NOAA released their January global climate report this past week and said last month was the warmest January since global records began, in 1850.
Calculations are based on the global average for land and ocean surface temperatures, which was 2.39°F above the 20th-century average of 53.6°F. This was just slightly warmer than January 2024 (0.05°F warmer).
However, we are in La a Niña right now, which means that the Pacific Ocean is actually colder than normal. Yet, temperatures were still much higher.
This should not come as a shock though as January marked the 49th consecutive January with temperatures above the 20th century average.
We know that El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has major effects on our global temperature and climate patterns.
However, the sea surface temperatures are compared to an average that is slowly getting warmer. In other words, the anomaly is compared to an average temperature over a 30-year period.
When comparing each month to the 20th century average, even months in a La Niña (cold phase) are warmer.
Coldest January in US in 37 years
With all that being said, for the U.S., January 2025 was actually the coldest January since 1988.
Temperatures were below average from the central and southern Rockies to the mid-Atlantic and southeast. This includes local weather, where temperatures in West Palm Beach were 2 degrees below the normal average.
According to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) global annual temperature outlook, which is based on current variations of temperature and historical annual temperature readings, there is a 98.7% chance that 2025 will rank as a top five-year warm year on record.
The last 10 years are also the 10 warmest years on record with 2024 coming in first, 2023 in second, and 2016 at third.
NOTE: NCEI calculates the global temperature based on preliminary data of temperature observations from around the globe.
