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.  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.

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.

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:

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