June 2022 was tied with 2020 as the warmest June on record, NASA reported on July 14: 1.18 degrees Celsius (2.12°F) above the 1880-1920 period, its best estimate for when preindustrial temperatures last occurred.
However, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, or NCEI, reported June 2022 was the sixth-warmest June since global record-keeping began in 1880. The month was 0.87 degree Celsius (1.57°F) above the 20th-century average. The European Copernicus Climate Change Service rated June 2022 as the third-warmest June on record, as did the Japan Meteorological Agency. Minor differences in the agencies’ rankings can result from the different ways they treat data-sparse regions such as the Arctic. The discrepancy between a sixth-warmest June (NOAA) and warmest June (NASA) may seem large, but it turns out that the top six warmest Junes in the historical record are close to being tied, being separated by only 0.08 degree Celsius (0.14°F) in the NOAA database.
Land areas had their second-warmest June on record in 2022, with global ocean temperatures the fifth-warmest on record, according to NOAA. Asia and Europe had their second-warmest June on record, and North America and Africa had their seventh and tenth-warmest June on record, respectively. Although South America had a June temperature that was above average, it was its coldest June since 2016. Oceania also had an above-average June; however, it didn’t rank among the top 20 warmest on record.
The contiguous U.S. had its 15th-warmest and 12th-driest June since 1895. Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi each had one of their top-10 warmest Junes on record, while Texas saw its fifth-warmest June on record. Alaska had its ninth-warmest June in the 98-year period of record for the state.
The year-to-date global surface temperature has been the sixth-highest on record, and the year 2022 is more than 99% likely to rank among the 10 warmest years on record. It is about 11% likely to rank in the top five, according to NOAA. There is less than a 1% chance that 2022 will rank as the warmest year on record, largely because La Niña conditions are now more likely than not to prevail for the rest of the year (more below).
Nine U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters so far
According to a press release from NOAA, there were nine individual billion-dollar weather and climate events across the U.S. during the first six months of 2022, including:
- Three severe weather events;
- Two tornado outbreaks;
- Two hail storms;
- A derecho event; and
- A broad drought event.
In records going back to 1980, for this six-month period, the 2022 disaster count ranks fifth highest behind 2017, 2020, 2011 and 2021. With estimated damages of $2.2 billion, the costliest event so far this year was a severe weather event that occurred across the South April 11-13, 2022.
An unusually long La Niña persists
La Niña conditions persisted during June and are expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere summer and into autumn and early winter (60% chance during July-September and 62-66% chance in fall and early winter), NOAA reported in its July monthly discussion of the state of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. The odds of an El Niño event are no more than 5% into early 2023.
Over the past month, sea-surface temperatures in the benchmark Niño 3.4 region of the eastern tropical Pacific (5°N-5°S, 170°W-120°W) were about 0.4 degree Celsius below average. The range for “weak” La Niña conditions is 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius below average; the range for “moderate” La Niña conditions is 1.0-1.5 degrees Celsius below average.
The forecast from NOAA and Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society for the peak portion of the Atlantic hurricane season (August-September-October) is for a 62% chance of La Niña, 36% chance of ENSO-neutral, and a 2% chance of El Niño. If it were to happen, a third consecutive northern winter with La Niña in 2022-23 would be unusual but not unprecedented: Three-year La Niña sequences occurred in 1973-76 and 1998-2001. There have been no four-year La Niña sequences in NOAA data that extends back to 1950, although La Niña was present in five out of six northern winters from 1970 to 1976.
Atlantic hurricane seasons during El Niño events tend to be quiet because of increased vertical wind shear over the Atlantic. With the current forecast calling for only a small chance of an El Niño, a seventh consecutive active Atlantic hurricane season will likely occur in 2022.
The impact of the current La Niña event may be boosted by a negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO. The PDO is an index of sea-surface temperatures across the northeast and tropical Pacific Ocean that reflects some of the circulation aspects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The PDO can swing sharply from month to month, but usually it leans positive (warm) or negative (cool) for a few years at a time. Nearly every month since 2017 has had a negative PDO; June’s value was the third-lowest for any June since 2000. When the PDO is negative, La Niña’s impacts often are more pronounced.
Arctic sea ice: 10th-lowest June extent on record
Arctic sea ice extent during June 2022 was the 10th-lowest in the 44-year satellite record, and the highest June extent since 2015 according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, or NSIDC. Air temperatures in the Arctic during June were near average.
Antarctic sea ice extent in June was the lowest for any June on record, beating out 2019.
Antarctic sea ice extent tended to increase slightly from the 1980s through the 2010s, but it has decreased notably from 2017 onward, whereas Arctic sea ice extent has decreased more consistently and dramatically over the past 40 years.
Notable global heat and cold marks for June 2022
The information below is courtesy of Maximiliano Herrera. Follow him on Twitter: @extremetemps.
– Hottest June temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 52.2°C (126.0°F) at Abadan, Iran, June 20;
– Coldest June temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -32.2°C (-26.0°F) at Summit, Greenland, June 3;
– Hottest June temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 37.8°C (100.0°F) at Bradshaw, Australia, June 5;
– Coldest June temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -78.1°C (-108.6°F) at Concordia, Antarctica, June 27;
– Highest 2022 average temperature to date (Jan.-Jun.) in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.6°C (85.3°F) at Surabya AP, Indonesia; and
– Highest 2022 average temperature to date (Jan.-Jun.) in the Northern Hemisphere: 33.2°C (91.8°F) at Yelimane, Mali.
Major weather stations in June: 50 all-time heat records
Among global stations with a record of at least 40 years, 50 set (not just tied) an all-time heat or cold record in June:
Tucumcari (New Mexico, U.S.) max. 44.4°C, June 11;
Revel-St Ferreol (France) max. 40.2°C, June 17;
Pissos (France) max. 43.4°C, June 18;
Belin-Beliet (France) max. 43.2°C, June 18;
Biarritz (France) max. 42.9°C, June 18;
Soorts Hossegor (France) max. 42.4°C, June 18;
Pointe de Socoa (France) max. 42.0°C, June 18;
Sabres (France) max. 41.5°C, June 18;
Marans (France) max. 40.5°C, June 18;
Karuns Hourat (France) max. 40.1°C, June 18;
Les Aubiers (France) max. 39.7°C, June 18;
Tarbes (France) max. 39.2°C, June 18;
Ploermel (France) max. 38.7°C, June 18;
Fougeres (France) max. 37.6°C, June 18;
San Sebastian (Spain) max. 39.7°C, June 18;
Dippoldiswalde (Germany) max. 37.4°C, June 19;
Garsebach bei Meissen (Germany) max. 37.9°C, June 19;
Cottbus (Germany) max. 39.2°C, June 19;
Xuchang (China) max. 42.1°C, June 24;
Dengfeng (China) max. 41.6°C, June 24;
Nanyang (China) max. 40.5°C, June 24;
Tokamachi (Japan) max. 37.1°C, June 24;
Tsunan (Japan) max. 35.2°C, June 24;
Otawara (Japan) max. 37.8°C, June 25;
Imaichi (Japan) max. 35.9°C, June 25;
Lingshou (China) max. 44.2°C, June 25;
Gaocheng (China) max. 44.1°C, June 25;
Zhengding (China) max. 44.0°C, June 25;
Pingshan (China) max. 43.8°C, June 25;
Xingtang (China) max. 43.7°C, June 25;
Wuji (China) max. 43.7°C, June 25;
Luancheng (China) max. 43.3 °C, June 25;
Xinle (China) max. 43.3°C, June 25;
Tang (China) max. 43.3°C, June 25;
Yuanshi (China) max. 43.2°C, June 25;
Wangdu (China) max. 43.1°C, June 25;
Baoding (China) max. 41.9°C, June 25;
Shandong Zhanhua (China) max. 41.7°C, June 25;
Khor (Iran) max. 47.8°C, June 27;
Rome Fiumicino AP (Italy) max. 39.0°C, June 27;
Viterbo (Italy) max. 40.3°C, June 27;
Rome Macao (Italy/Vatican City) max. 40.8°C, June 28: New national record high for the Vatican City;
Hekkingen Fyr (Norway) max. 28.1°C, June 28;
Kusatsu (Japan) max. 32.0°C, June 29;
Odawara (Japan) max. 38.0°C, June 29;
Saku (Japan) max. 37.1°C, June 29;
Isambaj (Tajikistan) max. 46.1°C, June 30;
Dushanbe (Tajikistan) max. 44.1°C, June 30;
Parkhar (Tajikistan) max. 44.5°C, June 30; and
Stropov (Slovakia) max. 37.0°C, June 30.
Four all-time national/territorial heat records set or tied in 2022
As of the end of June, four nations or territories had set or tied an all-time reliably measured national heat record:
Paraguay: 45.6°C (114.1°F) at Sombrero Hovy, January 1;
Australia: 50.7°C (123.3°F) at Onslow AP, January 13 (tie);
Uruguay: 44.0°C (111.2°F) at Florida, January 14 (tie); and
Vatican City: 40.8°C (105.4°F), June 28.
Two all-time national/territorial cold records set or tied in 2022
As of the end of June, two nations or territories had set or tied an all-time national cold record:
Montenegro: -33.4°C (-28.1°F) at Kosanica, January 25; and
Myanmar: -6.0°C (-21.2°F) at Hakha, January 29 (tie).
Thirty-eight additional monthly national/territorial heat records beaten or tied as of the end of June
In addition to the four all-time national/territorial records listed above, 38 nations or territories have set monthly all-time heat records in 2022, for a total of 42 monthly all-time records:
– January (11): Mexico, USA, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Comoros, Mayotte, Maldives, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Montenegro;
– February (2): Papua New Guinea, Pakistan;
– March (3): Myanmar, Pakistan, Mauritius;
– April (3): British Indian Ocean Territories, Hong Kong, Chad;
– May (6): Chad, Morocco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, Mauritius; and
– June (13): Saba, Jersey, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Japan, Tunisia, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Slovakia.
Six additional monthly national/territorial cold records beaten or tied as of the end of June
In addition to the two all-time national/territorial records listed above, six nations or territories have set monthly all-time cold records in 2022, for a total of eight monthly all-time records:
– March (2): Montenegro and Cyprus;
– April (2): Andorra, Laos; and
– May (2): Vietnam, Thailand.
Hemispherical and continental temperature records in 2022
– Highest temperature ever recorded in January in North America: 41.7°C (107.1°F) at Gallinas, Mexico, January 1;
– Highest temperature ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere (tie) and world record for highest temperature ever recorded in January: 50.7°C (123.3°F) at Onslow AP, Australia, January 13;
– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in South America: 32.2°C (90.0°F) at Pampa del Infierno, Argentina, January 17; and
– Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in January in the Northern Hemisphere: 29.3°C (84.7°F) at Kenieba, Mali, on January 15 (and again on January 30).
Bob Henson contributed to this post.
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