The period of January to September 2014 (three quarters) has tied with the records of 1998 and 2010 in terms of warmest three quarters.
The past 12 month period of October 2013 to October 2014 has been the warmest 12 consecutive month period since the year 1880.
If 2014 maintains the current trend of departure from normal in the last 3 months as it has done in the first 9 months of 2014 then it will be the warmest year on record!
The global ocean temperatures are also showing a similar trend. The global ocean temperatures during September 2014 were the warmest ever recorded. An ocean temperature anomaly of 0.66 degree Celsius or 1.19 degree Fahrenheit was the highest ever measured beating the record set by the previous month of August 2014.
The global land temperatures also are matching this pattern. Global land temperatures in September 2014 were the sixth warmest ever recorded.
Satellite measured temperatures in the lowest 8 kms of the atmosphere also showed a similar temperature anomaly. Global satellites measured temperatures in September 2014 of the lowest 8 kms of the atmosphere were the seventh warmest in the 36 year record. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether 2014 will be the warmest year ever recorded.