JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On a frigid day like today when no place across the continental US was over 60°F in the morning, news from NOAA will send toasty thoughts your way: 2017 third warmest year on record for the globe.
NOAA's announced the planet was slightly cooler in 2017 compared to previous years, but not by much, and for those of us in Jacksonville it was the second hottest ever.
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The average temperature at Jacksonville International Airport was the 2nd warmest in 2017 based on records over the last 71 years. This is on the tail of three consecutive years of record-high temperatures for the globe.
Our number 2 top spot is based on daily weather observations compiled from the Southeast Climate Center. Jacksonville averaged 86.1º for the year putting us 10 degrees above the mean average.
In a separate analysis of global temperature data released by NASA, scientists ranked 2017 also as the second warmest year on record. The minor difference in rankings betweeen NOAA and NASA is due to different methods used by the two agencies to analyze global temperatures.
Both analyses show that the five warmest years on record all have taken place since 2010.
Warmer air holds more water and Jacksonville's 70.11 inches of yearly rain was also the 3rd wettest on record.
News4Jax Meteorologist Mark Collins compared record highs to record lows and spotted a clear warming trend for 2017.
Record hot days outnumbered record cold 11 to 3 at JAX. Six records were broken for heat and five hot days tied. In comparison one record was set for cold and two tied.
Last winter in Jacksonville was extra warm with an 81 degree record in February and all but 4 records occurred between January through May.
Through November, Florida was experiencing its warmest year on record statewide, dating back to 1895, with warmer-than-normal temperatures statewide. Jacksonville soared to 83 on Christmas Eve.
Then came our first cold spell the second week of December that dropped temperatures to 10 to 15 degrees below normal with hard freezes dipping to 28º.
Now January has ended up being colder than normal and it could be the first time Florida has seen colder-than normal average in the last 23 months.