January global surface tempLS down 0.2 °C from December.

TempLS mesh anomaly (1961-90 base) fell from 0.762°C in December to 0.565°C in January. This compares with the fall of 0.097°C in the NCEP/NCAR index, and a similar fall (0.16) in the RSS LT satellite index.
According to the reanalysis, the cause was a deep dip late in the month, which seems to be extending into February.

The main cool areas were central asia into Mongolia , and Eastern N America. Also Central Africa. Warm were NW Russia, extending into Europe, and N Canada/Alaska. Also a band right across temperate SH, but still very warm Tasman Sea and around.

Here is the temperature map:

This post is part of a series that has now run for six years. The TempLS mesh data is reported here, and the recent history of monthly readings is here. Unadjusted GHCN is normally used, but if you click the TempLS button there, it will show data with adjusted, and also with different integration methods. There is an interactive graph using 1981-2010 base period here which you can use to show different periods, or compare with other indices. There is a general guide to TempLS here.

The reporting cycle starts with a report of the daily reanalysis index on about the 4th of the month. The next post is this, the TempLS report, usually about the 8th. Then when the GISS result comes out, usually about the 15th, I discuss it and compare with TempLS. The TempLS graph uses a spherical harmonics to the TempLS mesh residuals; the residuals are displayed more directly using a triangular grid in a better resolved WebGL plot here.

A list of earlier monthly reports of each series in date order is here:

1. NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis report
2. TempLS report
3. GISS report and comparison with TempLS