July Was Warmest Month on Record

While some barely noticed, it is significant that last month was the warmest ever in our weather records. The previous record was 17 years ago and the new one will be ... next year?

Update (August 5, 2019):  It's been three years since the previous warmest month ever, but it's a record that's bound to be broken over and over in the years to come. This July was only 0.04 degrees Celsius above July 2016 (1.2 degrees above pre-industrial mean). But in a non-El Nino year.

Update (August 15, 2019):  NOAA confirms July was 0.03 degrees Celsius above the previous record.

Update (August 13, 2021):  So a new record for warmest month in the historical record--last month was 0.93 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average.

The picture is particularly bleak for the Northern Hemisphere, where the land temperature was 2.77 degrees Fahrenheit (or 1.54 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average.