NCDC / Climate Research / Climate of 1999 / March-May / U.S. Regional / Search / Help

---

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration March-May 1999 U.S. Regional and Statewide Analyses National Climatic Data Center, 17 June 1999

larger image

Climate of 1999: May Overview Climate of 1999: March-May Overview Detailed Climate Perspectives . . . Global Analysis Global Regional Analyses U.S. National Analysis U.S. Regional/Statewide Analyses Extreme Events 1999 Monthly Reports

Through climate analysis, National Climatic Data Center scientists have identified nine climatically consistent regions within the contiguous United States which are useful for putting current climate anomalies into a historical perspective.

Information about NOAA's Regional Climate Centers can be obtained by setting your web browser to:

http://met-www.cit.cornell.edu/other_rcc.html

A Spring 1999 climate summary by the Southeast Regional Climate Center can be found at:

http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sercc/products/seasonal_summaries/spr99/index.html

The National Drought Mitigation Center's Drought Watch monitors current droughts both in the United States and worldwide. Additional information can be found at:

http://enso.unl.edu/ndmc/watch/watch.htm

Table 1 shows precipitation and temperature ranks for each of the 9 regions and the nation for the Spring Season 1999, based on the period 1895-1999.
1 = DRIEST/COLDEST, 105 = WETTEST/HOTTEST

         REGION                PRECIPITATION  TEMPERATURE
         ------                -------------  -----------

        NORTHEAST                   23             74
        EAST NORTH CENTRAL          91             96
        CENTRAL                     32             59

        SOUTHEAST                   12             46
        WEST NORTH CENTRAL          76             82
        SOUTH                       62             71

        SOUTHWEST                   58             69
        NORTHWEST                   22             25
        WEST                        31             40

        NATIONAL                    33             75

It should be emphasized that all of the temperature and precipitation ranks in Table 1 are based on preliminary data. The ranks will change when the final data are processed.

Table 2 shows historical extremes for Spring, the 1961-1990 normal, and the Spring 1999 value for each of the 9 regions and the contiguous U.S. for precipitation and temperature.

                               PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
                             DRIEST     WETTEST   NORMAL  1999
         REGION            VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR   PCPN   PCPN
         ------            ---------- ----------  ------ ------

        NORTHEAST           5.65 1915 16.86 1983  10.35   8.66
        EAST NORTH CENTRAL  3.82 1934 11.66 1991   7.81   9.15
        CENTRAL             6.98 1941 18.55 1927  12.34  10.60

        SOUTHEAST           6.77 1914 18.29 1980  12.48   8.27
        WEST NORTH CENTRAL  2.22 1934  7.57 1995   5.21   5.64
        SOUTH               5.89 1925 17.04 1957   9.98  10.37

        SOUTHWEST           1.30 1972  6.62 1941   2.86   3.01
        NORTHWEST           2.13 1924  9.41 1993   6.48   5.21
        WEST                0.93 1909 10.15 1995   4.18   3.32

        NATIONAL            5.32 1925 10.14 1973   7.76   7.17*

                            * PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
                              INTERVAL + OR - 0.53 INCHES

                               TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
                             COLDEST    WARMEST   NORMAL  1999
         REGION            VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR   TEMP   TEMP
         ------            ---------- ----------  ------ ------

        NORTHEAST           40.0 1926  49.4 1921   44.4   45.5
        EAST NORTH CENTRAL  37.8 1950  49.9 1977   43.3   45.8
        CENTRAL             48.6 1960  57.7 1977   53.1   53.2

        SOUTHEAST           59.0 1960  65.9 1908   62.0   62.1
        WEST NORTH CENTRAL  36.9 1917  48.0 1910   42.6   43.7
        SOUTH               57.7 1931  65.4 1963   62.2   62.8

        SOUTHWEST           44.6 1917  55.4 1934   50.2   50.7
        NORTHWEST           40.4 1955  52.0 1934   45.3   44.2
        WEST                48.9 1896  59.1 1934   52.6   51.9

        NATIONAL            48.1 1917  54.7 1910   51.6   52.1*

                            * PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
                              INTERVAL + OR - 0.2 DEG. F.

Regional Rankings

Preliminary data ranked Spring (March-May) 1999 as the 12th driest such season on record for the Southeast Region. The three prior Spring seasons have averaged at- to above the long term mean.

larger image

larger image

Preliminary data ranked Spring (March-May) 1999 as the 15th wettest Spring season on record for the East-North Central Region.

Preliminary data ranked Spring (March-May) 1999 as the 25th coolest Spring season since 1895 for the Northwest Region. The prior seven such seasons were at- to above the long term mean.

larger image

larger image

Preliminary data ranked Spring (March-May) 1999 as the 10th warmest Spring season on record for the East-North Central Region. The past two such seasons have been much above normal for temperature.

March-May 1999 Statewide Temperature and Precipitation

Larger Map

Based upon preliminary data, three states ranked within the top ten warm portion of the distribution for March-May 1999: Rhode Island - 8th warmest Maine - 9th warmest Wisconsin - 10th warmest. Only four states ranked within the cool-third portion of the historical distribution.

Based upon preliminary data, March-May 1999 was the sixth driest Spring season on record for Georgia and the seventh driest Spring since 1895 for Ohio. Twenty-two other states ranked within the dry-third portion of the distribution. Eleven states ranked within the wet-third portion of the distribution.

Larger Map

Additional Information

References:

Thomas R. Karl and Albert J. Koscielny, 1982: "Drought in the United States: 1895-1981." Journal of Climatology, vol. 2, pp. 313-329.

Thomas R. Karl and Walter James Koss, 1984: "Regional and National Monthly, Seasonal, and Annual Temperature Weighted by Area, 1895-1983." Historical Climatology Series 4-3, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, 38 pp.

NOAA's National Climatic Data Center is the world's largest active archive of weather data. The preliminary temperature and precipitation rankings are available from the center by calling: 828-271-4800.

Historical precipitation and temperature ranking maps are also available on the Internet at: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/usa.html.

NOAA works closely with the academic and science communities on climate-related research projects to increase the understanding of El Niño and improve forecasting techniques. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center monitors, analyzes and predicts climate events ranging from weeks to seasons for the nation. NOAA also operates the network of data buoys and satellites that provide vital information about the ocean waters, and initiates research projects to improve future climate forecasts. The long lead climate outlooks are available on the Internet at: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov.

Climate Services Division
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: ncdc.orders@noaa.gov

For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

William Brown
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: william.brown@noaa.gov

Mike Changery
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: mchangry@ncdc.noaa.gov

NCDC / Climate Research / Climate of 1999 / March-May / U.S. National / Search / Help