February Was World's 3rd Hottest, U.S. But Trump Administration Doesn't Want You To Know That,

The world had its 3rd hottest February on record, despite
the supposed "cooling" effect of La Nina. 

February turned out to be the third warmest on record for the world as a whole, according to the latest report from the National Centers for Environmental Information (an arm of NOAA) and other scientific organizations. 

This is the first time in about since May, 2023 - nearly two years -  that a particular month was not the warmest or second warmest on record.

Scientists expected this "cooling" trend if you want to call it that. Global temperatures tend to cool during La Nina episodes of chilly water in the eastern Pacific. 

That the admittedly weak La Nina still resulted in the third hottest February is concerning to say the least, because the effects of climate change appear to overwhelming cooling influences more strongly than ever. 

Before we get into the data, some more outrageousness from the Trump administration regarding this report

TRUMP INTERFERENCE

The Trump administration clamped down on the usual press releases and availability of scientists that the National Centers for Environmental Information, an arm of NOAA that usually accompanies the release of these monthly reports. 

Every month since the George W. Bush administration, these monthly reports had also featured press calls, in which NCEI scientists discuss the report with the press and answer question. 

According to Axios, NOAA blamed the lack of press availability on staff cuts and the anticipation of more firings soon.  This isn't a one-off. NOAA/NCEI do not plan to resume the media briefings. 

There's apparently an even more insidious reason for the lack of a press briefing on the February climate report.  Per Axios:

"According to two sources outside the agency who were privy to deliberations from current employees, NCEI had trouble recruiting scientists to volunteer to be on the calls for fear of angering the administration by discussing human-caused global warming."

The Trumpers have thus once again succeeded in hiding information from the public, or at the very least  making it more difficult to access. I don't blame the scientists for being so reticent. I'm hopping mad at the Trump administration for again trying to create their own "reality" that is contrary to established facts. And using fear and intimidation to do it. 

One reason I'm butt hurt about this is the monthly NCEI press briefings put the issues of global climate in front of reporters, who then broadcast it far and wide. I don't all reporters will just think to read the report as it comes out every month.

If it comes out every month. The Trump minions might just stop the monthly reports altogether. Or alter them so that the reports lie about what's really going on with global temperatures. 

I'm a teeny tiny outlet with a minuscule number of readers (but always looking for more!) I'll continue to report out these monthly NCEI monthly climate checkups. I hope a lot of other bigger, more powerful media outlets do the same. 

THE DATA

 Since we at least still  have an NCEI/NOAA  report this month anyway, we can say areas that were warmest relative to average in February were the Arctic, central South America, ocean areas north of Australia, the central North Pacific, the Caribbean and central North Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Indian Ocean. 

As usual, chilly spots were hard to find on Earth during February, 2025.  Southwestern Canada, parts of northwest and north central United States, bits and pieces of Antarctica, the southern tip of South America and a few spots in the Mideast were a little on the cool side.

Ocean temperatures overall were warmer relative to average compared to land. Land areas had their fourth warmest February, while oceans had their second warmest February. 

That's actually bad news because oceans in a climate change regime store extra heat, as it seemed to be doing in February. Eventually it's released, and the result is eventually record heat waves and sometimes storms on land where most of us people live. 

The La Nina that sort of "cooled" the Earth in February is not expected to last much longer. Neutral conditions - neither La Nina or the world-warming El Nino - are expected by late spring. 

Sometimes La Ninas come back after fading like scientists expect this spring. It could come back for a stay as long as two years, but nobody knows for sure. 

We do know that whatever happens, month after month will score in the top ten warmest, and most of the time probably in the top three warmest indefinitely going forward. By the way, if you are under the age of 46, you have never seen a global February that is cooler than the long term pre-industrial average. 

UNITED STATES

The U.S., in contrast to the world as a whole,
had a fairly close to average February, just
a little warmer than average. 

February climate statistics for the United States came out this week, and it showed the nation had at least a  sort of warm month overall. 

Meteorological winter, December 1 through February 28 was also on the warm side, but definitely  not record-breaking. 

The United States only encompasses a little under two percent of the Earth's surface, so the overall climate trend in February and the rest of the winter likely won't follow global trends. It very often doesn't. 

 In the United States, February for the Lower 48 was just 50th warmest out of the 131 years of record. So on the whole it was a little warmer than the long term average, but not by much. 

The coldest part of the nation relative to average was Montana, which had its 13th coldest February on record. The central and northern Plains and the Pacific Northwest were on the chilly side, too, but not at record cold levels.

The southwestern and southeastern part the Lower 48 were the warmest relative to average. Arizona had its second warmest February on record. New Mexico had its fourth warmest and Florida had its 7th warmest. 

Precipitation was also worked out to be close to average for the Lower 48 as a whole, but of course there were wet spots and dry areas as usual.

New Mexico had its sixth driest February on record. By contrast, Virginia had its fifth wettest February. West Virginia was seventh wettest and Kentucky was ninth soggiest.

In general the northern Rockies, the Mid-Atlantic States and the Northeast away from the coast were on the wet side, while the Plains, southwestern United States and extreme southeastern pars of the U.S. were dry.  

By the way, March in the United States and globally is off to a warm start. So don't expect any real cooling on Earth this month.