It may come as a surprise for many people living in the Northern Hemisphere this summer but July 2018 was only the 4th warmest on record, according to NOAA's monthly report.
Heatwaves in July were reported from Canada, U.S. UK, Ireland, Europe, Russia, Japan and the Korean peninsula as the Northern Hemisphere baked in what appeared to be endless sunshine, in my part of the world Holland we didn't have a meaningful drop of rain during July as most days climbed well above 30 deg C, well into the 90's deg F.
Heat records around the world to tumbled daily as climate change became all so real.
It started in Canada, residents in the Toronto area had to endure a humidex temp which pushed into the mid-40s deg C (113 deg F) which resulted in the deaths of almost 100 people.
Southern California witnessed a heat wave that forecasters correctly predicted would be one for the record books, with widespread triple-digit highs which resulted in the biggest wildfire in California's history.
On July the 5th some experts claimed Africa's hottest temperature was reached when the mercury hit an incredible 51.3 deg C, (124.3 deg F) Ouargla in Algeria.
As Japan mourned the death of more than 200 flood victims 65 more people died and thousands taken to hospital from their crippling heatwave.
Temperatures surged above 40 degrees Celsius (104 deg Fahrenheit).
Sweden joined the global heatwave when temperatures climbed well above 30C which experts claimed was "very unusual!"
South Korea joined the global heat wave party when their highest-ever morning low was recorded in the city of Gangneung, where the temperature was 31°C at 6.45am.
The morning low in Seoul was 29.2° C, a record for the country's capital, according to South Korea's weather agency.
The mercury hit 41 deg°C (107 deg F) in the south-eastern town of Hayang, the highest temperature in the country so far in 2018 and killed 30 people.
Parts of the UK were experiencing heatwave conditions, with temperatures heading towards 37C (90F) - and was set to rise higher and Germany braced itself for sweltering temperatures that reached 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 Fahrenheit) in some places.
Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal were expected to smash the hottest temperature ever recorded in Europe when temperatures approached 50 deg C (120 deg F) in some parts of Southern Spain and Portugal.
The current European record is 48C (118.4F) set in Athens in July 1977.
So the only the 4th warmest July on record does come as some kind of a shock, below are NOAA's report broken down into highlights.
July 2018 was 4th warmest July on record for the globe.
Polar sea ice coverage remains smaller than normal.
Scorching temperatures broke heat records around the world last month, which ranked as the fourth warmest July on record.
Excessive warmth during the first seven months of 2018 made it the fourth warmest year to date for the planet.
Here’s a breakdown of NOAA’s latest monthly global climate analysis.
Climate by the numbers
July 2018
The average global temperature in July was 1.35 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees.
This was the fourth highest for July in the 139-year record (1880–2018).
Last month was also the 42nd consecutive July and the 403rd consecutive month with temperatures above average.
The year to date // January through July
The year-to-date average global temperature was 1.39 degrees F above the average of 56.9 degrees. This is 0.48 of a degree lower than the record high set in 2016 for the same YTD period.
Other notable climate facts and stats
Record warmth spanned continents and oceans
The globally averaged land-surface temperature was fifth highest on record for July and the fourth highest for the YTD (January–July) period.
The globally averaged sea-surface temperature was sixth highest on record for July and the fourth highest for the year to date.
Areas around the world experienced record warmth, including Scandinavia and the surrounding Arctic Ocean, northwest Africa, parts of southern Asia and the southwest United States.
Europe had its second-warmest July on record.
Record warm YTD temperatures prevailed across parts of the world’s oceans and Mediterranean Sea, New Zealand, as well as smaller areas of North and South America and Asia.
Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania had TYD temperatures that ranked in the sixth highest on record.
Polar sea ice coverage remains smaller than normal
The average Arctic sea ice coverage (extent) in July was 13.2 per cent below the 1981–2010 average, making it the ninth-smallest extent for July on record.
The Antarctic sea ice extent last month was 1.9 per cent below average, the eighth smallest on record for July. Antarctic sea ice coverage did expand at a rate faster than average during the first half of July but slowed later in the month.
More > Access NOAA's monthly climate reports and download our related maps and images.
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