NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
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Contents of This Report:
Global Temperature
| Global surface temperatures continued to average much above the long-term mean (1880-1999) in September as shown in the figure above. The September 2000 combined land and ocean temperature was 0.31C above average, the tenth warmest September on record. Below average September temperatures have not been recorded on a global basis since 1976. Since that time, September global temperatures have risen at a rate of 0.15C per decade. The rate of temperature increase since 1880 is 0.04C per decade. Ocean temperatures were 0.28C above average in September, the 9th warmest on record, while land temperatures were the 12th warmest, 0.38C above the 1880-1999 average. |
| The adjacent map shows the spatial distribution of temperature anomalies throughout the world with respect to a 1961-1990 base period. Red dots indicate areas that were warmer than the 1961-1990 average, while cooler than average areas are indicated by blue dots. Regions with widespread above-normal temperatures (anomalies greater than +1C) included the central United States, Australia, the Far East, and much of Europe. |  larger image |
The average temperature in Australia was 1.4C above normal (1961-1990 average) in September, the 4th warmest September on record. Warmer than normal temperatures coincided with below normal rainfall, particularly along coastal areas of Southwest Australia, where the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported the driest September on record. In Japan, the average monthly temperature was 1.1C above normal, making this the 10th warmest September on record. Areas of cooler than normal temperatures included the eastern United States, Alaska, parts of eastern and central Russia, France, and South Africa. September temperatures were the coolest in South Africa since 1987 (-0.7C below the 1961-1990 average).
Global Precipitation
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The adjacent map shows precipitation anomalies (departures from the 1961-1990 average in mm) for September. Brown dots indicate areas which were drier than normal, and green dots indicate those that were wetter than normal. Areas receiving above normal precipitation include much of Brazil, the eastern United States, Japan, and Great Britain. |
| Precipitation was more
than 100 mm above normal throughout much of Japan where this was
the fourth wettest September on record. Much drier than normal
conditions persisted in the Southern Plains of the United States
for the third month in a row. A large region of below normal
rainfall also stretched from the equatorial Pacific to India. A
less active monsoon season in India was responsible for
precipitation deficits greater than 75 mm throughout much of the
country. For additional details on temperature and precipitation throughout the world, please see the September global regional page. A detailed discussion of U.S. temperature and precipitation for September can be found on the U.S. National 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.