July 2013: Earth's 6th Warmest July on Record

And we are in a part of the climate cycle that is usually cooler than average.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2496

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 3:20 PM GMT on August 21, 2013

July 2013 was the globe's 6th warmest July since records began in 1880, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA rated it the 10th warmest July on record. The year-to-date period of January - July has been the 6th warmest such period on record. July 2013 global land temperatures were the 8th warmest on record, and global ocean temperatures were the 5th warmest on record. July 2013 was the 341st consecutive month with global temperatures warmer than the 20th century average. Global satellite-measured temperatures in July 2013 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were 10th or 8th warmest in the 35-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), respectively. Wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, has a comprehensive post on the notable weather events of July 2013 in his July 2013 Global Weather Extremes Summary. The big stories that he highlights are the extraordinary heat waves in the central portion of Russia’s Arctic region and in eastern China. Both heat waves were unprecedented for their respective locations. Extreme heat has killed at least 40 people in China since July 1. Also, Greenland measured its hottest temperature on record July 30th when the mercury hit 25.9°C (78.6°F) at Maniitoq Mittarfia during an unusually strong local wind event called a foehn.

-----

Six billion-dollar weather disasters hit Earth during July. The most damaging of these were in China: the on-going drought in Central and Eastern China that has cost $6 billion this year, and significant flooding across nearly every section of China between the 7th and 17th, which left 305 people dead or missing, and cost $4.5 billion. The world-wide tally of billion-dollar weather disasters so far in 2013 is nineteen, and the U.S. total is five, according to the July 2013 Catastrophe Report from insurance broker Aon Benfield:

-----