NOAA: July hottest month ever recorded globally; overnight thunder

Move over July 2016 — July 2019 is now the hottest month on record globally.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirms that last month is the hottest on record globally in the 140-year global surface temperature record. Earth’s average temperature last month was 60.4 degrees — 1.71 degrees above the 20th century average.

It’s interesting to note on the map below that one of the few cooler than average areas globally continues to be central North America. Minnesota was slightly warmer than average in July.

Here’s more from NOAA:

• The global land and ocean surface temperature departure from average for July 2019 was the highest for the month of July, making it the warmest month overall in the 140-year NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880. The year-to-date temperature for 2019 tied with 2017 as the second warmest January–July on record.

• The July temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.71 degrees above the 20th century average of 60.4 degrees and was the highest for July in the 1880–2019 record. July 2019 bested the previous record — set in 2016 — by 0.05 degree

• Nine of the 10 warmest Julys have occurred since 2005, with the last five years (2015–2019) being the five warmest Julys on record. July 1998 is the only value from the previous century among the 10 warmest Julys on record.

• July 2019 also marks the 43rd consecutive July and the 415th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.

Record low Arctic sea ice cover

The Arctic continues to warm faster than lower latitudes. Arctic warmth continues to eat away at Arctic sea ice cover.

Again, from NOAA:

• The Arctic sea ice extent set a record low for July at 726,000 square miles — 19.8 percent — below the 1981–2010 average and 30,900 square miles below the now second-lowest July sea ice extent set in 2012, according to an analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center using data from NOAA and NASA.

• The July 2019 Antarctic sea ice extent was 260,000 square miles — 4.3 percent — below the 1981–2010 average and was the smallest July extent in the 41-year record. This value is slightly below the previous record set in 2017 — 250,000 square miles.

Overnight thunder

Scattered thunderstorms rumble through western and northern Minnesota Thursday evening. The best chance for storms in the Twin Cities arrives around or after midnight. Most of the rain should move out of the Twin Cities before Friday mornings rush hours.

Here’s NOAA’s North American Mesoscale 3 km model version of events overnight into early Friday.

Nice late-summer weather pattern

Overall the next week looks very pleasant. We enjoy a mix of days in the upper 70s and low 80s with tolerable humidity. Not bad for mid-August.

Good State Fair opener?

The longer range models suggest Thursday could bring a good weather day to open the 2019 Minnesota State Fair. Highs around 80 degrees and low humidity would make for a great opening day. The European and Canadian models currently favor rain chances next Friday. Saturday and Sunday looks warm and potentially humid. Lately the models have backed off the notion of prolonged heat the following week.

Stay tuned.