Departure of temperature from average for January 2018, the 5th warmest January for the globe since record keeping began in 1880. Record warmth across the land was limited to small areas across the southwestern North America, central Europe, and parts of Oceania, including New Zealand. No land areas had record cold temperatures during January 2018. Europe had its second warmest January, behind 2007. Graphic: National Centers for Environmental Information

By Dr. Jeff Masters
19 February 2018
(Weather Underground) – January 2018 was the planet’s fifth warmest January since record keeping began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on Tuesday. NASA also rated January 2018 as the fifth warmest January on record, with the only warmer Januarys being 2016, 2017, 2007, and 2015. Global ocean temperatures during January 2018 were the fifth warmest on record, and global land temperatures were the eighth warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures in January 2018 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the tenth warmest in the 40-year record, according to the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) and RSS.

Three billion-dollar weather disasters in January 2018

Three billion-dollar weather-related disasters hit the Earth last month, according to the January 2018 Catastrophe Report from insurance broker Aon Benfield: Winter Storm Friederike and Winter Storm Eleanor/Carmen in Europe, and Winter Storm Grayson in the U.S. The deadliest weather-related disaster of January was a cold wave during the first week of the month that killed 94 people in India and Nepal. Here is the tally of billion-dollar weather disasters so far in 2018:

  1. Winter Storm Friederike, Western & Central Europe, 1/18, $2 billion, 13 killed
  2. Winter Storm Grayson, Central & Eastern U.S., 1/3 – 1/5, $1.1 billion, 22 killed
  3. Winter Storm Eleanor & Carmen, Western & Central Europe, 1/1 – 1/4, $1 billion, 7 killed […]

Arctic sea ice falls to lowest January extent on record

Arctic sea ice extent during January 2018 was the lowest in the 39-year satellite record, beating the record set in January 2017, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Near-surface air temperatures (about 2,500 feet above sea level) were unusually high over the Arctic Ocean in January, with nearly all of the region 3 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) or more above average. Antarctic sea ice extent in January 2018 was the second lowest on record, behind the record set in 2017. [more]

January 2018: Earth’s 5th Warmest January on Record