NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Global Highlights:
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Contents of this Section: |
| 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 April 2006 are shown on the two maps
below. The dot map on the 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 map on the right is a product of a merged land surface
and sea surface temperature anomaly analysis which is based on data
from the GHCN of land temperatures and the Comprehensive
Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) of Sea-Surface Temperature (SST)
data. Temperature anomalies with respect to 1961-1990 for land and
ocean are analyzed separately and then merged to form the global
analysis. Additional information on this product is available.
| During April 2006,
there were above average temperatures in Algeria, Scandinavia,
Iran, eastern Europe, eastern China, and the majority of North
America. Cooler than average temperatures were observed in
Pakistan, Japan, northeastern China, coastal Alaska and central
Russia. During January-April 2006, there were above average temperatures in the majority of North America, central Africa, much of Asia and Greenland. Cooler than average temperatures were observed in eastern Europe, Alaska and Russia. In January-April and April 2006, warmer than average SSTs occurred in the South Pacific and the North Atlantic. In January-April 2006, cooler than average conditions were observed in the Niño 3.4 region, and the western coast of Australia. April 2006 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 2006 at the weekly SST page. |
|
| 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. |
| Current Month / Year-to-date |
| April | Anomaly | Rank | Warmest Year on Record |
|---|---|---|---|
GlobalLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.56°C (+1.01°F) +0.41°C (+0.74°F) +0.45°C (+0.81°F) |
13th warmest 6th warmest 8th warmest |
2000 (+1.30°C/2.34°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 1998 (+0.70°C/1.26°F) |
Northern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.65°C (+1.17°F) +0.40°C (+0.72°F) +0.49°C (+0.88°F) |
11th warmest 6th warmest 7th warmest |
2000 (+1.66°C/2.99°F) 2004 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 2005 (+0.83°C/1.49°F) |
Southern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.28°C (+0.50°F) +0.43°C (+0.77°F) +0.41°C (+0.74°F) |
32nd warmest 7th warmest 9th warmest |
1992 (+1.41°C/2.54°F) 1998 (+0.59°C/1.06°F) 1998 (+0.63°C/1.13°F) |
 larger image |
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| January-April | Anomaly | Rank | Warmest Year on Record |
|---|---|---|---|
GlobalLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.70°C (+1.26°F) +0.39°C (+0.70°F) +0.47°C (+0.85°F) |
12th warmest 6th warmest 6th warmest |
2002 (+1.29°C/2.32°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 2002 (+0.66°C/1.19°F) |
Northern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.76°C (+1.37°F) +0.34°C (+0.61°F) +0.50°C (+0.90°F) |
12th warmest 6th warmest 9th warmest |
2002 (+1.55°C/2.79°F) 2004 (+0.50°C/0.90°F) 2002 (+0.83°C/1.49°F) |
Southern HemisphereLandOcean Land and Ocean |
+0.52°C (+0.94°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F) +0.45°C (+0.81°F) |
8th warmest 6th warmest 6th warmest |
2005 (+0.89°C/1.60°F) 1998 (+0.56°C/1.01°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.
The maps below represent anomaly values based on the GHCN data set
of land surface stations using a base period of 1961-1990. During
April 2006, above average precipitation fell over areas that
include Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Burma, Thailand,
northeastern Australia, the U.S. northern Rockies and most of
northern Brazil. Heavy rain and flooding occurred in parts of
Colombia, Yemen, eastern Europe, Agentina, and Indonesia as
discussed on the April Hazards page. Below
average precipitation was observed in Liberia, Malaysia, the
eastern coast of Australia, the southern U.S. and southern Europe.
Additional details on drought can also be found on the April
Hazards page. |
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|
|
Peterson, T.C. and R.S. Vose, 1997: An Overview of the Global
Historical Climatology Network Database. Bull. Amer. Meteorol.
Soc., 78, 2837-2849. |