Global March Temperatures 10th Warmest on Record

Vast areas of Asia, Europe, Australia, South America, and the United States were much warmer than normal during the month of March 2009.

Despite what seems to have been a winter that wouldn’t end across many parts of North America, March 2009 has turned out to be the 10th warmest March worldwide since records began in 1880.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) calculated the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for the month was 55.87 degrees Fahrenheit, which is almost one degree warmer than the 20th century average.

Land areas of the southern hemisphere experienced their fourth warmest March on record while the dry surfaces north of the equator experienced the 12th warmest March on record.

The NCDC also determined that March snow cover extent was near the 1967-2009 average in North America, but below average over Europe and Asia.

Arctic sea ice coverage was at its sixth lowest March extent since satellite records began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Antarctic sea ice extent in March was at its fourth-greatest level of the 31-year observational record. Antarctic sea ice extent reached 15.8 percent above its 1979-2000 average.

Since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent for March has increased at an average rate of 4.7 percent per decade.

Graphic Data: NOAA - WMO