent
for winter 2008/2009

As shown in the time series to the right, the mean Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during winter 2008/2009 was slightly below average. The Northern Hemisphere had the 20^th lowest snow cover extent on record. The 43-year mean Northern Hemisphere winter snow cover extent for the 1967-2009 period of record is 45.5 million square kilometers.

North America Snow Cover Extent for February 2009

North America Snow Cover Extent
for winter 2008/2009

Across North America, snow cover for winter 2008/2009 was above average, the 12^th largest extent since satellite records began in 1967. The 43-year mean North America winter snow cover extent is 17.1 million square kilometers for the 1967-2009 period of record. A series of snow and ice storms struck the U.S. during the winter. For information on the U.S. winter snow events, please visit the U.S. 2008-2009 Snow Season Summary page.

Eurasia Snow Cover Extent for February 2009

Eurasia Snow Cover
Extent for winter 2008/2009

As depicted in the time series to the right, Eurasia's snow cover extent during winter 2008/2009 was below average. This winter had the 15^th lowest snow cover extent on record. The 43-year mean Eurasian snow cover extent in winter is 28.4 million square kilometers for the 1967-2009 period of record.

Data were provided by the Global Snow Laboratory, Rutgers University.

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Sea Ice Extent

February's Northern Hemisphere
Sea Ice Extent plot

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the February 2009 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent, which is measured from passive microwave instruments onboard NOAA satellites, was below the 1979-2000 mean. This was the fourth lowest February sea ice extent on record, 5.1 percent below the 1979-2000 mean. Sea ice extent for February has decreased at an average rate of 2.8 percent per decade (since satellite records began in 1979).

February's Southern Hemisphere
Sea Ice Extent plot

Meanwhile, the February 2009 Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent was 1.5 percent below the 1979-2000 mean. This was the 14^th lowest sea ice extent in February. Sea ice extent for February has increased at an average rate of 2.8 percent per decade.

For further information on the Northern and Southern Hemisphere snow and ice conditions, please visit the NSIDC News page, provided by the NOAA's National Snow and Ice Data center (NSIDC).

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Troposphere

Temperatures above the Earth's surface are measured within the lower troposphere, middle troposphere, and stratosphere using in-situ balloon-borne instruments (radiosondes) and polar-orbiting satellites (NOAA's TIROS-N). The radiosonde and satellite records have been adjusted to remove time-dependent biases (artificialities caused by changes in radiosonde instruments and measurement practices as well as changes in satellite instruments and orbital features through time). Global averages from radiosonde data are available from 1958 to present, while satellite measurements began in 1979.

Lower Troposphere

Current Month / Seasonal / Year-to-date

These temperatures are for the lowest 8 km (5 miles) of the atmosphere. Information on the UAH and RSS sources of troposphere data is available.

February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH low-trop	+0.36°C/+0.65°F	8^th warmest	1998 (+0.76°C/+1.37°F)	+0.18°C/decade
*RSS low-trop	+0.23°C/+0.41°F	9^th warmest	1998 (+0.74°C/+1.32°F)	+0.15°C/decade

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December -February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH low-trop	+0.28°C/+0.50°F	8^th warmest	1998 (+0.55°C/+0.99°F)	+0.16s°C/decade
*RSS low-trop	+0.24°C/+0.43°F	9^th warmest	1998 (+0.53°C/+0.95°F)	+0.15°C/decade

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January- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH low-trop	+0.33°C/+0.59°F	8^th warmest	1998 (+0.67°C/+1.21°F)	+0.17°C/decade
*RSS low-trop	+0.28°C/+0.50°F	8^th warmest	1998 (+0.64°C/+1.15°F)	+0.16°C/decade

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Mid-troposphere

Current Month / Seasonal / Year-to-date

These temperatures are for the atmospheric layer centered in the mid-troposphere (approximately 3-10 km (2-6 miles) above the Earth's surface), which also includes a portion of the lower stratosphere. (The MSU channel used to measure mid-tropospheric temperatures receives about 25 percent of its signal above 10 km (6 miles).) Because the stratosphere has cooled due to increasing greenhouse gases in the troposphere and losses of ozone in the stratosphere, the stratospheric contribution to the tropospheric average, as measured from satellites, may create an artificial component of cooling to the mid-troposphere temperatures. The University of Washington (UW) versions of the UAH and RSS analyses attempt to remove the stratospheric influence from the mid-troposphere measurements, and as a result the UW versions tend to have a larger warming trend than either the UAH or RSS versions. For additional information, please see NCDC's Microwave Sounding Unit page.

The radiosonde data used in this global analysis were developed using the Lanzante, Klein, Seidel (2003) ("LKS") bias-adjusted dataset and the First Difference Method (Free et al. 2004) (RATPAC). Additional details are available. Satellite data have been adjusted by the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and a third analysis has been performed by Dr. Qiang Fu of the University of Washington (UW) (Fu et al. 2004)** to remove the influence of the stratosphere on the mid-troposphere value. Global averages from radiosonde data are available from 1958 to present, while satellite measurements began in 1979.

RATPAC January-February plot

RATPAC December-February plot

Radiosonde measurements indicate that, for the January-February year-to-date period, temperatures in the mid-troposphere were 0.45°C (0.82°F) above average, resulting in the eighth warmest January-February since global radiosonde measurements began in 1958. However, as shown in the table below, satellite analyses of the January-February year-to-date period for the middle troposphere varied from eighth to twelfth warmest on record.

Similar to January-February year-to-date, radiosonde measurements indicate that temperatures were 0.41°C (0.73°F) above average during the boreal winter, giving December-February a rank of ninth warmest on record. The table below shows that satellite measurements for the boreal winter varied from tenth to seventeenth warmest on record.

The global mid-troposphere temperatures were above average in February 2009. As shown in the table below, satellite measurement for February 2009 ranked from ninth warmest to thirteenth warmest on record.

February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH mid-trop	+0.15°C/+0.27°F	11^th warmest	1998 (+0.67°C/+1.21°F)	+0.08°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop	+0.14°C/+0.26°F	13^th warmest	1998 (+0.70°C/+1.26°F)	+0.10°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop	+0.25°C/+0.46°F	9^th warmest	1998 (+0.81°C/+1.45°F)	+0.14°C/decade
*UW-RSS mid-trop	+0.24°C/+0.43°F	10^th warmest	1998 (+0.82°C/+1.48°F)	+0.16°C/decade

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December- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH mid-trop	+0.06°C/+0.10°F	17^th warmest	1998 (+0.45°C/+0.82°F)	+0.05°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop	+0.07°C/+0.13°F	15^th warmest	1998 (+0.49°C/+0.87°F)	+0.08°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop	+0.18°C/+0.33°F	10^th warmest	1998 (+0.58°C/+1.04°F)	+0.12°C/decade
*UW-RSS mid-trop	+0.18°C/+0.33°F	10^th warmest	1998 (+0.60°C/+1.08°F)	+0.14°C/decade
RATPAC	+0.41°C/+0.73°F	9^th warmest	1998 (+0.59°C/+1.06°F)	+0.15°C/decade

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January- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Warmest (or Next Warmest) Year on Record	Trend
UAH mid-trop	+0.11°C/+0.20°F	12^th warmest	1998 (+0.59°C/+1.06°F)	+0.07°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop	+0.12°C/+0.22°F	11^th warmest	1998 (+0.61°C/+1.10°F)	+0.09°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop	+0.23°C/+0.41°F	8^th warmest	1998 (+0.72°C/+1.30°F)	+0.13°C/decade
*UW-RSS mid-trop	+0.23°C/+0.41°F	9^th warmest	1998 (+0.74°C/+1.33°F)	+0.16°C/decade
RATPAC	+0.45°C/+0.82°F	8^th warmest	2005 (+0.75°C/+1.35°F)	+0.14°C/decade

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Stratosphere

Current Month / Seasonal

The table below summarizes stratospheric conditions for February 2009. On average, the stratosphere is located approximately 16-23 km (10-14 miles) above the Earth's surface. Over the last decade, stratospheric temperatures have been below average in part due to the depletion of ozone. The large positive anomaly in 1982 was caused by the volcanic eruption of El Chichon in Mexico, and the sharp jump in temperature in 1991 was a result of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. In both cases the temperatures returned to pre-eruption levels within two years.

February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere	-0.68°C (-1.22°F)	2^nd coolest	2006 (-0.70°C/-1.26°F)
*RSS stratosphere	-0.79°C (-1.41°F)	2^nd coolest	2006 (-0.80°C/-1.44°F)

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December- February	Anomaly	Rank (out of 31 years)	Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere	-0.72°C (-1.30°F)	2^nd coolest	2006 (-0.74°C/-1.33°F)
*RSS stratosphere	-0.72°C (-1.29°F)	2^nd coolest	2006 (-0.75°C/-1.35°F)

*Version 03_0

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For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in February, see the Global Hazards page.

References

Christy, John R., R.W. Spencer, and W.D. Braswell, 2000: MSU tropospheric Temperatures: Dataset Construction and Radiosonde Comparisons. J. of Atmos. and Oceanic Technology, 17, 1153-1170.

Free, M., D.J. Seidel, J.K. Angell, J. Lanzante, I. Durre and T.C. Peterson (2005) Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC): A new dataset of large-area anomaly time series, J. Geophys. Res., 10.1029/2005JD006169.

Free, M., J.K. Angell, I. Durre, J. Lanzante, T.C. Peterson and D.J. Seidel(2004), Using first differences to reduce inhomogeneity in radiosonde temperature datasets, J. Climate, 21, 4171-4179.

Fu, Q., C.M. Johanson, S.G. Warren, and D.J. Seidel, 2004: Contribution of stratospheric cooling to satellite-inferred tropospheric temperature trends. Nature, 429, 55-58.

Lanzante, J.R., S.A. Klein, and D.J. Seidel (2003a), Temporal homogenization of monthly radiosonde temperature data. Part I: Methodology, J. Climate, 16, 224-240.

Lanzante, J.R., S.A. Klein, and D.J. Seidel (2003b), Temporal homogenization of monthly radiosonde temperature data. Part II: trends, sensitivities, and MSU comparison, J. Climate, 16, 241 262.

Mears, Carl A., M.C. Schabel, F.J. Wentz, 2003: A Reanalysis of the MSU Channel 2 tropospheric Temperature Record. J. Clim, 16, 3650-3664.

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.

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