June 2012 Selected Climate
Anomalies and Events Map

Global Highlights

• The average combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2012 was 0.63°C (1.13°F) above the 20^th century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F). This is the fourth warmest June since records began in 1880.
• The Northern Hemisphere land surface temperature for June 2012 was the all-time warmest June on record, at 1.30°C (2.34°F) above average.
• The globally-averaged land surface temperature for June 2012 was also the all-time warmest June on record, at 1.07°C (1.93°F) above average.
• ENSO-neutral conditions continued in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean during June 2012 as sea surface temperature anomalies continued to rise. The June worldwide ocean surface temperatures ranked as the 10^th warmest June on record.
• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January–June 2012 was the 11^th warmest on record, at 0.52°C (0.94°F) above the 20^th century average.

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Please Note: The data presented in this report are preliminary. Ranks and anomalies may change as more complete data are received and processed. Effective with the July 2010 State of the Climate Report, NCDC transitioned to the new version (version 3b) of the extended reconstructed sea surface temperature (ERSST) dataset. ERSST.v3b is an improved extended SST reconstruction over version 2. For more information about the differences between ERSST.v3b and ERSST.v2 and to access the most current data, please visit NCDC's Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

Introduction

Temperature anomalies for June 2012 are shown on the dot maps below. The dot maps on the left provide a spatial representation of anomalies calculated from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) dataset of land surface stations using a 1961–1990 base period. The dot maps on the right are a product of a merged land surface and sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly analysis developed by Smith et al. (2008). For the merged land surface and SST analysis, temperature anomalies with respect to the 1971–2000 average for land and ocean are analyzed separately and then merged to form the global analysis. For more information, please visit NCDC's Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

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Temperatures

In the atmosphere, 500-millibar height pressure anomalies correlate well with temperatures at the Earth's surface. The average 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 June 2012 map—is generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively.

June

The average global temperature across land and oceans during June 2012 was 0.63°C (1.13°F) above the 20^th century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F) and ranked as the fourth warmest June since records began in 1880. June 2012 also marks the 36^th consecutive June and 328^th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20^th century average. The last below-average June temperature was June 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985. It was the second warmest June in the Northern Hemisphere, behind only the record warmth of 2010. The Southern Hemisphere had its 12^th warmest June on record.

The global land surface temperature for June was 1.07°C (1.93°F) above the 20^th century average of 13.3°C (55.9°F), the warmest June on record. This is the second month in a row that the global land temperature was the warmest on record for that month.

The Northern Hemisphere average land temperature, where the majority of Earth's land is located, was record warmest for June. This makes three months in a row — April, May, and June — in which record-high monthly land temperature records were set. Most areas experienced much higher-than-average monthly temperatures, including most of North America and Eurasia, and northern Africa. Only northern and western Europe, and the northwestern United States were notably cooler than average.

• Austria recorded its highest ever June temperature of 37.7°C (99.9°F) on June 30^th in two locations — the capital city of Vienna and in German-Altenburg, Nope. This bests the previous record of 37.2°C (98.9°F) set on June 22^nd, 2000 in both Lutmannburg, Burganland and Langenlebarn, Nope. The monthly temperature averaged across Austria was the sixth warmest June since national records began 250 years ago.


• Norway experienced its 25^th coolest June since records began in 1900, at 1.2°C (2.2°F) below average. Parts of eastern Norway observed temperatures that were 2–3°C (3.6–4.5°F) below their local monthly averages.


• The monthly temperature during June in the United Kingdom was 0.3°C (0.5°F) below the 1971–2000 average, making this the coolest June since 1991.

The Southern Hemisphere land temperature was the 20^th warmest on record.

• Australia remained cooler than average during June. The average daytime (maximum) temperature was 0.27°C (0.49°F) below the 1961–1990 average, while the nighttime (minimum) temperature had a greater departure, 0.94°C (1.69°F) below average.

Across the world's oceans, the June average global sea surface temperature was 0.47°C (0.85°F) above the 20^th century average of 16.4°C (61.5°F), the 10^th warmest June on record. Ocean temperatures were notably below average in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and much higher than average in the northeast Atlantic and in the Labrador Sea near Greenland. The region of the equatorial Pacific Ocean where ENSO conditions are measured also trended higher than average in June. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center issued an El Niño watch, and stated that there is an increased chance for El Niño beginning in July–September 2012.

Year-to-date (January–June)

January–June 2012

• Alaska had its 16^th coolest January–June since records began in 1918, with a temperature 1.5°C (2.7°F) below the 1971–2000 average.

Of note, the year-to-date global anomalies for 2012 have increased each month as the year has progressed and La Niña conditions waned — January: +0.35°C (+0.65°F); January–February: +0.37°C (+0.67°F); January–March: +0.39°C (+0.70°F); January–April: +0.46°C (+0.83°F); January–May: +0.50°C (+0.90°F), and January–June: +0.52°C (+0.94°F). The record for the warmest January–June was set in 2010, with a temperature that was 0.70°C (1.26°F) above average.

The January–June worldwide land surface temperature was 0.88°C (1.58°F ) above the 20^th century average, marking the sixth warmest such period on record.

The global ocean surface temperature for the year to date was 0.39°C (0.70°F) above average and ranked as the 12^th warmest such period on record. This was the warmest monthly departure from average since August 2010.

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

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Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2012 from the weekly SST page.

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Precipitation

The maps below represent anomaly values based on the GHCN dataset of land surface stations using a base period of 1961–1990. As is typical, precipitation anomalies during June 2012 varied significantly around the world.

• Low pressure systems brought the United Kingdom its wettest June since national records began in 1910. England and Wales each tied with 1860 as the wettest June since their records began in 1766.


• The Southwest Asian monsoon made its way northward across India during June. As of June 27^th, the country as whole reported monthly rainfall that was 77 percent of the average amount received. Regionally, northwest India was just 37 percent of average, while east and northeast India was wetter than usual, at 104 percent of average. By the last week in June, the monsoon had reached central India.

Additional details on flooding and drought events around the world can also be found on the June 2012 Global Hazards page.

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References

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.

Smith, et al (2008), Improvements to NOAA's Historical Merged Land-Ocean Surface Temperature Analysis (1880-2006), J. Climate., 21, 2283-2293.