Enlarge / Warming in 2023 was widespread. (credit: NOAA NCEI )

Earlier this week, the EU's Earth science team came out with its analysis of 2023's global temperatures , finding it was the warmest year on record to date. In an era of global warming, that's not especially surprising. What was unusual was the way 2023 set its record—every month from June on coming in far above any equivalent month in the past—and the size of the gap between 2023 and any previous year on record.

The Copernicus dataset used for that analysis isn't the only one of the sort, and on Friday, Berkeley Earth , NASA , and NOAA all released equivalent reports. And all of them largely agree with the EU's: 2023 was a record, and an unusual one at that. So unusual that NASA's chief climate scientist, Gavin Schmidt, introduced his look at 2023 by saying, "We're frankly astonished."

Despite the overlaps with the earlier analysis, each of the three new ones add some details that flesh out what made last year so unusual.

Enlarge / In Florida, parts of the Sanibel Causeway to Sanibel Island are washed away, along with sections of the bridge to the island, after Hurricane Ian passed through the area in September 2022. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage (credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

NOAA forecasters are upping their expectations for the 2023 hurricane season, based on record-warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that forecasters have increased the likelihood of an above-normal season to 60 percent. The forecasters now expect 14 to 21 named storms, including six to 11 hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes of category 3, 4, or 5 strength, packing sustained winds of 111 miles an hour or more.

In May the forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center had projected a 30 percent chance of an above-normal season and thought a near-normal season was more likely, with 12 to 17 named storms. They said Thursday the revised forecast, issued routinely in August near the heart of the season, was based on Atlantic sea surface temperatures that have not been seen since record-keeping began in 1950, said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane season forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service.