August 2023 was the hottest August globally since records began 178 years ago according to a press release issued by the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association on 14 September 2023, bringing to an end a season which has been both the hottest ever recorded summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the hottest ever recorded winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
August 2023 was the 45th consecutive August (and the 534th consecutive month) in which the global temperature was above the average for the twentieth century, with a global average land and sea surface temperature of 16.85°C, which is 1.25°C above the twentieth century average of 15.6°C. The month was the hottest August ever recorded in North and South America, Asia, and Africa, and the second hottest summer ever recorded in Europe and Oceania. It was also the hottest August ever recorded in the Arctic Circle. The month was also the fifth consecutive month in which the average global sea surface temperature was the hottest for that particular month ever recorded, as well as having the highest global average sea surface temperature for any month ever recorded.
The period June-August 2023 had an average global surface temperature of 16.75°C, which is 1.15°C over the twentieth century average for the same period (15.6°C), and the hottest June-August period ever recorded by 0.43°C, as well as the tenth consecutive June-August period to be the warmest June-August period on record. This period was the hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever recorded, 1.44°C above the twentieth century average, and the hottest Southern Hemisphere winter ever recorded, 0.85°C above the twentieth century average. 2023 has also been the hottest year ever recorded to date, with global average surface temperatures 0.86°C above the twentieth century average.
August 2023 also saw the lowest ever global sea ice coverage, with 1.425 million km² less sea ice globally than the previous lowest record in August 2019. This is the fourth consecutive month in which Antarctic sea ice has been the lowest ever recorded; with six of the first eight months in 2023 seeing the lowest ever recorded global sea ice for that month.
Nineteen tropical storms have been large enough to be named in August 2023, with eight of those reaching major tropical cyclone status, with sustained winds in excess of 179 km per hour, which is the joint highest number of such storms in a single month, tied with August 2015.
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