DENVER — The global temperature in 2022 was the 6th warmest on record. Those records go back 143 years. Now the 10 warmest years in history have all happened since 2010, with the last nine years (2014-2022) among the 10 warmest years. That was the joint announcement Thursday from NASA and NOAA.
Other 2022 Global Highlights
- 46th-consecutive year (since 1977) with global temperatures rising above the 20th century average.
- Global ocean heat content (OHC) hit a record high: The upper ocean heat content, which addresses the amount of heat stored in the upper 2,000 meters of the ocean, was at a record high in 2022, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. The four highest OHCs have all occurred in the last four years (2019-2022).
- Polar sea ice ran low: The 2022 annual Antarctic sea ice extent (coverage) was at a near-record low at 4.09 million square miles. Only the year 1987 had a smaller annual extent. During 2022, each month had an extent that ranked among the five smallest for their respective months, while the months of February, June, July and August had their lowest monthly extent on record.
In the Arctic, the average annual sea ice extent was approximately 4.13 million square miles — the 11th-smallest annual average sea ice extent in the 1979-2022 record, according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Centeroffsite link.
Global tropical cyclones were near average: A total of 88 named storms occurred across the globe in 2022, which was near the 1991-2020 average. Of those, 40 reached tropical cyclone strength (winds of 74 mph or higher) and 17 reached major tropical cyclone strength (winds of 111 mph or higher). The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) — an integrated metric of the strength, frequency and duration of tropical storms — was the fourth lowest since 1981.
Colorado Stats
The polar vortex that hit northeast Colorado just before Christmas left a lasting impression on that part of the state.
Those extreme weather events tend to be remembered the most – that’s why it's so important to look at the data to get a true understanding about our climate as a whole.
You might be surprised to know that statewide, December was actually slightly warmer than the average at 25.9 degrees. That's 0.7 degrees above average.
And the annual temperature trend in our state also continues to rise.
According to the data just released by NOAA, 2022 was the 20th warmest year in Colorado history. Those records go back 128 years.
Compared to recent years, it’s a little on the cool side – as seven of the last eight years have been warmer, but all those years are still well above the average.
It’s now been 29 consecutive years in Colorado where the average temperature was warmer than normal. The last year that it was cooler than average in our state was 1993.
The Front Range was one of the state’s cooler spots in 2022. Denver did finish warmer than average – but only just slightly, ranking 38th in history. Records there go back 150 years. That's much cooler than last year, which was 9th warmest all-time.
Even with an average finish, Denver’s overall temperature trend also continues to rise over time.
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