I'm not a weather man, but your post did make me take a look on the NOAA web site and I found the following.

I'll leave it for each individual to draw their own conclusions.

Temperature Rankings and Graphics
Current Month / Year-to-date

Effective with the February 2006 report, NCDC transitioned from the use of the Operational Global Surface Temperature Index (Quayle et al. 1999) to the blended land and ocean dataset developed by Smith and Reynolds (2005). The differences between the two methods are discussed in Smith et al. (2005). The ranks found in the tables below are based on records that began in 1880.

The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for September 2008 tied with 2001 as the ninth warmest since records began in 1880. The September global land surface temperature tied with 2004 as the eleventh warmest on record, while the global ocean surface temperature tied with 2001 as the seventh warmest in the 129-year record. The January-September year-to-date land and ocean temperature was the ninth warmest on record.

September Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
Global
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean
+0.50°C (+0.90°F)
+0.42°C (+0.76°F)
+0.44°C (+0.79°F)
11th warmest
7th warmest
9th warmest
2005 (+1.05°C/1.89°F)
1997 (+0.54°C/0.97°F)
2005 (+0.64°C/1.15°F)

Northern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean

+0.49°C (+0.88°F)
+0.47°C (+0.85°F)
+0.48°C (+0.86°F)

12th warmest
6th warmest
9th warmest

2005 (+1.20°C/2.16°F)
2003 (+0.67°C/1.21°F)
2005 (+0.83°C/1.49°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean

+0.53°C (+0.95°F)
+0.38°C (+0.68°F)
+0.40°C (+0.72°F)

12th warmest
9th warmest
9th warmest

1997 (+1.18°C/2.12°F)
1997 (+0.55°C/0.99°F)
1997 (+0.63°C/1.13°F)

September's Global Land and Ocean plot
September's Global Hemisphere plot
January-September Anomaly Rank
(out of 129 years) Warmest (or Next
Warmest) Year on Record
Global
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean
+0.70°C (+1.26°F)
+0.36°C (+0.65°F)
+0.45°C (+0.81°F)
8th warmest
10th warmest
9th warmest
2007 (+1.03°C/1.85°F)
1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F)
1998 (+0.63°C/1.13°F)

Northern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean

+0.78°C (+1.40°F)
+0.38°C (+0.68°F)
+0.53°C (+0.95°F)

8th warmest
8th warmest
9th warmest

2007 (+1.20°C/2.16°F)
2005 (+0.55°C/0.99°F)
2007 (+0.73°C/1.31°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean

+0.44°C (+0.79°F)
+0.34°C (+0.61°F)
+0.35°C (+0.63°F)

10th warmest
13th warmest
13th warmest

2005 (+0.85°C/1.53°F)
1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F)
1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F)

January-September Global Land and Ocean plot
January-September Global Hemisphere plot

September Anomaly Rank
Global
Land +0.50°C (+0.90°F) 11th warmest
Ocean +0.42°C (+0.76°F) 7th warmest
Land & Ocean +0.44°C (+0.79°F) 9th warmest

Northern Hemisphere
Land +0.49°C (+0.88°F) 12th warmest
Ocean +0.47°C (+0.85°F) 6th warmest
Land and Ocean +0.48°C (+0.86°F) 9th warmest

Southern Hemisphere
Land +0.53°C (+0.95°F) 12th warmest
Ocean +0.38°C (+0.68°F) 9th warmest
Land and Ocean +0.40°C (+0.72°F) 9th warmest