|
| Based upon preliminary data, September 2000 was the 16th warmest such month since 1895 for the Southwest region. Eight of the last twelve Septembers have been above to much above the long term mean. |  larger image |
 larger image |
It was the 19th wettest September on record for the Southeast region. Drought severity in the southern half of the region was lessened during September by two tropical systems which provided beneficial rains from southeastern Alabama to North Carolina. The last five such months have averaged above normal for precipitation in the region, which extends from Virginia to Alabama. |
| September 2000 was the eighth driest such month since 1895 for the South region. The last two such months have been much drier than normal. |  larger image |
 larger image |
Preliminary data indicate that precipitation for the now complete Primary Corn and Soybean growing season, averaged slightly below the long-term mean. Only three of the last twelve such seasons have been below the long-term mean. The growing season runs from March through September. Additional information regarding agricultural interests can be located at the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility. |
January-September 2000 Statewide Ranks
 Larger Map |
Forty-one states ranked within the warm third portion of the historical distribution for January-September 2000 while 20 states ranked within the top ten warm. It was the warmest such year-to-date on record for New Mexico and Utah and the second warmest year-to-date for
No state ranked within the cool third of the historical distribution. |
| January-September 2000 was the second driest such period on record for Louisiana (driest was 1954), third driest for Florida and Mississippi and fifth driest for Alabama. Eleven other states ranked within the dry third portion of the distribution.
It was the second wettest January-September on record for New York (wettest was 1976). Eighteen other states ranked within the wet third portion of the distribution. |
 Larger Map |
January-September Regional Highlights
 larger image |
Preliminary data indicate that January-September 2000 was the second warmest (warmest was 1934) such period since 1895 for the West region. Fourteen of the last seventeen such periods have been above to much above the long-term mean. |
| Preliminary data indicate that the year-to-date, January-September 2000, was the 14th wettest such period on record for the Northeast region. Five of the last seven such periods have been much wetter than the long-term mean in this region. |  larger image |
 larger image |
Preliminary data indicate that January-September 2000 was the 15th driest such period since 1895 for the Southeast region. Only two of the last seven such periods have been much below the long-term mean. |
Damage due to the drought has been summarized by NOAA and the Office of Global Programs in the Climatological Impacts section of the Climate Information Project. Crop impact information can be found at the USDA NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) and Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin pages. Drought statements by local National Weather Service Offices can be found at the NWS Hydrologic Information Center. Drought threat assessments and other information can be found at NOAA's Drought Information Center.
September Precipitation and Temperature Ranks, Extremes and Normals
Table 1 shows precipitation and temperature ranks for each of the 9 regions and the nation for September 2000, the two-month period of August-September 2000, the six months of April-September 2000, and the past 12 months, October 1999-September 2000.
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE RANKS, BASED
ON THE PERIOD 1895-2000. 1 = DRIEST/COLDEST,
106 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR SEPTEMBER 2000,
106 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR AUG-SEP 2000,
106 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR APR-SEP 2000,
105 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR OCT 1999-SEPTEMBER 2000.
SEP AUG-SEP APR-SEP OCT 1999-
REGION 2000 2000 2000 SEP 2000
------ ---- --------- --------- ---------
PRECIPITATION:
NORTHEAST 53 33 95 76
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 35 41 72 34
CENTRAL 68 58 69 39
SOUTHEAST 88 61 20 14
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 44 29 32 12
SOUTH 8 1 12 7
SOUTHWEST 13 17 4 2
NORTHWEST 88 71 41 50
WEST 64 74 52 45
NATIONAL 28 9 19 11
TEMPERATURE:
NORTHEAST 30 29 30 84
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 57 66 60 101
CENTRAL 40 53 52 99
SOUTHEAST 31 34 49 81
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 76 94 95 105
SOUTH 81 103 95 105
SOUTHWEST 91 100 106 105
NORTHWEST 55 79 95 101
WEST 76 93 104 103
NATIONAL* 74 97 103 105
*National Temperature Rank Based on USHCN.
It should be emphasized that all of the temperature and precipitation ranks and values in Tables 1 through 5 are based on preliminary data. The ranks will change when the final data are processed. Additional state, regional and national ranks maps including three-month and 12-month rankings can be viewed at the September Preliminary page.
Table 2 shows historical extremes for September, the 1961-1990 normal, and the September 2000 value for each of the 9 regions and the contiguous U.S. for precipitation and temperature. It should be noted that the 2000 values will change when the final data are processed.
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DRIEST WETTEST NORMAL 2000
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR PCPN PCPN
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 1.25 1914 8.04 1999 3.63 3.38
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 0.95 1952 7.21 1986 3.60 2.79
CENTRAL 0.70 1897 6.94 1926 3.63 3.67
SOUTHEAST 1.91 1919 9.26 1979 4.33 5.96
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 0.47 1952 3.42 1973 1.61 1.32
SOUTH 0.88 1956 6.88 1913 3.67 1.61
SOUTHWEST 0.09 1956 3.07 1941 1.46 0.60
NORTHWEST 0.12 1975 3.42 1959 1.33 1.78
WEST 0.03 1974 2.00 1976 0.62 0.41
NATIONAL 1.45 1956 3.57 1986 2.63 2.17*
* PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
INTERVAL + OR - 0.18 INCHES
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
COLDEST WARMEST NORMAL 2000
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR TEMP TEMP
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 56.2 1918 66.5 1961 59.8 59.1
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 53.5 1918 65.6 1931 58.8 59.6
CENTRAL 60.5 1918 73.6 1925 66.7 66.3
SOUTHEAST 68.9 1967 80.3 1925 73.2 72.5
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 47.4 1965 63.7 1998 56.8 58.8
SOUTH 67.7 1974 79.5 1911 73.6 75.8
SOUTHWEST 59.0 1912 67.6 1998 63.9 66.3
NORTHWEST 52.7 1926 62.7 1990 57.3 57.6
WEST 61.0 1986 69.9 1979 65.9 67.6
NATIONAL* 62.3 1965 69.5 1998 64.8 66.2
* National Temperature Values based on USHCN
January-September Precipitation and Temperature Ranks, Extremes and Normals
Table 3 shows precipitation and temperature ranks for each of the 9 regions and the nation for January-September 2000. Based on the period 1895-2000.
REGION PRECIPITATION TEMPERATURE
------ ------------- -----------
NORTHEAST 93 77
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 69 102
CENTRAL 57 85
SOUTHEAST 15 76
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 39 103
SOUTH 10 105
SOUTHWEST 14 106
NORTHWEST 57 95
WEST 77 105
NATIONAL* 20 106
*National Temperature Rank Based on USHCN
Table 4 shows historical extremes for January-September, the 1961-1990 normal, and the January-September 2000 value for each of the 9 regions and the contiguous U.S. for precipitation and temperature. It should be noted that the 2000 values will change when the final data are processed.
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DRIEST WETTEST NORMAL 2000
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR PCPN PCPN
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 23.82 1941 39.83 1996 30.99 34.77
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 16.74 1910 31.07 1993 24.70 25.35
CENTRAL 24.56 1930 43.13 1950 33.04 33.82
SOUTHEAST 28.88 1954 51.09 1979 40.70 34.61
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 9.33 1934 20.44 1915 14.44 13.44
SOUTH 18.35 1954 36.99 1973 27.71 22.29
SOUTHWEST 6.45 1956 17.55 1941 10.66 8.75
NORTHWEST 10.14 1924 22.97 1983 17.64 17.44
WEST 4.90 1924 22.15 1998 10.95 13.14
NATIONAL 18.78 1934 25.87 1979 22.68 21.18
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
COLDEST WARMEST NORMAL 2000
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR TEMP TEMP
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 46.5 1904 52.2 1998 48.7 49.6
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 43.2 1912 51.5 1987 46.9 49.4
CENTRAL 53.7 1979 60.7 1921 56.3 58.1
SOUTHEAST 62.9 1940 67.6 1921 64.8 66.1
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 42.9 1950 50.3 1934 47.1 50.0
SOUTH 62.9 1979 68.2 1911 65.0 68.0
SOUTHWEST 51.8 1917 58.6 2000 55.0 58.6
NORTHWEST 46.6 1955 53.3 1934 49.6 51.2
WEST 55.4 1903 60.7 1934 57.6 60.1
NATIONAL* 53.5 1912 58.3 2000 55.9 58.3
* National Temperature Values based on USHCN
Water Year River Basin Statistics, October 1999-September 2000
Table 5 shows statistics for selected river basins: Precipitation rankings are for October 1999-September 2000, where 1 = driest, and 105 = wettest, based on the period 1895 to 2000. Also shown is the areal percent of the basin experiencing severe or extreme long-term (Palmer) drought, and areal percent of the basin experiencing severe or extreme long-term (Palmer) wet conditions, as of September 2000.
PRECIPITATION % AREA % AREA
RIVER BASIN RANK DRY WET
----------- ------------- ------ ------
MISSOURI BASIN 7 36.6% 5.9%
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BASIN 46 10.7% 1.3%
CALIFORNIA RIVER BASIN 51 28.8% 0.0%
GREAT BASIN 18 53.6% 0.0%
UPPER COLORADO BASIN 7 93.3% 0.0%
LOWER COLORADO BASIN 2 92.1% 0.0%
RIO GRANDE BASIN 3 81.6% 0.0%
ARKANSAS-WHITE-RED BASIN 28 24.4% 0.0%
TEXAS GULF COAST BASIN 11 74.7% 0.0%
SOURIS-RED-RAINY BASIN 48 0.0% 30.7%
UPPER MISSISSIPPI BASIN 34 0.0% 1.3%
LOWER MISSISSIPPI BASIN 5 61.5% 0.0%
GREAT LAKES BASIN 76 0.0% 17.9%
OHIO RIVER BASIN 67 0.0% 7.6%
TENNESSEE RIVER BASIN 14 12.3% 0.0%
NEW ENGLAND BASIN 61 0.0% 7.7%
MID-ATLANTIC BASIN 79 0.0% 12.8%
SOUTH ATLANTIC-GULF BASIN 9 40.9% 0.0%
The river basin regions are defined by the U.S. Water Resources Council.
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.
Historical precipitation and temperature ranking maps are also available on the Internet courtesy of the Climate Prediction Center.
NOAA works closely with the academic and scientific 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 from the Climate Prediction Center.
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
Climate Services DivisionFor further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.info@noaa.gov
William Brown
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: william.brown@noaa.gov
-or-
Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: jay.lawrimore@noaa.gov
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2000/sep/us_regional.html Downloaded Sunday, 19-May-2013 07:19:00 EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, 03-Mar-2009 10:28:29 EST
Please see the NCDC Contact Page if you have questions or comments.