July Global Land Temperatures 5th Warmest on Record

The preliminary July 2011 global climate report, posted within the past hour by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), shows that worldwide temperatures were the 7th warmest on record for the month of July. Some highlights from NCDC:

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for July 2011 was the seventh warmest on record, at 16.37°C (61.43°F), which is 0.57°C (1.03°F) above the 20th century average of 15.8°C (60.4°F).

The July worldwide land surface temperature was 0.84°C (1.51°F) above the 20th century average of 14.3°C (57.8°F)—the fifth warmest July on record.

The worldwide ocean surface temperature was 0.47°C (0.85°F) above the 20th century average of 16.4°C (61.5°F)—the 11th warmest July on record.

For the year-to-date, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 14.31°C (57.82°F) was the 11th warmest January–July period on record. This value is 0.51°C (0.92°F) above the 20th century average.

Large portions of each inhabited continent, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, were substantially warmer than average during July 2011. The continental areas with the most anomalous warmth included Northern Europe, western and eastern Russia, and most of North America. Cooler-than-average conditions were present across central Russia, Western Europe, the northwestern United States, and southwestern Canada. . .

The worldwide ocean surface temperature represented the 11th warmest July on record. The warmth was most pronounced across Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea in the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes and in the north central and northwestern Pacific Ocean. Cooler-than-average SSTs were present across much of the Eastern Pacific and the high latitude southern oceans. Neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions were present during July 2011. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC), ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to continue into the Northern Hemisphere fall 2011, with an equally likely chance of ENSO-neutral or La Niña conditions thereafter.

Image (click to enlarge): July 2011 global temperature departures from average, from NCDC/NOAA