Thanks to La Nina conditions, the global average temperature was not ranked very high in the December-February period. Each of the three months from December 2025 to February 2026 was ranked only the fifth warmest. However, this relatively cool period is now coming to an end, as the impact of La Nina conditions is wearing off.
The three-month cool weather streak ended in March, which was ranked the fourth warmest March month. April so far is also ranked fourth warmest. But there has been a shift in April as compared to March, with April 2026 being much closer to the third ranked April month.
It is possible that by the time the month ends, April 2026 is ranked the third warmest April month. The remaining five days of April need to average 1.38°C deviation from the pre-industrial average for April 2026 to be tied with April 2016.
The warming relative to pre-industrial average is inching up again, possibly due to the impact of La Nina wearing off. Data shows that the Nino 3.4 region had entered neutral conditions towards the end of January, but the latest Nino 3.4 temperature data shows that even neutral conditions have likely ended. El Nino conditions were in place in the two weeks ending April 22.
