 YTD Precip vs. Normal Delmarva PA/NJ/S Tier NY  1/9/2007 The year 2006 was the warmest on record for the United States, with readings pushed over higher than normal by the unusual and unseasonably warm weather during the last half of December. Data from the National Climatic Data Center listed the average temperature for the 48 contiguous states last year as 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 2.2 degrees warmer than average and 0.07 degree warmer than 1998, the previous warmest year on record. Worldwide, the agency said, it was the sixth warmest year on record. The Center said it is not clear how much of the warming is a result of greenhouse-gas induced climate change and how much resulted from El Nino warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean. El Nino conditions occur every few years in the Pacific and can affect climate around the world, including producing warmer conditions in the US. The average U.S. and global temperature are both about 1 degree warmer than at the start of the 20th century, a change many scientists attribute to gases released into the atmosphere by industrial processes. The temperature data was collected from a network of more than 1,200 stations across the country. 12/16/2005 2005 has been one of the hottest on record, scientists in the United States and Britain reported yesterday, a finding that puts eight of the past 10 years at the top of the charts in terms of high temperatures. Three studies released 12/15/05 all indicate the Earth is rapidly warming. NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has concluded 2005 was the warmest year in recorded history, while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.K. Meteorological Office call it the second hottest, after 1998. All three groups agree that 2005 is the hottest year on record for the Northern Hemisphere, at roughly 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the historical average. The three teams used the same set of ocean and land temperature records, but they analyzed the data and compensated for gaps in the climatic record differently. As a result, NASA scientists estimate that 2005 average global land and sea temperatures were 1.04 degrees Fahrenheit above average, just beating out 1998's 1-degree elevation. NOAA researchers, by contrast, say this year's global average is 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit above average, compared with 1.1 degrees in 1998. The analyses were based on data through the end of November and projections of December temperatures. The Earth has warmed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century, with 1 degree of this increase occurring in the past 30 years. This climate change has brought unusually prolonged droughts in some regions and heavy precipitation in others, while the Arctic's sea ice has shrunk to its lowest level since observers started using satellite records in 1979. NASA's Goddard Institute said this year's statistics were particularly significant because in 1998 the world experienced El Nino, which drove up temperatures dramatically. Year 2005, by contrast, the world reached record levels without such a dramatic climatic event. The world's temperatures are on an upward trend, NASA contends, "because it is being driven by the Earth's present energy imbalance, which is substantial." As long as humans keep adding more heat-trapping greenhouse gases, "the planet stays out of energy balance."  The year 2003, marked by a sweltering summer and drought across large swaths of the planet, was the third hottest in nearly 150 years, the United Nations weather agency said . The World Meteorological Organization estimated the average surface temperature for the year to be 0.81 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the normal 57 degrees. The agency said that warmer weather could not be attributed to any one cause but was part of a trend that global warming was likely to prolong. The agency, which collects data from forecasters worldwide, said the three hottest years since accurate records began to be kept in 1861 have all been in the past six years. The hottest was 1998, when the average temperature was up 0.99 degrees. "The rhythm of temperature increases is accelerating," said a WMO official. In summer '03, much of Europe was struck by a prolonged heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 104 degrees. The hot weather was blamed for the deaths of thousands, most in France, and devastating forest fires in several countries. It also accelerated the melting of Alpine glaciers, the WMO said. India and Pakistan also were hit by a deadly heat wave in May and June, when 1,500 people died as temperatures soared above 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The western United States continued to suffer from drought, and wildfires in California burned nearly 75,000 acres of land in October. In the southern hemisphere springtime, Australia logged a record September temperature of over 109 degrees. Over the 2002-03 winter, North America received its 10th lowest recorded snowfall, although the northeastern United States was battered with a record snowstorm in February. Other parts of the world also faced extreme winter weather. January temperatures in northeastern Russia dropped to -49 degrees, while Mongolia also was gripped by an exceptionally harsh winter for the third year running, devastating livestock. 9/13/2002 With nearly half the country reeling from a blistering drought, the summer of 2002 was the hottest since the depression-stricken "Dust Bowl" era of the 1930s, U.S. government weather experts said. The summer's scorching temperatures sparked raging forest fires in the West, wilted crops in the Midwest and parched pastures in the Plains. NOAA said the average temperature for the contiguous U.S. from June through August was 73.9 degrees, the third hottest summer since records began in 1895. The only summers warmer were 1936 and 1934, when vast numbers of farmers were driven from their land by drought. "It's very extraordinary to have the warmest summer since the 1930s Dust Bowl days," said a drought specialist for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. Although the U.S. economy is no longer as dependent on agriculture as it was in the 1930s, a major drought in 2000 caused damage worth $4 billion and claimed 140 lives nationwide. That summer in 2000 was only the 12th warmest on record. Moderate to extreme drought covered more than 45 percent of the United States. Six states -- North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada -- suffered their worst drought on record. South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Delaware and Wyoming were also near unprecedented dry levels. NOAA officials predicted the direct loss of the year's drought would certainly be in the billions of dollars. "It will be a significant dollar impact, but nothing similar to 1988 where the Corn Belt was devastated by drought -- well over $10 billion of direct damage," NOAA said. NOAA said the 2002 drought would continue to linger for another six months due to the arrival of a weak El Nino weather anomaly. The most extensive national drought in the past 100 years was in 1934 when it hit 80 percent of the country. Studying tree ring records, NOAA researchers said the severity of the 1930s drought was likely surpassed only in the 1570s and 1580s. 9/27/2001 Summer was a bit warmer than normal, with temperatures reaching their fifth-highest levels during June, July and August, according to government climate experts. Temperatures averaged 73.6 degrees Fahrenheit during the just- completed summer. That's 1.5 degrees above normal. Rainfall averaged 8.4 inches across the country during the summer, close to the long-term average of 8.2 inches. The information published Wednesday by the government's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., covers meteorological summer, which is June, July and August. The agency said that while national temperatures were above normal, cooler than normal readings were seen in much of the Southeast. The biggest heat wave struck in late July and early August, beginning in the southern Plains and stretching into the upper Midwest, with higher-than-normal temperatures extending into the northeastern United States by the second week of August. Daily highs in the 90s and 100s, combined with high humidity, led to dangerous heat stress levels and numerous heat-related deaths. It was the fourth warmest August on record with a nationally average temperature of 74.9, some 2.1 degrees above the long-term mean. The wettest weather occurred along the central Gulf Coast region, as tropical storms Allison and Barry brought heavy rains during June and August, respectively. Rainfall in the West did little to alleviate long-term drought, which worsened in many parts of the Northwest. By the end of August, moderate to extreme drought conditions covered much of that region, as well as western Wyoming and Montana, the Climate Center reported. DRIEST MONTHS ON RECORD IN WASHINGTON DC: OCTOBER 1963........ TRACE OCTOBER 2000........ 0.02'' APRIL 1985............... 0.03'' SEPTEMBER 1884...... 0.14'' DECEMBER 1889....... 0.19'' SEPTEMBER 1967...... 0.20'' DRIEST MONTHS ON RECORD IN BALTIMORE: OCTOBER 1963...... TRACE OCTOBER 1924...... 0.05'' OCTOBER 2000...... 0.08'' SEPTEMBER 1884.... 0.09'' JUNE 1954.............. 0.15'' OCTOBER 1874...... 0.16 '' NOAA said January to June 2000 was the warmest first half of the year since the agency began record-keeping 106 years ago. It was the warmest six-month period on record for New Mexico and the second-warmest for Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. The six-month period was also the third-driest year-to-date for Florida and the second-wettest for New York, NOAA said. The 1999 drought followed a dry Fall '98 and Winter '98-'99. Many parts of the mid-Atlantic entered Summer 2000 after a wet Fall '99 and normal Winter '99-'00, and above average rainfall in the Spring. The dire predicitions of a widespread 2000 mid-Atlantic Summer drought never came to pass. Below are some related links to assist in planning for your vacation, business and agricultural interests. Palmer Index (Drought Severity) Fire Growth Potential (Haines Index) |
 In general the new drought outlook is more pesimistic with regard to the probabilitiy of improvement over the southeast mainly due to the recent reduction in Atlantic tropical system activity. This may have to be reevaluated in subsequent outlooks if the upturn in tropical activity predicted by the models for the Fall. The decrease in tropical activity also leads to a more pessimistic forecast of improvement for interior Texas. The drought area over the northern Plains should see some improvement as medium range forecasts indicate above normal precipitation for this region. Climatological considerations suggest improvement for the drought area over northern California, especially along the coast. The area of drought over southern California is expected to persist. [Source: CPC]
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A persistent high-pressure zone over the Eastern states blocked storms and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and sustained a pattern of warm, dry winds from the west.
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The US Drought Impacts Map, produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), gives long-term forecasts and outlines drought recovery areas.  |
| Notable Mid-Atlantic Dryspells |
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(50 Days) BWI... 0.78'' DCA... 0.70'' IAD... 1.43'' All 3 airports reported 0.01'' from Oct 17-Nov 19. (30 Days) BWI... 0.01'' DCA... 0.06'' (10 Days) BWI... 5.31'' DCA... 3.75'' IAD had 5.67'' for May through 5/27/01 |
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Month-by-month stats: |
| Month | Monthly Norm | Actual | Rainy Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Norm | Actual | Rainy Days | Rain Days less than 0.10" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 22-23 overnight 0.77'' was most rain in 1 month.
May 24: 0.86'' on doubled the monthly May rain total.
Aug 1-23: 1.99" but Aug 24-26 4.15".
* Norm through September 30th.
^ Actual through September 14th (Sept 3-6 remnants from
TS Dennis = 2.52").
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Sept 15-16 received 5.80" from Hurricane Floyd, effectively ending the water shortage, and putting Central MD above year-to-date norms. Sept 21st--received another 1" of rain, bringing total September '99 rainfall above 10 inches. | ||||
