In 143 years of record keeping in climate records, January 2022 went down as the 6th warmest on record globally. This top 10 warmest January was, to no surprise, also coupled with near record low sea ice coverage.
According to NOAA, the January global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.60°F above the 20th century average. It’s this average, global temperature that placed January 2022 in the 6th place spot for warmest Januarys on record.
January 2022 also marked the 46th consecutive January, and the 445th consecutive month where global surface and ocean temperatures were above the 20th-century average.
January 2022 climate numbers
- 2nd warmest January on record in South America
- 4th warmest January on record in Asia
- 7th warmest temperature departure in Oceania
- North America had above average temperatures, but did not break a top 10 record
- Africa had above average temperatures, but did not break a top 10 record
Other notable January 2022 climate events
- Antarctic sea ice was the second smallest January sea ice in the 44-year record, or about 440,000 square miles below average.
- Arctic sea ice was actually the largest extent since 2009, but still about 208,000 square miles below average.
- Northern Hemisphere snow cover for January 2022 was the largest since 2017, and slightly above the 1981-2010 average of 18.26 million square miles.
- Six tropical cyclones formed in January, all of which were in the Southern Hemisphere.
