Annual 2015 National Climate Report

CONUS Temperature Historical Context


The figure below depicts each month of the 1,452 months (121 years' worth of months) on record, as a continuum from coolest to warmest, with respect to each month's 20th century average temperature. The height (or depth) of the bar shows how much warmer (or cooler) an individual month was, compared to that month's 20th century average. The range spans from February 1936, which was 8.6ยฐF cooler than the 20th century average for February, to March 2012, 8.9ยฐF warmer than the 20th century average for March.

The twelve months of 2015 are highlighted in gold. Eleven of 2015's twelve months were warmer than their 20th century average; only February was cooler. Moreover, eight of the year's monthly anomalies fit within the rightmost (warmest) one-fourth of this chart.


(click to enlarge)

map depicting record or near-record warm, cold, rainy or dry conditions for 2015

Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly National Climate Report for Annual 2015, published online January 2016, retrieved on January 23, 2025 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/national/201513/supplemental/page-6.