National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Home Page. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Home Page. National Climatic Data Center Home Page. Department of Commerce Home Page. NOAA, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information ServiceNational Climatic Data Center, U.S. Department of Commerce

State of the Climate
Global Analysis
March 2003

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

Use the form below to access monthly reports.

« February 2003
Global Analysis Report
April 2003 »
Global Analysis Report

Global Highlights:

  • Global average combined land and sea surface temperature was the fifth warmest for March 2003
  • Temperatures were much above average across most of the U.S., Scandinavia and Europe with below average temperatures in the northern Great Plains of the U.S., across most of Canada, and eastern Australia
  • Precipitation during March was above average across the Pacific Northwest and southeastern U.S., Thailand and Malaysia, with drier than average conditions over most of Australia, the Mississippi Valley of the U.S. and Europe
  

Contents of this Section:
This is a break in the document 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. This is a break in the document

Top of Page Introduction

The March 2003 mean temperature was above the 1988-2002 average across the southeastern U.S., Europe, eastern Russia and Scandinavia as shown in the adjacent map of blended satellite and in situ data. Cooler than average temperatures occurred over the Middle East, the Northern Great Plains of the U.S., across Canada and eastern Australia. The mean position of upper level ridges and troughs of low pressure (depicted by positive and negative 500 millibar height anomalies) are generally reflected by areas of positive and negative temperature anomalies at the surface, respectively. temperature in March 2003
larger image
Click Here for the Global Temperature Anomalies in March 2003
larger image		 March temperature anomalies calculated from the Global Historical Climatology Network data set of land surface stations using a 1961-1990 base period also show above average temperatures throughout Europe, much of Asia, the western United States and eastern Russia. Monthly temperatures were 3-6°C (5.4-10.8°F) above the mean. Cooler than average temperatures were present throughout Canada, Mongolia, eastern Australia and the eastern Mediterranean region where monthly temperatures were as much as 3-5°C (5.4-9°F) below average.
This is a break in the document

Top of Page Temperature

March
  • For March 2003, the global average land and ocean surface temperature was 0.57°C (1.03°F) above the 1880-2002 average, ranking as the fifth warmest March in the period of record
  • The warmest March occurred in 2002, when the global anomaly was +0.80°C (+1.44°F)
  • Globally averaged land temperatures were eighth warmest on record, 0.89°C (1.60°F) above the long-term mean
 Click Here for the Global Temp Anomalies in March 2003
larger image
  • March 2003 temperatures averaged across the Northern Hemisphere were eighth warmest on record, 0.61°C (1.10°F) above the long term mean
  • Temperatures averaged throughout the Southern Hemisphere were fourth warmest, 0.49°C (0.88°F) above average
 Click Here for the Global Temp Anomalies in March 2003
larger image
  • Serial monthly global surface temperature departures with respect to a 1971-2000 mean are shown in the figure to the right.
  • Globally averaged surface temperatures (land and ocean) have been warmer than the 1971-2000 average for the last 83 consecutive months.
 Click Here for the Global Temperature Timeseries
larger image
This is a break in the document

Top of Page Precipitation

  • During March 2003, much above average precipitation fell across the southeastern U.S., Thailand, Malaysia and portions of Brazil
  • Below average precipitation was observed in the Mississippi Valley of the U.S., most of Australia and Europe
  • Additional regional analysis can be found on the Global Hazards page
 Click Here for the Global Precip Anomalies in March 2003 larger image

This is a break in the document

Top of Page Microwave Sounding Unit Data

Click Here for the Lower Tropospheric Temperature time series
larger image
  • Temperatures in the lowest 8km (5 miles) of the troposphere were 0.10°C (0.18°F) above the 1979-1998 average during March 2003, the eighth warmest March in the satellite period of record (1979 to present)
  • Temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were ninth warmest on record for March, 0.09°C (0.16°F) above the mean
  • Temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere were eighth warmest on record for March, 0.12°C (0.22°F) above the mean
Click Here for the Lower Stratospheric Temperature time series
larger image
  • March 2003 temperatures were below the 1984-1990 average in the lower stratosphere, or 0.24°C (0.43°F) cooler than the mean
  • This was the tenth consecutive March with below average temperatures in the lower stratosphere

Lower tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by NASA and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

This is a break in the document

  For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in March, see the Global Hazards page .

This is a break in the document

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.

Questions?

For questions on technical or scientific content of this report, please contact:

Ahira Sánchez-Lugo:
Ahira.Sanchez-Lugo@noaa.gov

For general climate monitoring questions, please contact:

CMB.Contact@noaa.gov

For climate data orders, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services and Monitoring Division:

NCDC.Orders@noaa.gov

[ top ]