Weather & Climate Review of the Year 2024

From a meteorological and climatological standpoint, 2024 was a very diverse year, characterised by a wide range of extreme events. A few days ago, 2024 has officially been declared the warmest year on record. Below, we revisit and elaborate on some notable events from each month of the year.

January 2024

January 2024 was the warmest January since records began in 1850. The global mean air temperature was +0.7°C relative to the current normal period (1991-2020). New records were also set for sea surface temperatures (SSTs), which remained on an exceptionally high level globally, despite a weakening of the previous year's El Niño (Copernicus, ECMWF).

The map above shows positive temperature anomalies (red) for January across West Africa, the Middle East, and the northeastern region of the North American continent. In contrast, negative anomalies (blue) were observed in Scandinavia, Alaska and several regions of Russia.

February 2024

In February, we reported on the unseasonable spring heat in Spain, with temperatures in some areas already approaching the 30°C mark. Viewers of our webcams at the time could observe the crowded beaches on the east coast of the country.

The month of February 2024 was also globally recognised as the warmest February on record (NOAA). At that time, the WMO forecasted a high probability of a neutral ENSO state for the period of April through June. Scientists also highlighted the potential dangers of the annual hurricane season. As we reported in one of our articles, neutral or La Niña ENSO conditions favour the formation of hurricanes (see article).

March 2024

In meteorological terms, spring begins on 1 March in the northern hemisphere, while autumn starts in the southern hemisphere. By March 2024, however, cooling in the southern hemisphere remained minimal. While Argentina experienced intense precipitation over a very short period, and Brazil faced multiple heavy rainfall events. Record temperatures for March were recorded across all continents, making each of the first three months of 2024 the hottest on record.

In addition to elevated air temperatures, the persistently high sea surface temperatures drew significant attention: March 2024 marked the 12th consecutive month in which sea surface temperatures reached monthly record highs.

Moreover, several tropical storms developed in the Indian Ocean, including Tropical Cyclone Filipo, which struck mainland Mozambique on 12 March, causing devastating damage. Around the same time but a year earlier, Tropical Cyclone Freddy caused widespread destruction, breaking the record as the longest lasting tropical cyclone with a total duration of 36 days (WMO, meteoblue).

April 2024

In April, the United Arab Emirates and Oman experienced extremely rare and intense rainfall events. Regions that normally receive very little precipitation were hit by heavy downpours. Dubai, for example, experiences an average of around 24 days of precipitation per year according to our ERA5 climate analyses, with daily totals ranging from 0.1 to 10mm for 22 of those days. On 16 April 2024, however, precipitation amounts of several hundred litres per square metre accumulated within just 24 hours.

According to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the airport in Dubai recorded approximately 144mm of rainfall in a single day. The highest recorded rainfall in the Emirates on that day was 259.5mm. This level of precipitation far exceeds what is typically observed in an entire year. The accompanying figure illustrates the rainfall accumulated over 120 hours (model: ERA5T).

Just a few days after the incident, rumours began circulating that so-called “cloud seeding" was responsible for the heavy precipitation. This geoengineering method involves deliberately injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to promote precipitation formation by acting as CCN (Cloud Condensation Nuclei) or IN (Ice Nuclei).

However, cloud seeding was not the cause of these heavy rainfall events. Instead, the cause can be attributed to a distinct weather system known as a “cold air drop” (also related to the so-called “upper-level low”). This phenomenon creates significant atmospheric instability, causing air masses to rise rapidly before cooling down and condensing. (Additional information is available here.)

May 2024

As was to be expected, May 2024 was the warmest May on record and in the meantime, the ENSO has switched to a neutral state. Mexico had already experienced several intense heatwaves in April, which continued in May 2024. Combined with widespread drought conditions, this created an interplay of multiple natural hazards, known in specialist literature as "compound events". Specifically, these were Compound Drought and Heatwave Events (CDHEs). Our temperature anomaly map indicates that large parts of Mexico experienced positive temperature anomalies exceeding 4°C during May.

June 2024

The beginning of June marks not only the start of meteorological summer in the northern hemisphere but also the onset of hurricane season in the Atlantic. In our two-part series on hurricanes published in 2024, we explained why tropical cyclones typically form in the Atlantic between June and August (see article). The first named tropical storm of the year, Tropical Storm Alberto, developed in the Gulf of Mexico on 17 June 2024 and dissipated over the Mexican mainland a few days later. Towards the end of the month, the season’s first hurricane, Hurricane Beryl, formed, which we will discuss in more detail in the July 2024 summary.

In addition to intense rainfall in parts of South-East Asia and South Africa, June 2024 also witnessed devastating heatwaves, some of which were accompanied by large-scale forest fires. One example is the heatwave over Greece, where maximum temperatures exceeding 38°C were recorded in many areas for several consecutive days. Multiple countries in south-east Europe and the Middle East were also impacted. Our anomaly maps for June highlight widespread negative precipitation anomalies and positive temperature anomalies.

July 2024

July 2024 was also marked by prolonged and intense heatwaves. Mediterranean heatwaves persisted, and this month became, once again, the warmest July on record (NOAA). A major event in July was Hurricane Beryl, which will go down in history as the earliest Category 5 hurricane of the annually recurring hurricane season.

Towards the end of June, Beryl evolved from a tropical disturbance to a tropical depression, driven by so-called African Easterly Waves (AEWs). The abnormally high sea surface temperatures enabled the cell to intensify rapidly. By 2 July 2024, Beryl had already reached the highest hurricane category (Category 5, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). As it passed through the Caribbean Sea, it devastated several island states and parts of the Yucatán Peninsula. On 8 July 2024, Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane and subsequently weakened.

August 2024

In addition to Hurricane Debby in the Atlantic, other tropical cyclones also developed in August, including Typhoon Asna in the Indian Ocean and Typhoon Shanshan in the Pacific. Towards the end of the month, Asna caused significant damage in India and southern Pakistan. Typhoon Shanshan also made its appearance late in the month, striking the Japanese islands, which had already been impacted by Tropical Storm Maria and Typhoon Ampil not long before. Moreover, August brought record-breaking high temperatures in many regions and was once again the warmest August on record globally.

The satellite illustration shows (left) the three storm centres approaching Japan. (1) is Tropical Storm Maria, which reached the mainland on 11 August. (2) depicts the development phase of Typhoon Ampil before it hit Japan on 16 August, and (3) shows an early phase of Typhoon Shanshan, which moved over the southern regions of Honshu on 28 August.

September 2024

For the first time in 16 months, no new global temperature record was set for the warmest month on record. According to the NOAA, September 2024 ranked second, with a global average temperature 0.19°C below the warmest September (2023). Sea surface temperatures in September remained within the normal range. After an initial warm phase in late summer, temperatures dropped sharply in Central Europe. The arrival of cold polar air from the northwest caused the first onset of winter in the Alps, with snow falling below 1500 metres in some places. While snowfall occurred in the Alpine mountains, the lowlands experienced heavy precipitation.

October 2024

In this month's summary, we once again focus on Spain, where another extreme event occurred towards the end of October. A cut-off low was responsible for several hundred litres of precipitation per square metre falling in some regions within a few hours. This quickly led to widespread flooding, mudslides and flash floods. The extent of these natural hazards was particularly noticeable in the provinces of Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. Due to the cold air drop that remained stationary for several days, the rainfall was not only very intense but also long-lasting.

Our 500 hPa height maps show the large-scale atmospheric circulation (left) and the dominant cold air trough centred over the Strait of Gibraltar (right) on 29 October 2024.

The map shows the altitude at which a pressure of 500 hPa is found, which is typically the case in the range of 5 to 6 kilometres above the ground. Regions coloured red indicate areas where this pressure is reached at a higher altitude, signifying a high-pressure system at the surface. In atmospheric science, such maps are particularly useful for analysing atmospheric circulation. They provide insights into high- and low-pressure areas, planetary waves (Rossby waves), troughs, ridges, and the advection of air masses. These make them essential tools for analysing large-scale weather and climate processes. The image on the right shows the warm air pool (ridge) with the isolated cut-off low in it. The eastern to southeastern side of the low-pressure system is often lifted by warm air advection. Warm, moist air rises near the surface, cools, and condenses.

November 2024

Towards the end of the year, several tropical storms and cyclones formed. These included Cyclone Fengal, which intensified from a tropical depression to a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal before striking the Indian mainland on 1 December. Super Typhoon Pepito also reached the Philippines early in the month. Pepito was the sixth tropical storm to impact the island nation within a span of 30 days.

Our monthly aggregated precipitation map also shows significant rainfall amounts over the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. These are largely attributed to the Australian monsoon, which influences these regions.

December 2024

As 2024 drew to a close, one thing was already undeniable: it was the first year in which the global average temperature was well above 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels. In addition, 2024 marked the warmest year on record since 1850. This year represents yet another link in a long series of temperature records clearly driven by human-induced climate change.

Although natural climate variability, such as El Niño, can influence short-term extremes, the overall warming trend is unequivocally caused by the rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change not only results in warming but also makes extreme events, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and droughts, more frequent and intense - a development that has been repeatedly confirmed by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).


Monitoring and early warning systems are essential in addressing these challenges. They allow for the early detection of risks, limit damage, and enhance the resilience of societies to the increasing impacts of climate change.

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