temperature · Antarctica
Esperanza Base, Antarctic Peninsula
February peak daily maximum
Modelled demonstration series · not observed data
Almost nobody lives here, so the population figure understates it badly. What this reading affects is ice: melt ponds on shelf surfaces, meltwater working into crevasses, and the slow structural weakening of the floating buttresses that hold land ice back from the sea. The consequences of this tile are measured in coastlines elsewhere.
75 years, modelled
Same reading, two normals
| Normal | Mean | σ | Pct | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951–1980 | 9.8 °C | +2.20σ | 99th | 1 in 72 years |
| 1991–2020 | 11.7 °C | +1.00σ | 84th | 1 in 6.3 years |
Today would rank 5 of 76 for highest value in the modelled series. Nothing about the reading changes between rows — only the yardstick.
Documented real-world record · well documented
18.3 °C — 6 February 2020
Esperanza Base recorded 18.3 °C, verified by the World Meteorological Organization as the highest temperature measured on the Antarctic continental mainland.
The season here
February is high summer on the peninsula — the one time of year the northern tip can climb well above freezing.
Where this series comes from
MODELLED SERIES — not observed. Parameters set from published Esperanza February climatology. The 75 annual values are synthesised. The real-world record cited separately is documented and is NOT part of this modelled series.
Every number on this page comes from a modelled series: 75 annual values synthesised by a seeded generator from published climatological parameters for Esperanza Base, Antarctic Peninsula. It shows how anomaly reasoning works. It is not a measurement and must not be cited as one.
How to read σ
σ counts standard deviations from this place's own normal. The sigma guide · return periods.
More temperature stations
Open Esperanza Base on the field →