Global temperatures were above average during 2002 throughout most land areas. The adjacent figure depicts the warmer than average temperatures (for a 1961-1990 base period) that were widespread across much of the United States as well as most of Europe and Asia. Temperatures in these regions were 1-4°C (1.8-7.2°F) above the 1961-1990 average. The only widespread areas of negative anomalies were across parts of eastern Canada as well as southern Argentina where temperatures were between 1 and 3°C (1.8-5.4°F) cooler than average

Notable temperature extremes during 2002 included a severe heatwave during May and June across southwest Asia. Daily maximum temperatures reached as high as 50°C (122°F) which resulted in over 1,000 deaths across India and Pakistan. A series of winter storms affected parts of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina during July and August, bringing heavy snowfall and cold temperatures that were responsible for nearly 60 deaths. Winter storms that affected southeastern Europe during January were accompanied by cold temperatures and local snow depths of over 1 meter (3.3 feet) in parts of Albania, Bulgaria and Greece .

Read more about global temperature patterns here

2002 - too wet or too dry? Read more about global precipitation patterns here.

Source: National Climatic Data Center / NOAA, all data and graphs copyright NCDC and WeatherOnline.