Upper Air ReportJanuary 2005

Troposphere

Current Month
The table below summarizes mid-tropospheric conditions for January 2005. These temperatures are for the atmospheric layer centered in the mid-troposphere (approximately 2-6 miles above the Earth's surface) which also includes a portion of the lower stratosphere. (The MSU channel used to measure mid-tropospheric temperatures receives about 25 percent of its signal above 6 miles.) Analysis of the satellite record that began in 1979 indicates that global temperatures are increasing in the mid-troposphere. The 1979-2005 trend for January is 0.04°C/decade based on data from the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH).

January Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
UAH mid-troposphere +0.16°C (0.29°F) 7th warmest 1998 (+0.49°C/0.88°F)
UAH mid-trop image
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Stratosphere

Current Month
The table below summarizes stratospheric conditions for January 2005. The stratosphere is located between 10-14 miles above the Earth's surface. Over the last decade, stratospheric temperatures have been below average in large part due to the depletion of ozone. The large increase in temperature in 1982 was caused by the volcanic eruption of El Chichon in Mexico, and the increase in 1991 was a result of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. Therefore the base period used is 1984-1990 which was chosen to avoid contamination by these eruptions.

January Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere -0.48°C (-0.86°F) 8th coolest 1983 (+1.2°C/2.2°F)
UAH lower-strat image
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Mid-tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by NASA and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS).

Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Upper Air Report for January 2005, published online February 2005, retrieved on July 13, 2025 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/upper-air/200501. DOI: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ncdc:C00762