NCDC / Climate Monitoring / Climate of 2005 / August / Global / Help

Climate of 2005 - August in Historical Perspective



Including Boreal Summer
National Climatic Data Center
15 September 2005
Global Analysis / Global Hazards / United States / U.S. Drought / Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.

Global Highlights:

  • Based on preliminary data, global averaged combined land and sea surface temperature for June-August 2005 was 2nd warmest on record, 3rd warmest on record for August 2005.
  • June-August temperatures were above average over Europe, Scandinavia, South Africa and the majority of North America. There were no notable colder-than-average conditions during boreal summer.
  • Precipitation during June-August was above average over Scandinavia, the southeastern U.S., and much of Australia, with drier than average conditions over the U.S. Great Lakes region, along the Gulf of Guinea coastline and most of India.
  • Neutral ENSO conditions continued during August.

Contents of this Section:
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The data presented in this report are preliminary. Ranks and anomalies may change as more complete data are received and processed. The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.
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Top of Page Introduction

Temperature anomalies for June-August and August 2005 are shown on the four maps below. The dot maps on the left provide a spatial representation of anomalies calculated from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) data set of land surface stations using a 1961-1990 base period. The maps on the right are a blended product of a merged land air and sea surface temperature anomaly analysis which is based on data from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) of land temperatures and the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) of SST data. Temperature anomalies with repsect to 1961-1990 are analyzed separately and then merged to form the global analysis. Additional information on this product is available.

During the boreal summer, above average temperatures occurred over Alaska, Canada, India, China, the majority of the U.S., the western South American coastline and Australia. There were no notable cool anomalies during June-August 2005.

Much warmer than average SSTs occurred over the Northern Pacific and the Tropical Atlantic. Cooler than average conditions were observed off the coasts of Ecuador, Peru and the Gulf of Guinea.
Current season's Land Surface Temperature Dot map
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Current season's blended Land and sea surface Temperature Dot map
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During August, there were above average temperatures over Alaska, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Mongolia, the eastern half of North America and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Cooler than average temperatures were observed over parts of Mexico, east-central Siberia and the U.S. Great Plains.

Much warmer than average SSTs occurred over the Northern Pacific and the Northern Atlantic. Cooler than average conditions were observed in the Southern Pacific and Southern Atlantic.
Current months Land SurfaceTemperature Dot map
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Current month's blended Land and sea surface Temperature Dot map
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The mean position of upper level ridges of high pressure and troughs of low pressure (depicted by positive and negative 500 millibar height anomalies on the August 2005 map and the June-August 2005 maps) are generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively. For other Global products see the Climate Monitoring Global Products page.

Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2005 at the weekly SST page

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Top of Page Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Current Month / Seasonal / Year-to-date
August Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
Global
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.77°C (+1.39°F)
+0.49°C (+0.88°F)
+0.57°C (+1.03°F)		 4th warmest
2nd warmest
3rd warmest		 1998 (+0.96°C/1.73°F)
1998 (+0.50°C/0.90°F)
1998 (+0.64°C/1.15°F)
Northern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.86°C (+1.55°F)
+0.64°C (+1.15°F)
+0.73°C (+1.31°F) 		4th warmest
warmest
3rd warmest 		2003 (+1.07°C/1.93°F)
2nd - 2003 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)
2003 (+0.79°C/1.42°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.51°C (+0.92°F)
+0.37°C (+0.67°F)
+0.40°C (+0.72°F) 		11th warmest
6th warmest
4th warmest		 1884 (+1.42°C/2.56°F)
1998 (+0.42°C/0.76°F)
1998 (+0.47°C/0.85°F)

Global Land and Ocean Triad plot
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Global Hemisphere Triad plot
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June-August Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
Global
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.95°C (+1.71°F)
+0.45°C (+0.81°F)
+0.60°C (+1.08°F)		 2nd warmest
2nd warmest
2nd warmest		 1998 (+0.96°C/1.73°F)
1998 (+0.49°C/0.88°F)
1998 (+0.64°C/1.15°F)
Northern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+1.00°C (+1.80°F)
+0.58°C (+1.04°F)
+0.75°C (+1.35°F) 		warmest
warmest
warmest 		2nd - 1998 (+0.99°C/1.78°F)
2nd - 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F)
2nd - 1998 (+0.73°C/1.31°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.73°C (+1.31°F)
+0.35°C (+0.63°F)
+0.42°C (+0.76°F) 		2nd warmest
7th warmest
3rd warmest		 1998 (+0.81°C/1.46°F)
1998 (+0.46°C/0.83°F)
1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F)

Global Land and Ocean Triad plot
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Global Hemisphere Triad plot
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January-August Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record
Global
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.94°C (+1.70°F)
+0.44°C (+0.80°F)
+0.59°C (+1.06°F)		 3rd warmest
2nd warmest
3rd warmest		 2002 (+1.08°C/1.94°F)
1998 (+0.51°C/0.92°F)
1998 (+0.68°C/1.22°F)
Northern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.94°C (+1.70°F)
+0.51°C (+0.92°F)
+0.68°C (+1.22°F) 		3rd warmest
2nd warmest
3rd warmest 		2002 (+1.20°C/2.16°F)
1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F)
1998 (+0.77°C/1.39°F)
Southern Hemisphere
Land
Ocean
Land and Ocean 		+0.80°C (+1.44°F)
+0.40°C (+0.72°F)
+0.47°C (+0.85°F) 		2nd warmest
4th warmest
3rd warmest		 1998 (+0.86°C/1.55°F)
1998 (+0.51°C/0.92°F)
1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F)

Global Land and Ocean Triad plot
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Global Hemisphere Triad plot
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The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

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Top of Page Precipitation

The maps below represent anomaly values based on the GHCN data set of land surface stations using a base period of 1961-1990. During the 2005 boreal summer, above average precipitation fell over the southeastern U.S., the U.S. northern Great Plains, the western coast of Canada, southeast Asia, eastern Europe, much of Russia and the majority of Australia. Below average precipitation was observed in France, Spain, South Africa, most of India, along the U.S. western Gulf Coast and Great Lakes.

During August 2005, above average precipitation fell over central America, eastern China, most of eastern Europe, the U.S. middle Mississippi and Ohio Valleys and parts of the Carribean. While below average precipitation was observed in Venezuela, India, Thailand, South Africa, the southeastern coast of Australia, the northeastern U.S., southern portions of Brazil and western Europe.

Heavy rain led to flooding in several regions of the world, including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Sudan and Ethiopia. Information on these events are available in the August Global Hazards report.

Precipitation Dot map in Millimeters for June-August
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Percent Precipitation in Millimeters for August
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Top of Page ENSO SST Analysis




Last week of the month's ENSO condtions Map
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  • SSTs remained near average to slightly below average in the eastern equatorial tropical Pacific during August, indicative of ENSO neutral conditions (shown in the adjacent animation of weekly sea surface temperature anomalies). A comprehensive summary of August 2005 ENSO conditions can be found on the ENSO monitoring page. For the latest advisory on ENSO conditions go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion

  • Images of sea surface temperature conditions are available for all weeks during 2005 at the weekly SST page

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Top of Page Troposphere

Current Month / Seasonal
The table below summarizes mid-tropospheric conditions for August 2005. These temperatures are for the atmospheric layer centered in the mid-troposphere (approximately 2-6 miles above the Earth's surface) which also includes a portion of the lower stratosphere. (The MSU channel used to measure mid-tropospheric temperatures receives about 25 percent of its signal above 6 miles).

Analysis of the satellite record that began in 1979 indicates that global temperatures are increasing in the mid-troposphere, but the magnitude of the trend differs based on the analysis methods used in adjusting for factors such as orbital decay and inter-satellite differences.

Scientists at the University of Washington {UW}, developed a method for quantifying the stratospheric contribution to the satellite record of tropospheric temperatures and applied an adjustment to the UAH and RSS temperature record that attempts to remove the satellite contribution (cooling influence) from the middle troposphere record. This method results in trends that are larger than the those from the respective source.

The UAH data indicate that August 2005 was the 11th warmest on record while RSS data indicate 7th warmest for August 2005. Both the UW-UAH and UW-RSS adjusted data indicate that August 2005 was the 6th warmest August on record. For boreal summer, UAH data indicate June-August 2005 as the 6th warmest while RSS, UW-UAH and UW-RSS data all indicate that the 2005 boreal summer was the 3rd warmest June-August on record. Records began in 1979.


August Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record Trend
UAH mid-trop +0.07°C/0.13°F 11th warmest 1998 (+0.44°C/0.79°F) +0.06°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop +0.18°C/0.32°F 7th warmest 1998 (+0.52°C/0.94°F) +0.13°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop +0.16°C/0.29°F 6th warmest 1998 (+0.59°C/1.06°F) +0.11°C/decade
**UW-*RSS mid-trop +0.26°C/0.47°F 6th warmest 1998 (+0.65°C/1.17°F) +0.18°C/decade
*Version 02_1
UAH mid-trop image
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RSS mid-trop image
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UW-UAH mid-trop image
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UW-RSS mid-trop image
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June-August Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on RecordTrend
UAH mid-troposphere +0.14°C/0.25°F 6th warmest 1998 (+0.47°C/0.85°F) +0.05°C/decade
*RSS mid-troposphere +0.25°C/0.45°F 3rd warmest 1998 (+0.55°C/0.99°F) +0.13°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-troposphere +0.24°C/0.43°F 3rd warmest 1998 (+0.60°C/1.08°F) +0.11°C/decade
**UW-*RSS mid-troposphere +0.34°C/0.61°F 3rd warmest 1998 (+0.66°C/1.19°F) +0.18°C/decade
*Version 02_1


UAH mid-trop image
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RSS mid-trop image
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UW-UAH mid-trop image
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UW-RSS mid-trop image
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Mid-tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems(RSS) and the University of Washington.

**An adjustment on both the RSS and UAH datasets provided by Fu et al. (2004) (University of Washington) is accomplished by deriving separate weighting coefficients for the MSU T2 and T4 over the tropics (30N to 30S), northern and southern hemispheres, and for the global mean by fitting radiosonde troposphere anomalies to radiosonde-simulated T2 and T4 anomalies over the period from 1958-2004 as

T850-300 = a0 + a2*T2 + a4*T4

where T850-300 is the radiosonde 850-300 hPa layer; T2 and T4 are the radiosonde simulated MSU brightness temperature anomalies; and a0, a2, and a4 are the coefficients derived from this linear regression.

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Top of Page Stratosphere

Current Month / Seasonal
The table below summarizes stratospheric conditions for August 2005. The stratosphere is located between 10-14 miles above the Earth's surface. Over the last decade, stratospheric temperatures have been below average in large part due to the depletion of ozone. The large increase in temperature in 1982 was caused by the volcanic eruption of El Chichon in Mexico, and the increase in 1991 was a result of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. Therefore the base period used is 1984-1990 which was chosen to avoid contamination by these eruptions.


August Anomaly Rank Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere -0.68°C (-1.22°F) 2nd coolest 1996 (-0.70°C/-1.26°F)
*RSS stratosphere -0.54°C (-0.97°F) 3rd coolest 1996 (-0.65°C/-1.17°F)
*Version 02_1
UAH lower-strat image
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RSS lower-strat image
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June-August Anomaly Rank Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere -0.70°C (-1.26°F) 2nd coolest 1996 (-0.73°C/-1.31°F)
*RSS stratosphere -0.51°C (-0.92°F) 3rd coolest 1996 (-0.63°C/-1.13°F)
*Version 02_1
UAH lower-strat image
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RSS lower-strat image
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Mid-tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems(RSS) and the University of Washington.

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For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in August, see the Global Hazards page .
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Top of Page 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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fax: 828-271-4876
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For questions about this report, please contact:

Jay Lawrimore
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
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fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
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email: David.Easterling@noaa.gov
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