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

Climate of 2005 - March in Historical Perspective

National Climatic Data Center
14 April 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 March 2005 was 3rd warmest on record.
March temperatures were above average over Alaska, the western U.S, Algeria and Siberia. Colder-than-average conditions occurred primarily in the eastern U.S., southeastern Asia and far western Russia
Precipitation during March was above average over the eastern U.S., Turkey, and Thailand, with drier than average conditions over the Mississippi Valley of the U.S., most of Australia and Europe.
Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) decreased in the eastern equatorial Pacific during March

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.

Introduction

Temperature anomalies for March 2005 are shown on the two maps below. The dot map on the left uses anomalies that were calculated from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) data set of land surface stations using a 1961-1990 base period. The map on the right is a weekly product based on data from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) of SST data. During March, there were above average temperatures over Alaska, western Canada and the western U.S., Brazil, the majority of West Africa, western Australia, western Europe and parts of Asia. Cooler than average temperatures were observed over parts of Scandinavia, parts of the Middle East, southeastern Asia, the majority of eastern Europe and west of the Ural Mountains in Russia.

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Above average SSTs are also evident in the product above. Warmer than average conditions occurred over large parts of the central Pacific, with cool anomalies present in the eastern Pacific, reflecting weakening El Niño conditions. SSTs were also warmer than average in much of the northern Pacific and northern Atlantic. Cooler than average SSTs were observed over areas northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, off the coast of Ecuador and Peru as well as off the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

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 March 2005 map) 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 months during 2005 at the weekly SST page

Temperature Rankings and Graphics

Current Month / Year-to-date

March	Anomaly	Rank	Warmest Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.21°C (+2.18°F) +0.43°C (+0.77°F) +0.67°C (+1.21°F)	6th warmest 3rd warmest 3rd warmest	2002 (+1.60°C/2.88°F) 1998 (+0.48°C/0.86°F) 2002 (+0.79°C/1.42°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.13°C (+2.03°F) +0.42°C (+0.76°F) +0.71°C (+1.28°F)	8th warmest 2nd warmest 7th warmest	1990 (+1.90°C/3.42°F) 1998 (+0.49°C/0.88°F) 2004 (+0.92°C/1.66°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+1.35°C (+2.43°F) +0.45°C (+0.81°F) +0.62°C (+1.12°F)	warmest 3rd warmest warmest	2nd-1998 (+1.05°C/1.90°F) 2002 (+0.51°C/0.92°F) 2nd-2002 (+0.59°C/1.06°F)

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January-March	Anomaly	Rank	Warmest Year on Record
Global Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.84°C (+1.51°F) +0.44°C (+0.79°F) +0.56°C (+1.01°F)	10th warmest 2nd warmest 4th warmest	2002 (+1.50°C/2.70°F) 1998 (+0.51°C/0.92°F) 2002 (+0.75°C/1.35°F)
Northern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.77°C (+1.39°F) +0.46°C (+0.83°F) +0.58°C (+1.04°F)	13th warmest 2nd warmest 7th warmest	2002 (+1.84°C/3.31°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 2002 (+0.95°C/1.71°F)
Southern Hemisphere Land Ocean Land and Ocean	+0.94°C (+1.70°F) +0.45°C (+0.81°F) +0.54°C (+0.97°F)	warmest 6th warmest 2nd warmest	2nd-1998 (+0.80°C/1.44°F) 1998 (+0.53°C/0.95°F) 1998 (+0.58°C/1.04°F)

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The most current data may be accessed via the Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page.

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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 March 2005, above average precipitation fell over parts of the northeastern and southeastern U.S, Chile, Bangladesh, Indochina and western Russia. Below average precipitation was observed over the east-central region of the U.S., the majority of Europe, most of Australia, and South Africa.

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ENSO SST Analysis

the last week of the month's ENSO condtions Map

Click here for animated loop

SSTs decreased in the eastern equatorial Pacific during March, indicating that ENSO is transitioning from a weak warm phase (El Niño) to neutral conditions (shown in the adjacent animation of weekly sea surface temperature anomalies). A comprehensive summary of March 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 months during 2005 at the weekly SST page

Troposphere

Current Month
The table below summarizes mid-tropospheric conditions for March 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 and the UW-UAH adjusted data both indicate that March 2005 was the 7th warmest March since records began in 1979. The RSS data and the UW-RSS adjusted data indicate that March 2005 was 4th and 3rd, respectively.

March	Anomaly	Rank	Warmest Year on Record	Trend
UAH mid-trop	+0.14°C/0.25°F	7th warmest	1998 (+0.49°C/0.88°F)	+0.03°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop	+0.29°C/0.52°F	4th warmest	1998 (+0.54°C/0.97°F)	+0.12°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop	+0.22°C/0.40°F	7th warmest	1998 (+0.61°C/1.10°F)	+0.09°C/decade
*UW-RSS mid-trop	+0.37°C/0.67°F	3rd warmest	1998 (+0.65°C/1.17°F)	+0.17°C/decade

*Version 02_1

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.

Stratosphere

Current Month
The table below summarizes stratospheric conditions for March 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.

March	Anomaly	Rank	Warmest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere	-0.33°C (-0.60°F)	6th coolest	1983 (+1.11°C/2.00°F)
*RSS stratosphere	-0.40°C (-0.72°F)	6th coolest	1992 (+0.95°C/1.71°F)

*Version 02_1

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For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in March, see the Global Hazards 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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For questions about this report, please contact:

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fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov

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David Easterling
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fax: 828-271-4328
email: David.Easterling@noaa.gov

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