Antarctica Records Warmest Day on Record – Temperature Soars to 18.3C

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the U.N.’s authoritative voice on weather, announced the Argentine Antarctica peninsula had its warmest day on record Thursday.

Midday temperatures at the Esperanza research base on the northern tip of the peninsula soared to 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest recorded temperature since 1961 when data first started being documented. The previous high on March 24, 2015, reached 17.5C

According to Randal Cerveny, WMO climate extremes expert, the surge in temperature appears to be linked with a regional “foehn” over the area: rapid warming of air coming down a slope or mountain.

The Argentine research base Esperanza, on the northern tip of #Antarctic Peninsula, saw a new record temperature of 18.3°C today (old one 17.5°C on 24 March 2015), per @SMN_Argentina.
Details of previous record at https://t.co/19Un83mmHn#ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/ZKvzr765Am

— WMO | OMM (@WMO) February 6, 2020

The new record established quickly after the previous 2015 high is a significant sign showing that warming in the Antarctic Peninsula is proceeding quicker than the global norm.

Throughout the past 50 years, warming along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula has produced an 87 percent retreat in the region’s glaciers and ice sheets. Pushing up sea levels and threatening coastal communities.

The WMO will now assign a committee from the Weather and Climate Extremes Archive to establish whether this indeed is a new record.