All-time temperature records

Over the past twenty years, global weather stations - over 100,000 around the world, according to NOAA’s GHCN-Daily dataset—have logged an impressive number of temperature extremes. Of the roughly half a billion daily high and low temperature entries, around 40,000 represent all-time records set during that period.

Let’s slow things down for a moment: when you slow the map animation, those dots marking record heats and colds don’t just flash by. You’ll see the West Coast biting into the cold in 1998–99, then baking under heat in 2002. Europe’s catastrophic 2003 heatwave stands out—and in 2025, parts of the continent faced something eerily similar. Asia’s sudden freeze in early 2016 also stands out in sharp white.

Source: flourish.studio

Crank the speed back up and plot highs and lows per month, and you’ll notice the rhythm of the seasons, especially where station density is heavier - in the Northern Hemisphere. Traditionally, high and low records balanced out over time. Not anymore. In the last 20 years, record highs now exceed record lows by nearly 50%, pointing toward a warming trend.

If you’ve wondered just how often "unusual" temperatures occur, here's a perspective: in the U.S., 15 of the last 20 years had more daily record highs than record lows, and in certain years - like 1998, 2012, and 2016 - the ratio exploded to more than four times as many highs as lows. By 2017, record highs were still 3.5 times more frequent, and all-time highs were outweighing all-time lows by nearly 9 to 1.

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