December-February also breaks existing temperature records
February 2016 global temperature departure from average with respect to a 1981-2010 base period (Image credit: NOAA NCEI)
Record warmth across the globe was aided by a strong El Niño that peaked during the winter. The average temperature for the globe during December-February was 2.03°F above the 20th century average according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. This was the highest temperature for December-February in the 1880-2016 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2015/16 by 0.52°F. This also marks the highest 3-month departure from average for any 3-month period on record, surpassing the previous record set last month, November 2015-January 2016, by 0.16°F.
The February average temperature for the globe was 2.18°F above the 20th century average. This was not only the highest for the month of February in the 1880-2016 record (surpassing the previous record set in 2015 by 0.59°F ), but it surpassed the all-time monthly record set just two months ago in December 2015 by 0.16°F. February 2016 also marks the 10th consecutive month a monthly global temperature record has been broken.
More: Find NOAA’s reports and download images by visiting the NCEI website.
