Temperature

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information calculates the global temperature anomaly every month based on preliminary data generated from authoritative datasets of temperature observations from around the globe. The major dataset, NOAAGlobalTemp version 6.0.0, uses comprehensive data collections of increased global area coverage over both land and ocean surfaces. NOAAGlobalTempv6.0.0 is a reconstructed dataset, meaning that the entire period of record is recalculated each month with new data. Based on those new calculations, the new historical data can bring about updates to previously reported values. These factors, together, mean that calculations from the past may be superseded by the most recent data and can affect the numbers reported in the monthly climate reports. The most current reconstruction analysis is always considered the most representative and precise of the climate system, and it is publicly available through Climate at a Glance.

---

February

The global surface temperature was 1.26°C (2.27°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.1°C (53.8°F), making it the third warmest February on record. This is 0.15°C (0.27°F) below the previous record set in 2024 and marked the 46th-consecutive February (since 1980) with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average.

It was the fourth warmest February for the global land air temperature and the second warmest February for the global ocean surface temperature. Global temperatures have cooled in recent months as a La Niña episode, the cold phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) developed. Global temperatures tend to be cooler during periods of La Niña in comparison to periods with an El Niño present. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center's February 13 ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, La Niña conditions were present and are expected to persist in the near-term, with a transition to ENSO-neutral likely during March-May 2025 (66% chance).

The Northern Hemisphere had its fourth warmest February on record at 1.61°C (2.90°F) above average. The Northern Hemisphere land-only temperature also was fourth warmest while the Northern Hemisphere ocean-only temperature was second warmest on record for February. The most anomalously warm conditions were in the Arctic, which had its warmest February on record, contributing to record low Arctic sea ice extent.

Temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere ranked second warmest on record at 0.91°C (1.64°F) above average. The average ocean-only and land-only temperatures for February in the Southern Hemisphere also individually ranked second warmest on record. Meanwhile, the Antarctic region tied 1971 and 2006 as the 23rd-warmest February.

A smoothed map of blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies is also available.

Record-warm temperatures were widespread in the Arctic, with temperatures in many areas more than 8°C (14°F) above average. Record warmth also covered a large part of the southern half of South America as well as the U.S. Hawaiian Islands region. Approximately 3.3% of the global land surface was covered by record-warm conditions in February.

Much-warmer-than-average temperatures stretched from the southwest U.S. through Mexico into Central America and also occurred in areas that included central Russia, northern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and much of East Africa, as well as a large part of central and western Australia, and several southwest Pacific islands. The most notable exceptions to the anomalous warmth occurred in a large area of North America stretching from western and central Canada southward into the central U.S., parts of eastern Europe into the Middle East and northeastern Africa as well as parts of western and southern Africa. Other anomalously cool areas included a large part of China and neighboring areas of Russia.

Sea surface temperatures were record warm across a large part of the western tropical Pacific, areas of the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica, as well as small parts of the southwest Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and North Atlantic, and areas in the eastern Pacific. Areas with warmer-than-average February temperatures included much of the northern Pacific, the South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Exceptions to the anomalous warmth included the central and eastern tropical Pacific, consistent with the presence of La Niña, parts of the southeast Pacific and adjoining Southern Ocean, a small area of the northwest Indian Ocean, and western parts of the North Atlantic. Approximately 13% of the global ocean surface was covered by record-warm conditions, the second highest February coverage since records began in 1951, and 1.1% less than the record coverage in 2024.

South America had its third-warmest February on record while North America its 22nd-warmest. Europe had its 26th-warmest and Africa its 12th-warmest February on record.

• In Germany, February's mean temperature was equal to the 1991–2020 average, the first month since May 2023 that the monthly mean temperature was not warmer than the 1991–2020 average. It was the 56th warmest February since national records began in 1881.
• According to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), February 2025 was another warmer-than-average month; twelve of the past thirteen Februarys have been warmer than average for Sweden. February was very mild in far northern parts of the country, with several stations having their second or third-warmest February on record.
• In Norway, the national average temperature was 2.1°C (3.78°F) above normal, making it the 17th-warmest February in a measurement series dating to 1901. It was most anomalously warm in far northern parts of the country. Troms county, whch lies north of the Arctic circle, recorded its second-warmest February, 5.5°C (9.9°F) above normal.
• In Estonia the average temperature for February 2025 was 1.2°C (2.16°F) above normal.
• In the United Kingdom February was 0.5°C (0.9°F) above the 1991–2020 average. Northern Ireland was notably warm, with temperatures 0.9°C (1.6°F) above average, based on provisional data.
• The February 2025 contiguous U.S. temperature was 34.86°F (1.59°C), which is 1.04°F (0.58°C) above the 1901–2000 average making it the 52nd-warmest February since national records began in 1895.
• The Caribbean Islands region had its warmest February on record, 1.16°C (2.09°F) above average, which is 0.06°C (0.11°F) more than the previous record-warm February of 2020.

February ranked eighth-warmest on record for Asia and second-warmest for Oceania.

• The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that Pakistan had its eighth-warmest February since national records began 65 years ago, 2.07°C ( °F) above the 1991–2020 average.
• Hong Kong experienced temperatures that were near normal for the month of February 2025; 0.2°C (0.36°F) above the average of 17.1°C (62.8°F).
• According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australia had its fifth-warmest February since national records began in 1910, 1.64°C (2.95°F) above the 1961–1990 average. For South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the area-averaged mean temperatures were in the top ten warmest on record for the respective state or territory.
• According to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, the February 2025 nationally-averaged temperature for New Zealand was 0.8°C (1.44°F) above the 1991–2020 average, making it the 13th-warmest February in the national record that began in 1909.

500 mb maps

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 map—is generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively.

---

Seasonal Temperature: December 2024–February 2025

The December 2024–February 2025 global surface temperature was the second-warmest in the 176-year record, 1.29°C (2.32°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.1°C (53.8°F). The ten warmest December–February seasons have all occurred in the eleven-year period since 2015. The global land air temperature was record warm while the global ocean surface was second warmest for the December 2024–February 2025 season.

The December–February period is defined as the Northern Hemisphere's meteorological winter and the Southern Hemisphere's meteorological summer. The Northern Hemisphere winter 2025 temperature was the second warmest on record, and marks the 40th consecutive winter with global temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere summer temperature also ranked second warmest on record, and marks the 49th consecutive warmer-than-average summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Over the land surface, air temperatures for the season were much above average across most of South America, Europe, and much of Asia as well as Australia. Temperatures on the continent of Africa were generally warmer to much warmer than average. Record-warm conditions occurred in areas that included parts of the western Arctic, central Russia, eastern Mongolia, areas of central and east Africa, northwestern Argentina, and southwestern Australia, but overall the coverage of record-warm conditions was less than Dec–Feb 2024. Australia had its second-warmest summer on record. Temperatures across much of the northern tier of North America, the Arctic and much of central Russia were more than 4.0°C (7.2°F) above average with some large expanses greater than 8.0°C (14.4°F) above the mean. The Arctic as a whole had its warmest winter on record.

In contrast to the anomalous warmth and record-warm conditions, a large area of near to below-average Dec–Feb temperatures occurred in North America, where the conditions stretched from south-central Canada through the central U.S. to eastern areas of the country. Below-average seasonal temperatures also covered much of Greenland, large parts of Antarctica, and an area that stretched from Sudan northeastward through Southwest Asia into northwestern China.

Sea surface temperatures for the December–February period were record warm across a large part of the western Pacific, the Southern Ocean south of Australia, as well as parts of the southwest Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, and areas of the eastern North Atlantic. Areas with warmer-than-average temperatures included most of the northern Pacific, the southwest Pacific and the South Atlantic. Exceptions to the anomalous warmth included the central and eastern tropical Pacific, parts of the southeast Pacific, the northwest Indian Ocean, and some areas of the Southern Ocean.

A smoothed map of blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies is also available.

North America (2.29°C; 4.12°F above average) tied 2006 as the third-warmest winter, and South America (1.35°C; 2.43°F above average) also had its third-warmest Dec–Feb on record.

Europe recorded its sixth-warmest winter on record at 2.25°C (4.05°F) above the 20th century average. Africa's December to February period ranked fourth warmest, 1.19°C (2.14°F) above average.

Asia had its second-warmest Dec–Feb (2.87°C; 5.17°F above average) and Oceania its warmest Dec–Feb on record (1.61°C; 2.90°F above average).

---

Year-to-date Temperature: January–February 2025

The January–February global surface temperature was the second-warmest in the 176-year record at 1.29°C (2.32°F) above the 1901-2000 average of 12.1°C (53.8°F).

In the first two months of 2025, above average to record-warm conditions covered much of the entirety of South America, Europe, and Australia as well as much of Africa and Asia. Temperatures more than 4°C (7.2°F) above the 1991–2020 average occurred in much of western and central Russia, northern Kazahkstan, much of the Arctic, Alaska, the Canadian Yukon and Quebec.

In contrast, near-average to below-average January-February temperatures covered an area from south-central and southwestern Canada southward into all but the southwestern U.S. and parts of Florida and New England. Other areas with cooler–than–average year–to–date temperatures included much of central and eastern Greenland, the Russian Far East, and much of an area stretching from southern Africa northeastward into Southwest Asia.

Sea surface temperatures for the January–February period were record warm across much of the tropical western Pacific, areas of the Southern Ocean south of Australia, parts of the southwest Indian Ocean, smaller areas of the eastern Pacific, and an area stretching from the Caribbean to the northeast Atlantic. Elsewhere above-average to much-above-average year-to-date temperatures covered large parts of the northern and southern Pacific oceans, much of the North and South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and large parts of the Southern Ocean. Near-average to below-average sea surface temperatures occurred in the central and eastern tropical Pacific, parts of the southeast Pacific and adjoining Southern Ocean, and areas of the southern South Atlantic and southern and northwestern Indian Ocean.

A smoothed map of blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies is also available.

Europe recorded its sixth-warmest January–February period on record, Africa its fifth-warmest, North America its 13th-warmest, and South America its third-warmest year–to–date on record. Asia had its second-warmest and Oceania its warmest January–February period on record.

Precipitation

The maps shown below represent land-only precipitation anomalies and land-only percent of normal precipitation based on the GHCN dataset of land surface stations.

February

Precipitation data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) shown in the maps above are augmented by data with greater spatial coverage from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP). The GHCN and GPCP map of precipitation anomalies and GPCP precipitation ranks show areas of drier-than-average conditions covering much of Europe, eastern Kazahkstan stretching eastward through southern Mongolia into eastern China, and the southern two-thirds of Japan. Below-average precipitation also occurred in a large part of Australia, East Africa westward to Atlantic coastal areas of Central Africa, the southern half of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, as well as a large part of Canada, southern Alaska, the central U.S. and much of the southern U.S. southward into a large part of Mexico. Conversely, wetter-than-average conditions in February were present in areas that included much of northern South America including parts of the Amazon basin, the northwestern U.S., northern Quebec and parts of eastern Nunavut Territory, Canada. Other areas with above-average precipitation included parts of southern Africa including Botswana and northern South Africa, a large part of central Russia and Siberia, much of Southeast Asia, and areas of northeast and northwest Australia as well as several islands of the South Pacific.

• According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, February rainfall was near average; 2% below the 1961–1990 average. Area-averaged rainfall was below average for all states and territories except Queensland, where heavy rain along Queensland's northeast coast in early February brought record high daily rainfall totals to some locations. The highest daily rainfall totals were recorded on 2–3 February when many stations had daily rainfall totals that exceeded 300 mm (11.8 in.), with the highest 24-hour total of 745.2 mm (29.3 in.) in Paluma, Australia. Many stations had their record highest daily rainfall totals for February or for any month (annual), including some stations with more than 100 years of data.


• Heavy rains also fell in far northwestern Australia, as Severe Tropical Cyclone (TC) Zelia made landfall on 14 February, around 50 km northeast of Port Hedland. De Gray station reported 261.0 mm in the 24 hours ending on the morning of 14 February, the record highest daily rainfall total for any month for this station which has 120 years of data. After landfall, Severe TC Zelia continued to track to the south over inland Pilbara, bringing intense rainfall, flooding and destructive winds to a wide area along its path, impacting transportation links and isolated communities.


• As shown in the GPCP precipitation rank maps, rainfall in Botswana and northeastern South Africa was much above average for the month of February. In Botswana, persistent heavy rains led to severe flooding with reports of several deaths, infrastructure damage and the displacement of thousands.


• In Italy, a severe storm in early February brought reports of severe flooding and widespread damage to parts of Sicily. In the middle of the month an intense storm brought heavy rainfall to the island of Elba and inland Tuscany resulting in flooding and landslides.

Other February precipitation summaries provided by national meteorological services include the following.

• The UK Met Office reported that February was drier than average with 72.7 mm (2.86 in.) of rainfall, which was 76% of the long-term average. Northern England was particularly dry, with little over half of the average February rainfall.


• In Germany, the average monthly precipitation for February was 55.9% less than the 1991–2020 average, making it the 22nd-driest February since national records began in 1881.


• In Estonia February also was drier than average; precipitation for the month was only 33% of the normal amount of 39 mm (1.3 in.).


• In Norway, the national average precipitation for was 20% below normal. In Northern Norway there were large areas with more snow than normal at the end of February.


• In Pakistan, February rainfall was 20.0 mm (0.79 in.), which was 19% below the 1991–2020 average.


• February rainfall at the Hong Kong Observatory was 26.1 mm (1.03 in.), 33% below normal.

---

References

• Adler, R., G. Gu, M. Sapiano, J. Wang, G. Huffman 2017. Global Precipitation: Means, Variations and Trends During the Satellite Era (1979-2014). Surveys in Geophysics 38: 679-699, doi:10.1007/s10712-017-9416-4
• Adler, R., M. Sapiano, G. Huffman, J. Wang, G. Gu, D. Bolvin, L. Chiu, U. Schneider, A. Becker, E. Nelkin, P. Xie, R. Ferraro, D. Shin, 2018. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Analysis (New Version 2.3) and a Review of 2017 Global Precipitation. Atmosphere. 9(4), 138; doi:10.3390/atmos9040138
• Gu, G., and R. Adler, 2022. Observed Variability and Trends in Global Precipitation During 1979-2020. Climate Dynamics, doi:10.1007/s00382-022-06567-9
• Huang, B., Peter W. Thorne, et. al, 2017: Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature version 5 (ERSSTv5), Upgrades, validations, and intercomparisons. J. Climate, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0836.1
• Huang, B., V.F. Banzon, E. Freeman, J. Lawrimore, W. Liu, T.C. Peterson, T.M. Smith, P.W. Thorne, S.D. Woodruff, and H-M. Zhang, 2016: Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature Version 4 (ERSST.v4). Part I: Upgrades and Intercomparisons. J. Climate, 28, 911-930, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00006.1.
• Menne, M. J., C. N. Williams, B.E. Gleason, J. J Rennie, and J. H. Lawrimore, 2018: The Global Historical Climatology Network Monthly Temperature Dataset, Version 4. J. Climate, in press. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0094.1.
• Peterson, T.C. and R.S. Vose, 1997: An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network Database. Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 78, 2837-2849.
• Vose, R., B. Huang, X. Yin, D. Arndt, D. R. Easterling, J. H. Lawrimore, M. J. Menne, A. Sanchez-Lugo, and H. M. Zhang, 2021. Implementing Full Spatial Coverage in NOAA's Global Temperature Analysis. Geophysical Research Letters 48(10), e2020GL090873; doi:10.1029/2020gl090873.