December 2009 Global Temperature 8th Warmest on Record Global Ocean and Southern Hemisphere 2nd Warmest

See here for other seasonal weather posts.

Despite cold temperatures in much of North America (including record-breaking cold in Florida), northern Europe, and northern Asia, global average temperatures in December 2009 were the 8th warmest on record, according to preliminary data posted earlier this afternoon by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Although global land temperatures averaged the least amount above average since 2002, ocean temperatures were second warmest only to 1997, reflecting at least in part a strengthening El Niño pattern in the equatorial Pacific. The El Niño pattern is expected to continue through spring 2010. For 2009 as a whole, the global average temperature was tied with 2006 as the 5th warmest calendar year.

Regionally, temperatures were cooler than average in most of the contiguous United States, southwestern and south central Canada, the U.K., Ireland, northern Kazakhstan, Mongolia, northern China, and most of Russia. In the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand, Argentina, and southern Chile were all cooler than normal. Temperatures were warmer than average in Alaska, eastern Canada, Australia, eastern Russia, southern Europe, southern Asia, and parts of northern Africa and northern South America. For the entire year, most areas were warmer than normal; exceptions were: central Russia, southern Canada, north central contiguous U.S., the higher-latitude southern oceans, and along the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

Images (click to enlarge): December 2009 global temperature departures from average, global December temperature history, 2009 annual global temperature departures; all from NCDC

New Florida Cold Records

Image (click for 1 MB full resolution version): Low temperatures in south Florida on January 11, 2010. Dark blue indicates at or below 32° F, magenta indicates mid 30s. From National Weather Service, Miami.

For other record temperature posts, see:
Record Heat
Record Cold

Jan. 12 Update: Record reports for Tuesday:

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 25 DEGREES WAS SET AT MELBOURNE THIS  
MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 26 SET IN 1982. 

AS OF TODAY...TUESDAY JANUARY 12TH...THERE HAVE BEEN 11 CONSECUTIVE
DAYS WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 32 DEGREES AT
ALMA GEORGIA AND GAINESVILLE FLORIDA AND 10 DAYS AT SAINT SIMONS
ISLAND GEORGIA WITH THE STREAKS STILL IN TACT.

THIS SETS NEW RECORDS AT GAINESVILLE FLORIDA AND ST SIMONS ISLAND
GEORGIA FOR CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW
FREEZING AND TIES THE RECORD AT ALMA GEORGIA. 

Additional reports for Jan. 11 from Tampa area:

                                  THIS          OLD        RECORDS 
LOCATION                         MORNING    RECORD LOW      BEGAN 

ARCHBOLD BIO STN         :ACHF1    21*      22 IN 1970      1969 
AVON PARK 2 W            :AVPF1    26*      28 IN 1970      1901 
BARTOW                   :BARF1    27*      28 IN 1978/1970 1892 
BROOKSVILLE CHIN HILL    :BROF1    24*      26 IN 1942      1892 
CHIEFLAND 5 SE           :CHIF1    15*      21 IN 1982/1959 1956 
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD    :FMY      31*      32 IN 1959      1902 
INVERNESS 3 SE           :INVF1    18*      25 IN 1959      1948 
LAKELAND LINDER FIELD    :LLDF1    23*      31 IN 1977      1948 
MOUNTAIN LAKE            :LWLF1    24*      25 IN 1970      1935 
PLANT CITY               :PLCF1    24*      25 IN 1959      1892 
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE        :PNTF1    28*      30 IN 1970      1965 
SARASOTA-BRADENTON       :SRQ      28*      29 IN 1959      1911 
ST LEO                   :STLF1    27       26 IN 1927      1895 
ST PETE/ALBERT WHITTED   :SPG      33*      34 IN 1977      1914 
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL APT  :TPA      25*      27 IN 1982      1890 
VENICE                   :VNCF1    32       28 IN 1959      1955 
WINTER HAVEN             :WHNF1    27*      28 IN 1970      1941 

* NEW RECORD LOW FOR JANUARY 11  

A slide show by the National Weather Service office in Jacksonville on the January 9 winter weather event in Florida is available here.

Original post:
More Florida cold temperature records were set on January 9-11, including the second coldest temperature ever recorded at Key West. Some fruit damage has been reported. The National Weather Service reports, for Monday:

THE TEMPERATURE AT KEY WEST AIRPORT DROPPED TO 42 DEGREES AT 455 AM
ON MONDAY JANUARY 11TH. THIS SET A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR
THE DATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 48 DEGREES SET IN 1970.

THIS WAS ALSO THE SECOND COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN KEY
WEST...WITH WEATHER RECORDS DATING BACK TO 1873. THE ALL TIME RECORD
LOW TEMPERATURE IN KEY WEST IS 41 DEGREES...WHICH HAS OCCURRED
TWICE...ON JANUARY 13TH 1981...AND JANUARY 12TH 1886.

AT 520 AM THIS MORNING, THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 36 DEGREES AT
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.  THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS LOW
TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR THIS DATE LAST SET IN 1927.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 33 DEGREES WAS SET AT WEST PALM BEACH TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 34 SET IN 1927.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 25 DEGREES WAS SET AT TAMPA THIS
MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD LOW OF 27 SET IN 1982.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 33 DEGREES WAS SET AT ST PETERSBURG
THIS MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD LOW OF 34 SET IN 1977.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 23 DEGREES WAS SET AT LAKELAND
THIS MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD LOW OF 31 SET IN 1977.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 28 DEGREES WAS SET AT SARASOTA
BRADENTON TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 29 SET IN 1959.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 31 DEGREES WAS SET AT FORT MYERS TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 32 SET IN 1959.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 29 DEGREES WAS SET AT ORLANDO
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THIS MORNING. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF
29 SET IN 1982.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 17 DEGREES WAS SET AT GAINESVILLE THIS
MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 20 SET IN 1959.

THIS WAS THE COLDEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDED AT GAINESVILLE
FLORIDA SINCE THE TEMPERATURE FELL TO 16 DEGREES ON DECEMBER 24TH
1989.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 14 DEGREES WAS SET AT TALLAHASSEE THIS
MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 15 DEGREES SET IN 1982. 

For Sunday:

THE TEMPERATURE AT KEY WEST AIRPORT REACHED 52 DEGREES AT 246 PM ON
JANUARY 10TH. THIS SET A NEW LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR THIS
DATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 55 DEGREES SET IN 1970.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 35 DEGREES WAS SET AT MIAMI THIS MORNING.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD SET IN 1970.

A RECORD LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48 DEGREES WAS ALSO BROKEN
TODAY AT MIAMI. THE OLD RECORD WAS 53 DEGREES SET 1970.

A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 49 DEGREES WAS SET AT FORT
LAUDERDALE ON SUNDAY 01/10/2010. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 50
DEGREES SET IN 1970. THIS ALSO TIES THE LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY ON RECORD...AND IS 4 DEGREES HIGHER THAN
THE ALL TIME LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE ON RECORD WHICH IS 45
DEGREES SET BACK IN DECEMBER OF 1989.

A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 50 DEGREES WAS TIED AT WEST
PALM BEACH TODAY. THE OLD RECORD WAS SET IN 1970.

A RECORD LOWEST MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48 DEGREES WAS SET AT NAPLES
TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 51 SET IN 1970.

A DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 27 DEGREES WAS SET AT DAYTONA
BEACH TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 27 SET IN 1970.

A DAILY RECORD COOL HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 44 DEGREES WAS SET AT
ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 45 SET IN
1970.

A DAILY RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 26 DEGREES WAS SET AT MELBOURNE
TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 26 SET IN 1970.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 19 DEGREES WAS SET AT GAINESVILLE TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 23 SET IN 2001.

A RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 23 DEGREES WAS SET AT APALACHICOLA THIS
MORNING. THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 25 SET IN 1978. 

For Saturday:

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT YESTERDAY
JANUARY 9 WAS ONLY 42 DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT
AT 1221 AM.  THIS TIED THE OLD RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE SET
IN 1970.  ON A SIDE NOTE THE DAYTIME (7 AM TO 7 PM) HIGH TEMPERATURE
WAS ONLY 38 DEGREES.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT ST. PETERSBURG - ALBERT WHITTED AIRPORT
YESTERDAY JANUARY 9 WAS ONLY 44 DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED SHORTLY AFTER
MIDNIGHT AT 1220 AM.  THIS TIED THE OLD RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE
DATE SET IN 1970.  ON A SIDE NOTE THE DAYTIME (7 AM TO 7 PM) HIGH
TEMPERATURE WAS ALSO ONLY 38 DEGREES.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT SARASOTA-BRADENTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
YESTERDAY JANUARY 9 WAS ONLY 44 DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED AT 100 AM.
THIS BROKE THE OLD RECORD LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE OF 48 DEGREES
SET IN 1970.  ON A SIDE NOTE THE DAYTIME (7 AM TO 7 PM) HIGH
TEMPERATURE WAS ONLY 38 DEGREES.

A RECORD COOL HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 40 DEGREES WAS SET AT DAYTONA
BEACH TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 40 SET IN 1970.

A RECORD COOL HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 40 DEGREES WAS SET AT ORLANDO
INTERNATIONAL TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 42 SET IN 1970.