The above figure shows November 1999 temperature
anomalies calculated from available in-situ stations using a
1961-1990 base period. Temperatures were above normal over much of
North America, eastern Asia, and northern Europe. Exceptionally
warm anomalies, over 5C, were observed in Scandanavia, central
United States and Canada, and Mongolia. Below normal temperatures
were reported over most of south central South America. In contrast
to North America, cooler to much cooler than normal temperatures
occurred in Spain and France. The coolest anomalies were observed
over portions of western Russia and Australia.
Temperature
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image
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The preliminary
globally averaged surface temperature anomalies for the month, as
shown on the time series graphs on the left, indicate continued
warm temperatures. Although the combined land and ocean temperature
anomaly was well above the 1880-1998 long term average, it was
below the record anomaly recorded during the 1997/1998 El Nino
episode. The lower temperatures were primarily due to much cooler
sea surface temperatures. The November ocean surface temperature
anomaly was 0.33 C below the record 1997 anomaly (0.59C). In
contrast, the November land surface anomaly was 0.06 C warmer than
the 1997 value, but 0.11 C cooler than the highest anomaly recorded
in 1990. |
Precipitation
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The adjacent map shows
the November precipitation anomalies from the 1961-1990 base
period. Most of the United States had less than average
precipitation, as did western Europe, Uruguay, eastern Argentina
and eastern Asia. The South American dry event has continued for
about 3 months. Dry conditions in Tasmania and southeastern
Australia continued through November. |
| Several areas
werewetter than average. Most notably, the Vietnamese coast
experienced a succession of torrential rainstorms that began in
October and continued throughout November. Other areas that
experienced anomalously wet conditions in November include central
Europe and parts of eastern Brazil. For additional details on
precipitation and temperatures in November see the Global
Regional 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.
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
