Last month was the warmest January in 141 years of climate records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Record-warm temperatures were found in a range of country across the globe including Scandinavia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the central and western Pacific, the Atlantic and Central and South America.
Land and ocean surface temperature was also the highest on record at 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average – surpassing the last record of 0.04 degrees set in 2016.
NOAA revealed the Northern Hemisphere broke its January record with temperatures of 2.7 degrees above average, while the Southern Hemisphere had temperatures 1.4 degrees above average.
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NOAA determined record-warm temperatures last month all over the globe including Scandinavia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the central and western Pacific, the Atlantic and Central and South America. Land and ocean surface temperature was also the highest on record at 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average
Temperatures were found to top the 20th-century averages in January for the 44th consecutive time and it was also the 421st consecutive month exceed the average.
The amount of snow was also much lower in the Northern Hemisphere than normal – the amount fell below the 1981 through 2010 average.
NOAA noted that this was the having the 18th-smallest January snow cover in the 54-year record.
Arctic sea ice coverage was 5.3 percent below the average and Antarctic sea ice was 9.8 percent lower.
Russia had temperature departures that were at least 9 degrees higher.
Overall, last month was the second warmest January for Asia on record.
Australia had its third warmest, with Queensland experiencing its second and New South had its fifth warmest January.
The amount of snow was also much lower in the Northern Hemisphere than normal – the amount fell below the 1981 through 2010 average. This year’s winter in France (pictured) has also been the mildest in more than a century
South American, the Caribbean and the Hawaiian region all had their second warmest January on record.
However, Alaska stood out among the crowd as the US state had its coldest January since 2021 and tied with 1970 as the 13th coldest on record.
Much of the northeast in the US has also been hit with a warm January –specifically Upstate New York, which is usually covered in a few feet of snow.
Syracuse has had 46.3 inches of snow, about 30 inches less than normal.
January, typically the snowiest month for Syracuse, had just 16.2 inches, a little under half of the normal 34 inches. The city also had its 12th warmest January on record.
Arctic sea ice coverage was 5.3 percent below the average and Antarctic sea ice was 9.8 percent lower (stock photo)
Oswego, which sits in a typically reliable lake effect zones, has had just 6.6 inches of snow this month. The normal for January is 45.6 inches. Since official records began in 1926, only one January in Oswego has had less snow, and that was in 1933.
However, the lack of snow and warm temperatures in this region are not a result of climate change, but are due to a jet stream sitting in the middle of the US that usually makes its way to New York.
‘The whole thing about the storm path is we’re not getting the cold air and we’re not getting the right wind direction for lake effect,’ explained Mark Wysocki, New York state climatologist to NYup.com.
The pattern looks like it will be stuck for a while.
There’s a chance for some accumulating snow and/or rain mid-week, but February overall is likely to be another warmer-than-normal month, according to the weather service.
This year’s winter in France has also been the mildest in more than a century, and that has had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains.
Much of the northeast in the US has also been hit with a warm January –specifically Upstate New York, which is usually covered in a few feet of snow. Syracuse (picture taken January 11, 2019) has had 46.3 inches of snow, about 30 inches less than normal
‘There’s no snow,’ said French holidaymaker Frederic Foltran, setting off for the piste this week not with his skis but with a two-wheeled scooter designed for whizzing down grassy pastures.
The lack of snow has forced the resort to temporarily close down its ski runs in mid-season, local restaurateurs and hoteliers are counting the cost of fewer visitors, and those people that do come make do with other pursuits, like hiking.
But it is more than just a bad year. With scientists predicting a long-term rise in global temperatures, people who earn a livelihood from wintersports in Mourtis are having to contemplate a future with much less snow.
‘Skiing? No one today can guarantee it,’ said François Gillaizeau, manager of the Tuc de l’Etang, a hotel and restaurant with a shop that rents out leisure gear. ‘If the snow is not there, we have to sell something else.’
The last time France experienced a December and January as mild as this year was in 1900, according to Christelle Robert, a forecaster with Meteo-France, the national meteorological service.
