March global surface TempLS up 0.146°C from February.

The TempLS mesh anomaly (1961-90 base) was 0.845°C in March, down from 0.699°C in February. That makes it the fifth warmest March in the record. The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis base index rose by the same 0.146°C.

The most prominent feature is warmth through Asia, the Arctic and much of N America and N Europe. There is a acold area centred on Turkey. The oceans were mostly warm except for the ENSO region.

Here is the temperature map, using the LOESS-based map of anomalies. As I mentioned in a comment last month, I plan to switch to a Robinson projection (to match GISS) but I'm not quite there yet.

As always, the 3D globe map gives better detail. There are more graphs and a station map in the ongoing report which is updated daily.

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