April 2024 Global Climate Report

Temperature

In January 2024, the NOAA Global Surface Temperature (NOAAGlobalTemp) dataset version 6.0.0 replaced version 5.1.0. This new version incorporates an artificial neural network (ANN) method to improve the spatial interpolation of monthly land surface air temperatures. The period of record (1850-present) and complete global coverage remain the same as in the previous version of NOAAGlobalTemp. While anomalies and ranks might differ slightly from what was reported previously, the main conclusions regarding global climate change are very similar to the previous version. Please see our Commonly Asked Questions Document and web story for additional information.

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information calculates the global temperature anomaly every month based on preliminary data generated from authoritative datasets of temperature observations from around the globe. The major dataset, NOAAGlobalTemp version 6.0.0, updated in 2024, uses comprehensive data collections of increased global area coverage over both land and ocean surfaces. NOAAGlobalTempv6.0.0 is a reconstructed dataset, meaning that the entire period of record is recalculated each month with new data. Based on those new calculations, the new historical data can bring about updates to previously reported values. These factors, together, mean that calculations from the past may be superseded by the most recent data and can affect the numbers reported in the monthly climate reports. The most current reconstruction analysis is always considered the most representative and precise of the climate system, and it is publicly available through Climate at a Glance.

April 2024

April 2024 was the warmest April on record for the globe in NOAA's 175-year record. The April global surface temperature was 1.32°C (2.38°F) above the 20th-century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F). This is 0.18°C (0.32°F) warmer than the previous April record set most recently in 2020, and the eleventh consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. April 2024 marked the 48th consecutive April with global temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.

Global land-only April temperature was warmest on record at 1.97°C (3.55°F) above average. The ocean-only temperature also ranked warmest on record for April at 1.03°C (1.85°F) above average, 0.17°C (0.31°F) warmer than the second warmest April of 2023, and the 13th-consecutive monthly ocean record high. These temperatures occurred as the current El Niño episode nears its end. El Niño conditions that emerged in June 2023 weakened further in April, and according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, a transition from El Niño to ENSO–neutral is likely in the next month, with odds of La Niña developing by June–August (49% chance) or July–September 2024 (69% chance).

Temperatures were much-above average to record warm throughout much of South America, Africa, central and southern Europe, southwestern Russia and Turkey, as well as much of Asia's Far East. Temperatures were also much warmer-than-average across large parts of the northeast U.S. and much of northern Canada. The largest temperature anomalies (greater than 3°C or 5.4°F above average) occurred in northern Canada, western and northern Greenland, eastern Europe, central Asia, southeast Asia, eastern China and parts of eastern Russia.

Record warm April temperatures in Southeast Asia were due in part to a heatwave in late April with daily high temperatures exceeding 38-43°C (100-110°F) in an area stretching from India to southeastern China and the Philippines. Examples of station's highest maximum temperatures to occur during the last half of April in this region from NCEI's Global Historical Climatology Network-Daily dataset include more than 75 stations with highest temperatures exceeding 40.5°C (105°F). Extremely warm overnight temperatures, exceeding 26.5°C (80°F) were also widespread.

As was the case in recent months, sea surface temperatures were above average across much of the northern, western, and equatorial Pacific Ocean, although the positive anomalies in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific were smaller than recent months as El Niño weakened. As they did in March, record-warm temperatures covered much of the tropical Atlantic Ocean as well as parts of the southern Atlantic and northwestern and southern Indian Ocean. Record warm temperatures covered 14.7% of the world's surface this month. This is more than twice the second-highest April value of 7.1% set in 2016 and the second highest record warm coverage for any month since records began in 1951, slightly below the 15.0% coverage in September 2023.

April temperatures were cooler than the 1991–2020 average in areas that included much of mainland Australia, southern parts of South America, much of Iceland, Scandinavia and northwest Russia, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as parts of East Africa including Sudan and South Sudan. Much of east Antarctica was cooler than the 1991-2020 average with anomalies lower than -2°C (-3.6°F) widespread. Sea surface temperatures were below average in parts of the southeastern Pacific and Southern Ocean. Record cold temperatures covered 0.1% of the world's surface in April.

In the Northern Hemisphere, April 2024 ranked warmest on record at 1.75°C (3.15°F) above average, 0.28°C (0.50°F) warmer than the previous April record of 2016. The Northern Hemisphere land temperature and ocean temperature each ranked warmest on record for the month. The Southern Hemisphere experienced its second warmest April on record at 0.88°C (1.58°F) above average, 0.05°C (0.09°F) cooler than 2023. The Southern Hemisphere land temperature for April tied 2010 as 20th warmest while April's ocean temperature was warmest on record.

April 2024 Blended Land and Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in degrees Celsius

April 2024 Blended Land and Sea Surface Temperature Percentiles

A smoothed map of blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies is also available.

South America had its warmest April while Europe had its second-warmest and Africa its fourth-warmest April on record.

• In Germany April 2024 was the 14th-warmest April since records began in 1881, 1.1°C warmer than the 1991–2020 average, 2.7°C warmer than the 1961–1990 average.
• April 2024 was the ninth-warmest April in Italy, based on preliminary data, 1.22°C warmer than the 1991–2020 average in a record that started in 1800. Northern Italy had its 18th-warmest April, central Italy its fourth-warmest, and southern Italy its fifth warmest.
• In Austria the first half of April was exceptionally warm, with 100 of 280 weather stations reaching new heat records for April. The highest April temperature since records began in the late 1800's occurred at the Innsbruck University station and Graz University station. Cold air intrusions during the latter half of the month were more typical of April and for the month as a whole the mean temperature for the lowlands of Austria was 1.2°C above then 1991–2020 average and 1.8°C above average in the mountains. These were, respectively, the 13th warmest in the 258-year lowlands record and 10th warmest in the 174-year mountain record.
• In the United Kingdom the first half of April was generally warmer than average and the second half of the month cooler than average. For April, the average mean temperature for the UK was 0.4°C above the 1991–2020 average, its 22nd-warmest April in a series that began in 1884, based on provisional data.
• In Iceland, April 2024 temperatures were cooler than average across the country. Anomalies as low as -1.8°C below the 1991–2020 average occurred in Akureyri and Egilsstadir, with even colder negative anomalies in many locations when compared to temperatures of the past ten years.
• In Argentina temperatures for April were generally below average in the southern half of the country and warmer than average in northern areas. Monthly anomalies exceeding +2°C above the 1991–2020 average were largely confined to parts of the northern provinces of Formosa, Chaco, and Misiones. Temperatures more than -1°C cooler than average occurred in the southern provinces of Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Río Negro.

Asia had its third-warmest April and Oceania its 54th warmest April on record.

• The April 2024 national mean monthly temperature for Pakistan was 0.87°C below the country average of 24.54°C. The hottest day of the month in Pakistan occurred at Shaheed Benazirabad (Sindh province), when the high temperature reached 43.5°C (110.3°F) on April 8.
• According to the Hong Kong Observatory, under the influence of warmer than normal sea surface temperatures and stronger than usual southerly flow over the northern part of the South China Sea, the mean temperature in April 2024 for Hong Kong was the warmest on record at 3.4°C above the 1991–2020 average. The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures also were warmest on record for April.
• In Australia the national area-average mean temperature for April was 0.51°C below the 1961-1990 average, the lowest since 2015, and the mean minimum temperature in South Australia was 10th coolest on record. Temperatures were below-average across most of mainland Australia
• The national average April temperature for New Zealand was 0.4°C above the 1991-2020 average.

North America had its second warmest April at 2.45°C (4.41°F) above average.

• The average temperature of the contiguous U.S. in April 2024 was 53.8°F, which is 2.7°F above the 1901-2000 average, the warmest April since 2017 and the 12th warmest such month on record.
• The Caribbean region had its warmest April on record, 1.40°C (2.52°F) above the 1910-2000 average. This is 0.22°C (0.40°F) above the second warmest April of 2020.

500 mb maps

In the atmosphere, 500-millibar height pressure anomalies correlate well with temperatures at the Earth's surface. The average position of the upper-level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure—depicted by positive and negative 500-millibar height anomalies on the map—is generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively.

Year-to-date Temperature: January–April 2024

The January–April global surface temperature ranked warmest in the 175-year record at 1.34°C (2.41°F) above the 1901-2000 average of 12.6°C (54.7°F). According to NCEI's statistical analysis, there is a 61% chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and a 100% chance that it will rank in the top five.

For the January–April year-to-date period, South America and western and southern Europe are notable for the great expanse of record-warm temperatures. Much-warmer-than-average and record warm conditions also covered much of Africa, southern Asia, and a large part of eastern North America. Temperatures for the four-month year-to-date period also were warmer-than-average across central and northern Asia, much of southern and eastern Australia, and the western half of North America. Cooler-than-average temperatures were widespread in Antarctica. Temperatures below the 1991—2020 average also were notable in areas of eastern Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, much of northern India and northern Pakistan, northern Australia, and small parts of eastern Russia.

Sea surface temperatures were much warmer-than-average across much of the northern and equatorial Pacific as well as the southwest Pacific. Record-warm January–April sea surface temperatures stretched from the Caribbean Sea across the tropical Atlantic and to the northeastern Atlantic. Record warm temperatures also affected large parts of the Indian Ocean, the southern Atlantic and parts of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The most widespread areas of sea surface temperatures below the 1991—2020 average occurred in the southeastern Pacific, southwestern Indian Ocean and parts of the Southern Ocean.

January–April 2024 Blended Land and Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in degrees Celsius

January–April 2024 Blended Land and Sea Surface Temperature Percentiles

A smoothed map of blended land and sea surface temperature anomalies is also available.

South America and Europe had their warmest January–April year-to-date period, and Africa and North America their second-warmest such period on record. Oceania had its ninth-warmest January–April period and Asia its 10th warmest. Overall, the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere each had their warmest January–April on record.

• The average temperature of the contiguous U.S. for the January-April 2024 period was 43.0°F, which is 3.8°F above the 1901-2000 average, ranking as the fifth warmest on record.
• The Caribbean region had its warmest January-April on record, 1.28°C (2.30°F) above the 1910-2000 average.

Precipitation

The maps shown below represent precipitation percent of normal (left, using a base period of 1961–1990) and precipitation percentiles (right, using the period of record) based on the GHCN dataset of land surface stations.

April 2024

April 2024 Land-Only Precipitation Anomalies

April 2024 Land-Only Precipitation Percent of Normal

Below-average April precipitation occurred in areas that included a large region stretching across southern and central Europe from Portugal and Spain to Turkey and Ukraine. Drier-than-average conditions also occurred in much of western Iran, Nepal, Southeast Asia, and much of mainland Australia. Large parts of Mexico and the western United States and eastern Alaska were drier-than-average in April. Conversely, April was wetter than average in areas that included much of Argentina, southern and eastern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, much of the central and northeast United States as well as western Alaska, northern Europe, much of Pakistan, parts of central and eastern China, and much of Russia.

Drought in April

Drought information is based on global drought indicators available at the Global Drought Information System website, and media reports summarized by the National Drought Mitigation Center.

April Overview:

• GDIS global indicators revealed wet conditions in April 2024 brought limited relief to some drought areas across the world, but the month was dry in parts of Africa, Australia, South and North America, the Mediterranean Basin, and southern parts of Asia. The precipitation that fell was not enough to make up for months, even years, of deficient precipitation.
• A significant portion of the world’s agricultural lands was still suffering from low soil moisture and groundwater levels — especially in the Americas, Africa, eastern Europe, and parts of Asia — and satellite observations showed stressed vegetation on all continents.
• The GEOGLAM Crop Monitor indicated that agriculture was most threatened in parts of Central and South America, Africa, Europe, and southern Asia, as well as parts of the U.S. central Plains.
• The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNet) revealed significant food insecurity continuing in parts of Central and South America, Southwest Asia, and much of Africa.
• Concerns over global food production and prices were expressed in several media outlets.

Europe:

• Much of Europe was warmer and wetter than normal during April. Continent-wide, Europe had the second warmest April in the 1910-2024 NOAA/NCEI temperature record and 24th wettest April in the 1940-2024 ECMWF ERA5 Reanalysis precipitation record. It was drier than normal in the Mediterranean coast countries, based on the 1-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The above-normal temperatures enhanced evaporation, especially in southern and eastern Europe, as seen on the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) maps.
• At longer time scales, dryness was indicated along the Scandinavian coast and in Southeast Europe at 3 to 6 months, and along the Mediterranean coast at 9 to 60 months.
• Excessive warmth dominated Europe for much of the last year. The 9 time periods from March-April back through January-April and October-April through May-April were the warmest such periods on record. This relentless heat increased drought stress, with the SPEI showing drought conditions extending into Central Europe at 2- to 3-month time scales, more intense in Southern and Southeastern Europe at 9- to 12-month time scales, and extending into Central Europe at 24 months and across most of mainland Europe by 48 months.

Asia:

• April was dry across parts of Southwest Asia, Southeast to South Asia, and parts of northeast China to Japan, according to the SPI map, but most of the rest of Asia was wetter than normal. Unusually warm temperatures dominated much of the continent. Based on NOAA/NCEI and ECMWF ERA5 Reanalysis data, Asia had the third warmest and third wettest April, continent-wide, and second warmest October-April through May-April (all 6 time periods).
• Dry conditions persisted in the southern areas at 2- to 60-month time scales, with central China added at 12 months.
• According to media reports, drought has reduced or threatens to reduce crop yields in the Philippines (rice, sugarcane, and fisheries) and Vietnam (coffee beans and shrimp).

Africa:

• April was drier than normal in parts of North Africa (especially the Maghreb region), western, southern, and central Africa, as well as Madagascar. Wetter-than-normal conditions occurred in eastern to southeastern Africa and parts of the northern third of the continent. Temperatures were warmer than normal across most of Africa. Based on NOAA/NCEI and ECMWF ERA5 Reanalysis data, April 2024 ranked as the fourth warmest and 35th wettest April, continent-wide.
• Excessive warmth extended back in time, with all 7 time periods from November-April through May-April ranking warmest on record. The heat increased evapotranspiration, especially in southern Africa, across the Sahel, and in the Maghreb, as seen on the ESI map.
• Northern Africa had the driest October-April, based on the ECMWF ERA5 Reanalysis. At 24 to 60 months, northern and southern Africa were dry with some dry areas in between; the most intense dryness was in the north. The excessive heat expanded and intensified the drought areas, with the SPEI maps showing drought across most of the continent at 1 to 3 months and much of the continent at longer time scales.
• According to media reports, food prices are soaring and hunger is rising across much of Africa.
• In southern Africa, drought and climate change are leading to crop failures and higher inflation. Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi have officially declared states of emergency.
• Morocco's second-largest reservoir, that serves some of its major cities and has been central to farm irrigation, is drying up, according to satellite images analyzed by the BBC. Al Massira Dam, which sits around halfway between Casablanca and Marrakesh, contains just 3% of the average amount of water that was there nine years ago.
• Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests said that the kingdom will lose 20% of its crop yield and reduced cultivated areas this year due to drought.

Australia:

• The east coast of Australia was wetter than normal during April 2024 while central, southern, and western areas were drier than normal; April temperatures were warmer than normal along the west coast and near to cooler than normal across the rest of the country.
• SPI maps revealed dry conditions along the western, southern, and eastern coasts at 2- to 6-month time scales. At the 9-month time scale, as seen on the SPI map and as noted by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), large areas with precipitation deficiencies exist in western Australia and smaller areas have expanded and intensified in south-central and southeastern Australia and much of Tasmania.
• According to media reports:
  • Tasmania is considering providing a shipping service between King Island and Victoria to help farmers transport cattle during the drought. King Island has recorded its driest start to the year in more than a century and its farmers are running out of pasture to feed their cattle and sheep.
  • In Western Australia, dead and dying shrubs and trees — some of which are found nowhere else on Earth — line more than 1,000 km across the state’s south-west.

South America:

• Beneficial precipitation fell across much of South America during April 2024, with drier-than-normal conditions occurring in parts of the northern Andes Mountains to western Brazil and in parts of coastal Brazil and the southern tip of Argentina and Chile.
• Drier-than-normal conditions dominated South America at longer time periods, with May 2023-April 2024 still ranking as the driest such 12-month period on record for the continent.
• Excessively warm temperatures were the rule across South America in April and the last 12 months, with each of the 12 time periods from April through May-April ranking record warm, based on 1910-2024 NOAA/NCEI data. The excessively hot temperatures increased evapotranspiration, according to the ESI, especially from eastern Brazil to central Argentina.
• When evapotranspiration is considered, the SPEI maps show more intense and widespread drought at all time scales, with almost the entire continent affected by drought at 24 to 48 months.
• Satellite observations (GRACE) show dry soils across huge swaths of South America — from the northern coast to southern Brazil, across southern Peru and Bolivia to central Argentina, and over southern Chile and Argentina — with low groundwater over these areas and extending further. Satellite analysis (VHI) revealed poor vegetative health along the Caribbean coast, from Bolivia to southern Brazil, and across Chile and Argentina.
• According to media reports:
  • Colombia’s capital Bogota started rationing water in April to alleviate droughts wrought by the El Niño weather pattern, which has exacerbated the Andean country’s dry season and caused reservoir levels to fall.
  • The drought, fueled by the El Niño weather phenomenon, has forced Colombia to cut the export of electricity to its neighbor Ecuador, where an energy emergency has since been declared.

North America:

• The SPI showed April as drier than normal across much of Mexico and northwestern Canada, parts of the contiguous U.S. (CONUS), and other parts of Canada, and wetter than normal over much of Alaska, the central U.S. to eastern Canada, and parts of Central America. Most of North America was warmer than normal, with April 2024 ranking as the second warmest April in the NOAA/NCEI record.
• The SPI maps show most of Canada dry at 6 to 36 months, most of Mexico and Central America dry at 12 to 60 months, and in the U.S. — dryness across the Mississippi River Valley at 9 to 24 months, in the southern to central Plains at 12 to 48 months, and in parts of the West at 48 to 72 months.
• The anomalous warmth extended back through time, with all 8 time periods from December-April through May-April ranking warmest on record. The unusual warmth is reflected on the SPEI maps by more intense and expansive drought, especially in Mexico to Central America at 1- to 3-month time scales, and in Canada at 6- to 36-month time scales.
• According to media reports:
  • The April snow survey from the BC River Forecast Centre shows the lowest snowpack on record in British Columbia.
  • Canada’s emergency preparedness minister warned that the country’s wildfire season this year could be more explosive than last year when it led to unprecedented smoke conditions across much of the country and into the United States.
  • Severe drought is plaguing Mexico’s winter corn crop, the bulk of which is white corn used to make tortillas and other foods.
  • In the Caribbean, some residents in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are experiencing water woes due to drought conditions causing certain areas to have water rationed as it continues to be a harsh dry season for many Caribbean Islands. Over nine million gallons of water have been trucked to approximately 900 farmers between January and March to alleviate the impact of the drought ravishing large parts of Jamaica. The Associated Press reported that, like the rest of the Caribbean, Cuba is suffering from longer droughts, warmer waters, more intense storms, and higher sea levels because of climate change.

References

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