4 Billion Years On

Climate Rankings – Sep 2026

232 regions ranked by this month's temperature anomaly vs their 1961–1990 baseline…

232 regions ranked by this month's temperature anomaly vs their 1961–1990 baseline - every country, US state and UK region we track. The warmest and coolest places, biggest movers, roll-ups by continent and the fastest long-term warming, with a league table over 1, 3 and 12 months from ERA5, NOAA and Met Office data.

Latest data Sep 2026

Warmest & Coolest

Warmest this month

  1. 1st🇺🇸Oklahoma+5.87°C
  2. 2nd🇺🇸Arkansas+5.33°C
  3. 3rd🇺🇸Kansas+5.30°C
  4. 4th🇸🇸South Sudan+5.19°C
  5. 5th🇺🇸Missouri+5.15°C
  6. 6th🤠Texas+4.93°C
  7. 7th🇺🇸Tennessee+4.23°C
  8. 8th🇺🇸Kentucky+4.15°C
  9. 9th🇸🇩Sudan+4.03°C
  10. 10th🇺🇸Illinois+3.91°C

Coolest this month

  1. 232nd🇺🇾Uruguay-0.73°C
  2. 231st🇺🇸Oregon-0.65°C
  3. 230th🌍Vanuatu-0.59°C
  4. 229th🌍Greenland-0.48°C
  5. 228th🌍New Caledonia-0.33°C
  6. 227th🇫🇯Fiji-0.33°C
  7. 226th🇺🇸Washington-0.19°C
  8. 225th🇦🇷Argentina+0.21°C
  9. 224th🇸🇿Eswatini+0.28°C
  10. 223rd🇹🇱East Timor+0.29°C

Cross-Region Analysis

Who led this month

Oklahoma experienced the single biggest temperature anomaly in September 2026, registering a striking +5.87°C above average. The top three warmest regions were all US states: Oklahoma, Arkansas (+5.33°C), and Kansas (+5.30°C). These states are all located in the south-central United States, indicating a concentrated area of exceptional warmth.

Biggest shifts

North Dakota saw the most significant climb in the 1-month league table, rocketing up 202 places from 226th to 24th with an anomaly of +3.20°C. Similarly, Indiana climbed 195 places to 15th, and Illinois jumped 194 places to 10th. This indicates a sudden and widespread warming trend across the US Midwest and Plains, contrasting sharply with regions like California, which dropped 170 places to 221st, suggesting a significant cooling relative to its peers.

Regional patterns

The US South region averaged the warmest this month with a mean 1-month anomaly of +4.72°C, followed by the Ohio Valley at +3.73°C. Europe also experienced significant warmth, averaging +2.20°C across its 39 countries. This suggests that while the most extreme anomalies were concentrated in the south-central US, above-average temperatures were a widespread phenomenon across multiple continents.

What’s driving change?

The exceptional warmth in September 2026, particularly across the south-central United States and parts of Europe, is largely attributed to a strengthening El Niño event and persistent . NOAA's Climate Prediction Center confirmed in October 2026 that the current El Niño has been intensifying and is likely to become a historic event, with sea surface temperature anomalies in the Niño-3.4 region reaching +2.1°C in September. This strong El Niño typically influences global weather patterns, contributing to warmer temperatures in many regions. A heat dome over the south-central US in mid-September also contributed to record-breaking temperatures in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Copernicus also reported that September 2026 was the second-warmest September globally, with exceptionally high temperatures persisting across parts of Europe after an extreme summer, and that global sea surface temperatures were the highest on record for the month, driven by the strengthening El Niño.

Sources:

substack.com ↗noaa.gov ↗weatherwest.com ↗wmo.int ↗economictimes.com ↗instagram.com ↗

Generated by Gemini from the ranking data above and web sources · 13 October 2026

Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Biggest Movers

Rank changes on the 1-month anomaly league table between the previous snapshot (2026-09) and this one (2026-10).

Climbed the most (relatively warmer this month)

  1. 🇺🇸North Dakota226 → 24+202
  2. 🇺🇸Indiana210 → 15+195
  3. 🇺🇸Illinois204 → 10+194
  4. 🇺🇸South Dakota211 → 19+192
  5. 🇺🇸Iowa212 → 21+191
  6. 🇺🇸Minnesota218 → 31+187
  7. 🇺🇸Nebraska185 → 11+174
  8. 🇺🇸Kentucky180 → 8+172
  9. 🇺🇸Wisconsin207 → 36+171
  10. 🇵🇹Portugal200 → 29+171

Dropped the most (relatively cooler this month)

  1. ☀️California51 → 221-170
  2. 🇺🇸Idaho66 → 219-153
  3. 🇭🇺Hungary6 → 156-150
  4. 🇺🇸Oregon82 → 231-149
  5. 🇺🇸Nevada38 → 183-145
  6. 🇳🇦Namibia64 → 207-143
  7. 🇸🇮Slovenia7 → 146-139
  8. 🇧🇬Bulgaria32 → 167-135
  9. 🇷🇴Romania17 → 151-134
  10. 🇬🇷Greece57 → 186-129
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Roll-ups by Group

By Continent

North America (6)· agg+2.57°C
Asia +2.09°C
Europe +2.03°C
Oceania +1.80°C
South America (8)· agg+1.41°C
Africa +1.24°C

By US Climate Region

South +4.88°C
Ohio Valley +3.94°C
Northern Rockies and Plains +2.91°C
Upper Midwest +2.84°C
Southwest +2.72°C
Southeast +2.19°C
Northeast +1.36°C
West +0.75°C
Northwest -0.08°C

By Region Type

US States (49)+2.50°C
UK Regions (14)+2.38°C
Countries (169)+1.82°C
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Warming Trends

Countries ranked by their linear warming trend in annual mean temperature since 1961. All countries are warming; the question is how fast.

Fastest warming

Linear trend in annual mean temperature since 1961

  1. 1st🇳🇴Norway+0.60°C/dec
  2. 2nd🇮🇸Iceland+0.53°C/dec
  3. 3rd🇸🇦Saudi Arabia+0.51°C/dec
  4. 4th🇦🇹Austria+0.48°C/dec
  5. 5th🇨🇭Switzerland+0.47°C/dec
  6. 6th🇮🇷Iran+0.47°C/dec
  7. 7th🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina+0.47°C/dec
  8. 8th🇮🇶Iraq+0.47°C/dec
  9. 9th🇹🇳Tunisia+0.46°C/dec
  10. 10th🇷🇺Russia+0.46°C/dec

Slowest warming

Linear trend in annual mean temperature since 1961

  1. 169th🇺🇾Uruguay+0.10°C/dec
  2. 168th🇦🇺Australia+0.11°C/dec
  3. 167th🌍Vanuatu+0.12°C/dec
  4. 166th🇸🇿Eswatini+0.12°C/dec
  5. 165th🇦🇷Argentina+0.13°C/dec
  6. 164th🇫🇯Fiji+0.14°C/dec
  7. 163rd🇵🇷Puerto Rico+0.14°C/dec
  8. 162nd🇨🇱Chile+0.14°C/dec
  9. 161st🇹🇱East Timor+0.14°C/dec
  10. 160th🇨🇷Costa Rica+0.15°C/dec
Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Symphony

Climate Map – Global

Source: Copernicus ERA5 (countries) · NOAA Climate at a Glance (continents, US states & climate regions) · Met Office (UK) · GPCC (rainfall, snow) · World Bank CCKP (frost). Anomalies are vs the 1961–1990 baseline. See methodology.

Climate Map 4byo Climate Helix

League Table

#1-Month Anomaly (°C)
1Oklahoma+5.87°C
2Arkansas+5.33°C
3Kansas+5.30°C
4South Sudan+5.19°C
5Missouri+5.15°C
6Texas+4.93°C
7Tennessee+4.23°C
8Kentucky+4.15°C
9Sudan+4.03°C
10Illinois+3.91°C
11Nebraska+3.91°C
12Mississippi+3.74°C
13Eritrea+3.64°C
14New Mexico+3.43°C
15Indiana+3.41°C
16Spain+3.41°C
17Luxembourg+3.27°C
18Uganda+3.26°C
19South Dakota+3.25°C
20Colorado+3.24°C
21Iowa+3.23°C
22Switzerland+3.21°C
23El Salvador+3.21°C
24North Dakota+3.20°C
25East Anglia+3.19°C
26Iran+3.19°C
27England SE & Central South+3.17°C
28Louisiana+3.14°C
29Portugal+3.13°C
30Saudi Arabia+3.09°C
31Minnesota+3.08°C
32France+3.05°C
33Morocco+3.01°C
34Belgium+2.96°C
35Alabama+2.93°C
36Wisconsin+2.91°C
37Italy+2.89°C
38Qatar+2.89°C
39Chad+2.88°C
40Wyoming+2.87°C
41Rwanda+2.87°C
42Guyana+2.82°C
43England+2.81°C
44Midlands+2.78°C
45Burundi+2.78°C
46Virginia+2.73°C
47Kuwait+2.73°C
48England and Wales+2.71°C
49Suriname+2.70°C
50West Virginia+2.69°C
51Canada+2.69°C
52United Arab Emirates+2.69°C
53Kazakhstan+2.66°C
54England East & North East+2.65°C
55DR Congo+2.61°C
56Ohio+2.56°C
57Bosnia and Herzegovina+2.56°C
58Jamaica+2.55°C
59Mexico+2.51°C
60Iraq+2.50°C
61Yemen+2.50°C
62Estonia+2.49°C
63United States+2.47°C
64North Carolina+2.47°C
65England SW & South Wales+2.45°C
66Ethiopia+2.45°C
67Netherlands+2.42°C
68Iceland+2.41°C
69Russia+2.40°C
70Latvia+2.40°C
71Guatemala+2.39°C
72Ecuador+2.38°C
73Niger+2.36°C
74Montenegro+2.35°C
75Tunisia+2.35°C
76Norway+2.34°C
77Egypt+2.32°C
78United Kingdom+2.30°C
79Djibouti+2.30°C
80Mongolia+2.30°C
81Croatia+2.28°C
82Kyrgyzstan+2.27°C
83Finland+2.25°C
84Austria+2.25°C
85Albania+2.25°C
86Utah+2.23°C
87Kosovo+2.23°C
88Wales+2.19°C
89Venezuela+2.18°C
90Germany+2.17°C
91South Carolina+2.16°C
92Uzbekistan+2.16°C
93Lithuania+2.15°C
94Australia+2.14°C
95England NW & North Wales+2.14°C
96Montana+2.11°C
97Peru+2.11°C
98Northern Ireland+2.10°C
99Georgia+2.09°C
100Belize+2.09°C
101Delaware+2.07°C
102Colombia+2.05°C
103Dominican Republic+2.05°C
104Honduras+2.05°C
105Tajikistan+2.05°C
106Syria+2.03°C
107Maryland+2.01°C
108Azerbaijan+2.01°C
109Michigan+2.00°C
110Serbia+1.98°C
111Haiti+1.97°C
112Israel+1.96°C
113Libya+1.96°C
114Turkmenistan+1.95°C
115Belarus+1.94°C
116Mauritania+1.94°C
117Scotland West+1.93°C
118Afghanistan+1.93°C
119Arizona+1.91°C
120Ireland+1.90°C
121Scotland East+1.89°C
122Indonesia+1.89°C
123Ukraine+1.89°C
124Pennsylvania+1.88°C
125Lebanon+1.86°C
126Sweden+1.86°C
127Central African Republic+1.83°C
128Slovakia+1.83°C
129Congo+1.82°C
130Panama+1.81°C
131Malaysia+1.80°C
132Palestine+1.80°C
133Armenia+1.80°C
134Scotland+1.79°C
135Brunei+1.78°C
136Georgia+1.77°C
137Jordan+1.77°C
138Denmark+1.75°C
139New Jersey+1.73°C
140South Korea+1.73°C
141Mali+1.73°C
142North Korea+1.71°C
143Equatorial Guinea+1.70°C
144Czechia+1.69°C
145China+1.68°C
146Slovenia+1.68°C
147Kenya+1.66°C
148Moldova+1.66°C
149Gabon+1.64°C
150Pakistan+1.62°C
151Romania+1.61°C
152Poland+1.59°C
153Scotland North+1.58°C
154Brazil+1.58°C
155Algeria+1.57°C
156Hungary+1.56°C
157Senegal+1.55°C
158Costa Rica+1.54°C
159Burkina Faso+1.54°C
160Nicaragua+1.53°C
161Sri Lanka+1.51°C
162Cameroon+1.51°C
163Bolivia+1.50°C
164Nigeria+1.48°C
165Bangladesh+1.48°C
166Gambia+1.48°C
167Bulgaria+1.46°C
168Paraguay+1.40°C
169Benin+1.39°C
170Bhutan+1.39°C
171Trinidad and Tobago+1.36°C
172Philippines+1.31°C
173Myanmar+1.31°C
174South Africa+1.30°C
175Guinea-Bissau+1.30°C
176Turkey+1.28°C
177Togo+1.28°C
178Guinea+1.26°C
179Ghana+1.24°C
180Puerto Rico+1.24°C
181New York+1.23°C
182Oman+1.21°C
183Nevada+1.19°C
184Sierra Leone+1.19°C
185Malawi+1.16°C
186Greece+1.15°C
187Zimbabwe+1.14°C
188Cyprus+1.13°C
189Tanzania+1.13°C
190Mozambique+1.13°C
191Rhode Island+1.12°C
192India+1.11°C
193Cuba+1.11°C
194Madagascar+1.08°C
195Somalia+1.07°C
196Cote d'Ivoire+1.04°C
197Chile+1.03°C
198Vietnam+1.03°C
199Vermont+1.02°C
200Japan+1.02°C
201Laos+1.02°C
202Angola+1.01°C
203Massachusetts+1.00°C
204Alaska+0.99°C
205Liberia+0.98°C
206Maine+0.96°C
207Namibia+0.96°C
208Connecticut+0.94°C
209Bahamas+0.93°C
210Florida+0.92°C
211Lesotho+0.88°C
212Botswana+0.86°C
213New Hampshire+0.81°C
214Nepal+0.81°C
215Cambodia+0.79°C
216New Zealand+0.78°C
217Thailand+0.75°C
218Zambia+0.75°C
219Idaho+0.74°C
220Papua New Guinea+0.63°C
221California+0.51°C
222Solomon Islands+0.33°C
223East Timor+0.29°C
224Eswatini+0.28°C
225Argentina+0.21°C
226Washington-0.19°C
227Fiji-0.33°C
228New Caledonia-0.33°C
229Greenland-0.48°C
230Vanuatu-0.59°C
231Oregon-0.65°C
232Uruguay-0.73°C

All anomalies in °C vs 1961–1990 baseline. 232 regions total.

Global Climate Update 4byo Climate Helix

Data Sources

Methodology

Anomaly = monthly mean temperature − 1961–1990 mean for the same calendar month. The 12-month figure is the trailing 12-month mean minus the 12-month baseline. Country data is from Copernicus ERA5 (C3S) / NOAA; UK regions from the Met Office Regional Series; US states & climate regions from NOAA Climate at a Glance. NOAA values are re-baselined from their native 1901–2000 to 1961–1990 for cross-region comparison; the source-native figure is shown alongside for verification.

See the full methodology & data sources page for the complete two-baseline model, source timeline and known caveats.

FAQs

FAQs

How are the climate rankings calculated?

Each region is scored by its temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline for the same calendar period. The 1-month figure uses the most recent complete month; the 3-month figure uses a trailing 3-month mean; the 12-month figure uses a trailing 12-month mean. A higher positive anomaly means the region was warmer than its 1961-1990 average for that period.

Why is the 1961-1990 baseline used?

The 1961-1990 baseline is widely used by the IPCC and national meteorological agencies for cross-region comparisons. NOAA datasets that natively use 1901-2000 are re-baselined to 1961-1990 so countries, US states and UK regions can be compared on equal terms; the source-native figure is shown alongside for verification.

Which regions are included in the rankings?

Every country, US state, UK home nation, UK region, continent and US climate region for which a complete monthly time series is available. The current count is shown on the rankings page.

How often do the rankings update?

Rankings refresh every 24 hours via a Vercel Cron job that runs at 03:00 UTC and pulls in any new monthly data released by NOAA, the Met Office, Berkeley Earth and OWID since the previous run.

What does the long-term warming trend show?

The long-term trend column shows how fast each country, US state or UK region has been warming in degrees per decade since 1961, calculated as an ordinary least-squares linear regression on annual mean temperatures. A value of +0.30°C (+0.54°F) per decade means the region has warmed by roughly that amount for every ten years of the record. Every region in our dataset shows a positive trend, reflecting the global warming signal.

Which countries are warming fastest?

Arctic and high-latitude regions consistently top the fastest-warming list due to Arctic amplification - a feedback process where melting sea ice exposes darker ocean that absorbs more heat. Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries also rank high. The Long-term Trend section on this page shows the current top and bottom 10 by warming rate.

Why does every region show a positive warming trend?

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have raised global average temperatures by more than 1°C (1.8°F) above pre-industrial levels. While the rate varies significantly by location - polar regions warming two to four times faster than the global average - no region we track has a negative long-term trend when measured from 1961 to the present.

Where can I see the full methodology?

The Methodology & Sources gives the complete two-baseline model, source timeline and known caveats.