By The University of Alabama in Huntsville

The La Nina cooling of the tropical atmosphere continued in March, with temperatures in the tropics falling to their coldest seasonally-adjusted temperature (-0.49 C below the 20-year average for March) since the La Nina of March 1989, according to Dr. John Christy, a professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center (ESSC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Tropical temperatures in March 1989 dropped -0.72 C (1.3 degrees Fahrenheit) below seasonal norms.

March temperatures (preliminary):
Global composite temp.: +0.09 C (about 0.16 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for March.
Northern Hemisphere: +0.43 C (about 0.77 degrees Fahrenheit) above 20-year average for March.
Southern Hemisphere: - 0.25 C (about 0.45 degrees Fahrenheit) below 20-year average for March.

See the data here.

See full size image here

Icecap Note: See the warmth in Asia where extreme cold spread unusually far south this winter with heavy snow, leaving northern areas with less snow and cold. Snowmelt came early north and south. Anomalies this month are nearer normal there with very cold weather in Siberia and warm in central China. Note the cold North America temperatures where snowpack persisted. NOAA noted for the United States, the average temperature in March 2008 was 42.2 F. This was -0.4 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 52nd coolest March in 114 years.