This page provides time series and map visualizations of daily mean
2-meter air temperature from the NCEP Climate Forecast System (CFS) version 2 (April 2011 – present)
and CFS Reanalysis
(January 1979 – March 2011). CFS/CFSR is a numerical climate/weather modeling
framework that ingests surface, radiosonde, and satellite observations to estimate
the state of the atmosphere at hourly time resolution onward from 1 January 1979.
The horizontal gridcell resolution is 0.5°x0.5° (~ 55km at 45°N). The
daily means are calculated from eight 3-hourly CFS timeslices beginning at 0000 UTC.
The chart and maps update each day at about 0500 UTC with CFS estimates for the
preceding day. Temperature anomalies are in reference to 1979–2000 climatology
for each specific day of the year.
The time series chart displays area-weighted means for the selected domain. For
example, if World is selected, then each daily temperature value on the chart
represents the average of all gridcells 90°S–90°N, 0–360°E and
accounts for the convergence of longitudes at the poles. Hide or display individual
time series by clicking the year below the chart; Hide All and Show All
buttons are at the chart lower right. The map below the chart can be updated
by clicking a point on one of the time series. The map can be switched between
temperature and temperature anomaly by clicking the toggle botton at the map top-left.
Please note that any apparent record high daily temperature in CFS should be
evaluated against other datasets. For long-term global climate time series, refer
to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
Climate at a Glance with monthly means of surface
temperature observations 1850 to present.