Through climate analysis, National Climatic Data Center scientists have identified nine climatically consistent regions within the contiguous United States which are useful for putting current climate anomalies into a historical perspective.
Information about NOAA's Regional Climate Centers can be obtained by setting your web browser to: http://met-www.cit.cornell.edu/other_rcc.html
The Southeast Regional Climate Center has compiled a list of U.S. temperature records tied in January 1999:
Southeast Regional Climate Center
The National Drought Mitigation Center's Drought Watch monitors current droughts both in the United States and worldwide. Additional information can be found at:
http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc/watch/watch.htm
Table 1 shows precipitation and temperature ranks for each of the 9 regions and the nation for January 1999, the two-month period of December 1998-January 1999, the six months of August 1998-January 1999, and the past 12 months February 1998-January 1999. Note: the Statewide Rank Maps are presented on the Statewide Analyses page.
TABLE 1. PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE RANKS, BASED
ON THE PERIOD 1895-1999. 1 = DRIEST/COLDEST,
105 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR JANUARY 1999,
104 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR DEC 1998-JAN 1999,
104 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR AUG 1998-JAN 1999,
104 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR FEB 1998-JAN 1999.
JAN DEC 1998- AUG 1998- FEB 1998-
REGION 1999 JAN 1999 JAN 1999 JAN 1999
------ ---- --------- --------- ---------
PRECIPITATION:
NORTHEAST 103 72 16 79
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 87 55 58 79
CENTRAL 97 91 50 98
SOUTHEAST 90 74 61 76
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 74 75 100 98
SOUTH 90 74 98 51
SOUTHWEST 19 11 46 73
NORTHWEST 68 82 75 92
WEST 51 27 49 102
NATIONAL 93 72 78 97
TEMPERATURE:
NORTHEAST 61 89 96 102
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 54 78 102 103
CENTRAL 65 79 100 101
SOUTHEAST 84 90 99 101
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 76 82 104 100
SOUTH 91 89 101 103
SOUTHWEST 96 89 97 88
NORTHWEST 94 76 101 100
WEST 88 65 81 32
NATIONAL 93 97 104 104
Table 2 shows historical extremes for January, the 1961-1990 normal, and the January 1999 value for each of the 9 regions and the contiguous U.S. for precipitation and temperature.
TABLE 2. EXTREMES, 1961-90 NORMALS, AND 1999 VALUES
FOR JANUARY. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE
1999 VALUES WILL CHANGE WHEN THE FINAL DATA
ARE PROCESSED.
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DRIEST WETTEST NORMAL 1999
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR PCPN PCPN
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST .87 1981 7.22 1979 2.84 5.27
EAST NORTH CENTRAL .32 1961 2.47 1916 1.11 1.62
CENTRAL .72 1981 9.61 1937 2.52 5.02
SOUTHEAST .92 1927 7.73 1936 4.13 5.48
WEST NORTH CENTRAL .16 1961 1.25 1949 .61 .74
SOUTH .53 1914 5.34 1932 2.09 3.19
SOUTHWEST .20 1924 3.00 1916 .82 .44
NORTHWEST .43 1985 7.81 1953 3.80 4.16
WEST .28 1984 10.67 1916 2.58 2.62
NATIONAL .92 1981 3.87 1916 2.07 2.86*
* PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
INTERVAL + OR - .34 INCHES
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
COLDEST WARMEST NORMAL 1999
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR TEMP TEMP
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 12.3 1918 33.8 1932 21.1 23.2
EAST NORTH CENTRAL -1.3 1912 25.4 1990 13.0 14.2
CENTRAL 15.1 1977 40.0 1933 28.2 32.0
SOUTHEAST 35.0 1977 57.7 1950 44.1 49.3
WEST NORTH CENTRAL .1 1937 26.6 1986 16.5 20.8
SOUTH 31.1 1940 50.7 1923 40.7 46.1
SOUTHWEST 20.8 1937 38.2 1986 31.2 36.1
NORTHWEST 13.4 1949 37.4 1953 28.5 32.8
WEST 24.4 1937 45.5 1986 38.4 41.1
NATIONAL 22.4 1979 37.1 1953 29.9 34.0*
* PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
INTERVAL + OR - .3 DEG. F.
| Preliminary data ranked January 1999 as the 52nd warmest such month on record for the East-North Central Region. The East-North Central Region includes Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
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Preliminary data ranked January 1999 as the tenth warmest such period on record for the Southwest Region. The last seven such months have been above- to much-above the long-term mean.
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| Preliminary data ranked January 1999 as the third wettest such period on record for the Northeast Region. The northeast Region includes each state from Pennsylvania and Maryland, northeastward. Precipitation for five of the last six such months has been above the long-term mean.
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Preliminary data ranked January 1999 as the 19th driest such month on record for the Southwest Region. The Southwest Region includes Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
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For more information, refer to ...
References:
Thomas R. Karl and Albert J. Koscielny, 1982: "Drought in the United States: 1895-1981." Journal of Climatology, vol. 2, pp. 313-329.
Thomas R. Karl and Walter James Koss, 1984: "Regional and National Monthly, Seasonal, and Annual Temperature Weighted by Area, 1895-1983." Historical Climatology Series 4-3, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, 38 pp.
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center is the world's largest active archive of weather data. The preliminary temperature and precipitation rankings are available from the center by calling: 828-271-4800 or on the World Wide Web at: http:/www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/documentlibrary/cvb.html
Historical precipitation and temperature ranking maps are also available on the Internet at: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/usa.html.
NOAA works closely with the academic and science communities on climate-related research projects to increase the understanding of El Niño and improve forecasting techniques. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center monitors, analyzes and predicts climate events ranging from weeks to seasons for the nation. NOAA also operates the network of data buoys and satellites that provide vital information about the ocean waters, and initiates research projects to improve future climate forecasts. The long lead climate outlooks are available on the Internet at: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov.
For further information, contact:
William Brown
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: william.brown@noaa.gov
-or-
Mike Changery
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: mchangry@ncdc.noaa.gov
 NCDC / Climate Monitoring / Climate of 1999 / Help
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