February 2024 was the warmest February on record in the ERA5 dataset, at around 1.79C above preindustrial records. It beat the prior record set during the 2016 super-El Nino by 0.12C.
It wasn’t only the warmest February on record – this past month saw the largest anomaly (change from the 1850-1900 preindustrial baseline) at 1.79C of any month on record, beating out December (1.77C) and September (1.73C) 2023. The past 12 months are 1.56C above preindustrial.
While the month began exceptionally warm, global temperatures have fallen back a bit outside of record territory in recent weeks, and are now roughly tied for where 2023 was this time of year (though we should not over interpret day-to-day variability):
