Text 23899, 95 rader
Skriven 2006-10-16 19:46:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Weather
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They keep scratching their heads....

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http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2720.htm

U.S. HAS COOLER SEPTEMBER AFTER NEAR RECORD WARM SUMMER,
GLOBAL SEPTEMBER TEMPERATURE FOURTH WARMEST ON RECORD

Oct. 16, 2006 — September 2006 was cooler than average for the 
continental U.S., providing relief from the second-warmest summer on 
record, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data 
Center in Asheville, N.C. September was the first cooler-than-average 
month for the continental U.S. since May 2005. Drought conditions also 
improved in some areas of the nation, with nationally averaged 
precipitation above average during September. The global temperature 
remained well above average. 

U.S. Temperature Highlights
The September 2006 temperature for the contiguous United States (based 
on preliminary data) was 0.7 degrees F (0.4 degrees C) below the 20th 
century average of 65.4 degrees F (18.6 degrees C). This was the first 
cooler-than-average month since May 2005, based on the century-scale 
average. The rarity of below-average national temperatures is reflective 
of the overall long-term warming trend for the nation.

The January-September 2006 combined temperature is warmest on record. 
The previous record warm January-September happened in 2000.

The September temperature was below average in 25 states of the 
continental U.S., while above-average temperatures occurred in only five 
(Vermont, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon).

September temperatures for Alaska averaged at 48.6 degrees F and were 
warmer than average, 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) above the 1971-2000 
mean (45.9 degrees), the 11th warmest September since statewide records 
began in 1918.

U.S. Precipitation Highlights
Wetter-than-average conditions in September occurred from the northern 
High Plains to the Southwest and from New York to the mid-Mississippi 
Valley. Overall, precipitation was above average for the nation. (Click 
NOAA image for larger view of January-September 2006 statewide 
precipitation rankings. Please credit “NOAA.ö)

Kentucky tied its September precipitation record with 8.02 inches of 
rain.

A wetter-than-average summer monsoon season for much of the Southwest 
ended in September. Precipitation during the past few months ended 
drought in New Mexico and helped reduce drought severity in other parts 
of the region. However, below-average reservoirs and other longer term 
hydrological effects remained widespread.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 33 percent of the continental 
U.S. was in moderate to exceptional drought at the end of September, a 
decrease of 11 percent since the end of August.

Severe-to-exceptional drought remained across large parts of Arizona, 
southern Oklahoma to south Texas, areas of the northern high Plains, the 
northern Rockies and northern Minnesota.

Drier-than-average conditions across the Far West contributed to the 
continuation of a very active wildfire season for the nation. By early 
October, more than 9 million acres, mostly in the continental U.S., had 
burned since the beginning of the year, according to the National 
Interagency Fire Center. This exceeded the previous record for an entire 
year, set in 2005 when 8.7 million acres burned, much of it in Alaska.

Global Highlights
It was the fourth warmest September and fifth warmest year-to-date 
period since records began in 1880 for global land- and ocean-surface 
temperatures (1.01 degrees F/0.56 degrees C, 092 degrees F/0.51 degrees 
C above the 20th century mean). September land surface temperatures were 
second warmest, while ocean surface temperatures were third warmest in 
the 127-year record. An El Niño episode began in September as ocean 
temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific continued a 
recent warming trend.

In 2007 NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 
years of science and service to the nation. Starting with the 
establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1807 by Thomas 
Jefferson much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. The 
agency is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety 
through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related 
events and information service delivery for transportation, and by 
providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine 
resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of 
Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 
countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring 
network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and 
protects.

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