December global surface TempLS up 0.083°C from November.

The TempLS mesh anomaly (1961-90 base) was 0.899deg;C in December vs 0.816°C in November. This was less the 0.17°C rise in the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis base index. This makes it easily the second warmest December in the record, after the El Niño 2015. That ensured that 2019 is the second warmest year after 2016 (averaging 0.823°C vs 0.857 for 2016).

The prominent feature was the warmth of E Europe to Central Asia, extending further right through Europe and the Middle East. There was a band of cool from N India through to E Siberia. The US was quite warm, also the Chukchi Sea and Greenland/Canadian Archipelago, mostly, but a band of cool through Yukon and N Alaska. The Arctic generally was warm, and the Antarctic laso mostly warm. Australia was hot, as expected. there were two warm Pacific blobs, one NE and one East of NZ.

Here is the temperature map, using the LOESS-based map of anomalies.


As always, the 3D globe map gives better detail.

This post is part of a series that has now run since 2011. 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