The month of May was the joint-second warmest May globally, less than 0.1°C cooler than the warmest May on record according to the latest monthly bulletin of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
The May update also shows record sea surface temperature and marine air temperature averaged over all ice-free seas and an emerging El Niño signal over the tropical eastern Pacific. The temperature summary includes a special highlight on this topic.
On average, temperatures over most of Europe were close to their 1991-2020 climatological values. The month was slightly warmer than average over the west and a little cooler than normal in eastern and central Europe.
Elsewhere, temperatures over Canada and the Northern United States were particularly warm. Several high-temperature records were exceeded, reaching more than than 10°C above average west of Hudson Bay. These conditions led to severe wildfires throughout the month in Canada leading to the highest wildfire emissions in British Columbia, according to data from Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) dating back to 2003.
The month was relatively cold in Australia with the lowest average daily minimum temperature since 1944, it was also colder than average in India and Central Asia, and parts of Antarctica.
For the boreal spring (March to May 2023) temperatures were higher than average for southwest and far east Europe with only a thin stretch of colder-than-average temperatures in central Europe.
The monthly C3S update for May continued to show, as was the case throughout the boreal spring, below-average soil moisture over the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean France, despite above-average precipitation during the month. Locally, while alleviating the extremely dry conditions, the heavy rainfall caused several flash flood episodes. Boreal spring averages also show continued dry conditions over Eastern Europe.
The Antarctic Sea ice extent marked a record monthly low for the third time this year, at 17% below average. The Arctic Sea ice extent was very close to average and almost identical to the extent recorded in May 2022.
