Climate of 2001
October in Historical Perspective

National Climatic Data Center, 16 November 2001

Introduction

Anomalous warmth (using a 1992-2001 base period as shown in the adjacent blended product of satellite and in-situ data) was notable across Europe and north Africa as well as eastern Asia. While strong upper level ridges of high pressure controlled the weather in these areas during October, upper level troughs of low pressure (depicted by negative 500 millibar height anomalies) were situated across central Russia, west of the British Isles and across much of Alaska and southern Canada. Temperature anomalies calculated from in-situ station data using a 1961-1990 base period also show the cooler than average temperatures in these regions as well as over Australia.

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Temperature

*October 2001 global land and ocean temperature was the warmest in the 1880 to present record and was 0.57°C (1.03°F) above the long-term average (0.47°C / 0.85°F above the 1961-1990 mean) Temperatures averaged across ocean areas were second warmest for October, or 0.46°C (0.83°F) above average Across land areas, October temperatures also ranked second warmest, or 0.84°C (1.51°F) above average

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*Northern Hemispheric temperatures were also warmest on record for October, or 0.67°C (1.21°F) above average using the 1880-2000 mean (0.61°C / 1.10°F using a 1961-1990 base period) Temperatures averaged across the Southern Hemisphere were fourth warmest for October, or 0.47°C / 0.85°F above the long term mean

Precipitation

Late season monsoon rains brought above average precipitation to parts of southern Asia, from eastern India into Laos Monthly precipitation surpluses of 100-200 mm (3.94-7.87 inches) were common across parts of northern Argentina as well as Japan Drier than average weather was prevalent across interior Europe and the Mediterranean as well as the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

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Microwave Sounding Unit Data

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October temperatures averaged in the lowest 8km (5 miles) of the tropospherewere above average (0.15°C /0.27°F) Northern and Southern Hemisphere temperatures in the lower troposphere were 0.15°C (0.27°F) and 0.14°C (0.25°F) above average, respectively

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October temperatures in the lower stratosphere were 0.38°C (0.68°F) below average This was the 9th consecutive October with cooler than average temperatures in the lower stratosphere

  For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in October see the Global Regional page .
*Based on preliminary data available at the time of this report.

References:

Peterson, T.C. and R.S. Vose, 1997: An Overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network Database. Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 78, 2837-2849.

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