The largest temperature anomalies in November were observed over large portions of North America. In parts of Scandanavia and the United States, monthly mean temperatures were as high as 5 degrees C above the 1992-1999 average. The warmth was also noticeable across portions of central Canada, Mongolia and South Africa. Temperatures were cooler than average over portions of South America. Temperatures in central Europe were much cooler than usual due to frequent storms; in fact, many locations from Spain and France eastward into central Russia experienced snow during the month. The heavy snowfalls in the Alps triggered early season avalanches, and above average snowfall extended eastward from the Alps across central Russia, north of the Caspian Sea. These and additional regional variations are discussed in this report. A special report is available at Climate Watch.

European Blended Temperatures

The warmest anomalies were noted across portions of Scandanavia where temperatures were at least 5 degrees C above average. These warm temperatures were related to a ridge of high pressure aloft north of the Baltic Sea. In contrast, to the south of this region over central Europe, frequent storms kept the region cloudy and cooler than average.

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Wetness Anomalies in Europe

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The wetness anomalies are related to the upper air pattern this month. In northern Europe, across parts of Scandanivia, temperatures were above average, causing much of the precipitation to fall as rain and leading to scattered positive anomalies. In contrast, across central and eastern Europe, liquid water observed by the satellite is below the 1992-1999 average. This region did receive copious precipitation, but the majority of the precipitation fell as snow, which was not observable in the satellite bandwidth which indicates liquid water. The precipitation in these areas which fell as snow in central Europe and western Asia show up on the satellite snow cover maps.

Snowcover Analysis for Europe

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Frequent storms and colder than average temperatures resulted in most of the precipitation in this region falling as snow during the month. A band of above average snowcover anomalies stretched eastward from the mountainous areas in northern Spain, across the Alps into south central Russia. Heavy snow blocked roads and interrupted electricity in Poland; and the Ukraine also experienced electricity supply problems as a result of the snow. In France, drivers were temporarily trapped on the A7 highway in the Rhone Valley due to heavy snow. The largest anomalies were centered in the Ukraine region. In contrast, snowcover was lacking during the month of November across a good deal of Scandanavia. This region north of the Baltic Sea reported temperatures as high as 5 degrees C above average and much of the precipitation fell as rain rather than snow.

Wetness Anomalies in Africa/Middle East

Drought conditions are expected to worsen across a large part of the Middle East region. This on-going deficit was caused by a shortfall of winter precipitation last year combined with below average precipitation this month.

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Parts of Africa were slightly drier than usual this month. The driest areas included a good deal of Zaire, Rwanda and parts of Zambia. The Government of Rwanda reported that drought has affected 178,909 people across the country, in the following six prefectures: Umutara (40,816), Kibungo (16,327), Kigali rural (20,408), Gitarama (54,420), Butare (40,816) and Gikongoro (6,122). Floods were reported across portions of Nigeria and the Central African Republic in November; however the extent of the positive wetness anomalies this month was not quite as large as previous months in parts of Sahel region of Africa.

Africa/Middle East Temperatures

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Warmest anomalies this month were centered across South Africa; elsewhere warm anomalies were across the northeastern half of the African continent eastward into Saudi Arabia. Coolest anomalies were noted across parts of northwestern Africa in Morocco and scattered cool pockets were also observed in the east central section of the continent.

North American Temperature Anomalies

A general flow of west to east mild Pacific air dominated much of North America during the month. In fact, South Dakota set a new all time state record temperature. The mercury hit 89 degrees F (32 C) at Kennebec, South Dakota on the 8th.

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This set the general trend for the North American continent with most places over 4 degrees C above average. The warmth extended across most of Canada and the U.S. with the greatest anomalies across the central Plains states of the U.S. Several hundred new station records were set with the warmth. The records for major U.S. stations are available at Selected U.S. City and State Extremes.

Wetness Anomalies in Asia

A broad swath from the Bangladesh region eastward across southeast Asia observed high positive wetness anomalies. Flooding was reported in this region; in Cambodia flood waters damaged 3,561 homes. In Vietnam, the flooding was worse; the government of Vietnam has reported the following losses associated with the flooding that occurred in the first half of November: 622 deaths, 70 missing persons, 470,493 households affected, 41,846 homes destroyed, 870,000 homes damaged.

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Asia Snowcover

Moisture transported northward from the tropics fell as snow across the mountainous and high desert regions of south central Asia and contributed to an above average snow cover for the second month in a row. The snow cover animation is unavailable this month, but should be available in December.

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South America Temperature

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For the second month in a row, the southeastern portion of the continent in southern Chile and Argentina was warmer than usual due to a weak ridge of high pressure aloft. Central sections of the continent were cooler than average; and parts of southern Brazil were also experiencing drought conditions which are expected to continue and affect the coffee harvest next year.

Basist, A., N.C. Grody, T.C. Peterson and C.N. Williams, 1998: Using the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager to Monitor Land Surface Temperatures, Wetness, and Snow Cover. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 37, 888-911.

For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue, Room 120
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.orders@noaa.gov

For more information, refer also to ...
SSMI Derived Products
Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN)
The Blended GHCN - SSM/I Product
The Global Temperature Anomalies

Alan Basist
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4107
email: alan.basist@noaa.gov

Tom Ross
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4499
email: tom.ross@noaa.gov

Mike Changery
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4750
email: mchangry@ncdc.noaa.gov

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