Summary of the world's climate in June 2014.
The global average temperature for June 2014 as estimated from the HadCRUT4 data set was 0.62 ± 0.15 °C above the 1961-1990 average. Although the central estimate of 0.62 °C for June 2014 suggests that it was the warmest June on record, the difficulties of measuring global average temperature are such that it is not possible to provide a definitive ranking. Other very warm Junes were comparable within the estimated margin of error. Other global temperature data sets maintained by NASA GISS and NOAA NCDC also show that June was a warm month globally.
Sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Tropical Pacific were above the long-term average in June, but conditions were not indicative of an El Niño event. Below the surface, water temperatures in the Tropical Pacific were above average from the dateline to the coast of South America, but the anomalies were lower than in May. Subsequently, SST anomalies have fallen across much of the tropical Pacific.
During June, the global average air temperature over land was warmer than the long-term average (0.93 ± 0.24 °C). Warmth was widespread, with limited areas reporting cooler than average temperatures. Among these were parts of Alaska, Canada and northeast Europe. Stations in areas which are relatively poorly observed such as the high Arctic and along the coast of Antarctica also reported below average temperatures. Unusually high temperatures were reported in the southwest US, western Europe, southern Asia, northeast Asia and Queensland in Australia among other places.
SSTs were generally warmer than average in June (0.56 ± 0.09 °C). Areas of unusual warmth were widespread. Large areas of the northern Pacific were significantly warmer than average, particularly in the Gulf of Alaska. Large areas of the Indian Ocean and western Tropical Pacific were also unusually warm. It has been suggested that higher than average SSTs in the western Tropical Pacific have inhibited the development of El Niño. The northeast Atlantic was much warmer than average too. There were a few areas of unusually low SSTs: southeast of Newfoundland, around 30 °N in the west Pacific and in the south east Pacific. Cooler than average waters were also reported in the Southern Ocean.
In the southern hemisphere, the sea ice surrounding Antarctica reached a record extent for June. In the Arctic, sea ice extent was the 6th lowest on record.
Last updated: 7 August 2014