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Contents of This Report:
Additional information about current climate anomalies can be found at the respective Web Pages of the Southern Regional Climate Center, Western Regional Climate Center, Midwest Regional Climate Center, Southeast Regional Climate Center, High Plains Regional Climate Center, and the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
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February 2001 temperatures were generally below normal along the West Coast through the Pacific Northwest into the central and northern Plains. Above normal temperatures occurred from New Mexico into Texas through the eastern third of the nation. Twelve states ranked within the cool third portion of the historical distribution while twenty-five states ranked within the warm third portion. Florida had its ninth warmest February out of 107 years of record. In Alaska, temperatures averaged across the state resulted in the third warmest February since records began in 1918. |
- Kansas - third wettest
- Missouri - third wettest
- Arkansas - fourth wettest
- Iowa - seventh wettest
- Wyoming - seventh wettest
| It was the second driest February on record for Florida. In fact, for the year long period March 2000-February 2001, Florida had its driest such period since 1895. The Pacific Northwest continued to be dry, with Washington ranking eighth driest and Oregon ranking tenth driest in 107 Februarys. Seventeen states fell within the dry third portion of the historical distribution.
Twenty-one states ranked within the wet third. This included Oklahoma, which experienced its second wettest February. Other top ten rankings were: |
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February Regional Highlights
| Based upon preliminary data, February 2001 was the twenty-fifth coolest such month since 1895 for the West North Central region. This ends six consecutive Februarys that were above the long-term mean. |  |
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It was the seventeenth warmest February on record for the Southeast region. Ten of the last thirteen Februarys have been above the long-term mean. |
| February 2001 was the eleventh driest such month since 1895 for the Northwest region. This ends three consecutive Februarys of near to above normal precipitation. The Southeast region continued to experience precipitation deficits as well. |  |
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February 2001 was the thirteenth wettest such month for the East North Central region. Eleven of the last fifteen Februarys have been near to below the long-term mean. |
View a temperature or precipitation time series for any region from the table below. Click on a region's precipitation or temperature rank to view the 1895-2001 time series.
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| Preliminary precipitation data indicate that the growing season-to-date, October 2000-February 2001, was the wettest such period since 1895 for the Primary Hard Red Winter Wheat Belt. The much above normal precipitation in this region is reflected in the October 2000-February 2001 state rank map. For this period, Oklahoma ranked second wettest and Kansas ranked fifth wettest. |  |
- Current and historical drought information can be found at the U.S. Drought page. Additional drought information can also be found at the Web Page for the National Drought Mitigation Center. The Center monitors current droughts both in the United States and worldwide.
Damage due to the drought has been summarized by NOAA and the Office of Global Programs in the Climatological Impacts section of the Climate Information Project. Crop impact information can be found at the USDA NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) and Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin pages. Drought statements by local National Weather Service Offices can be found at the NWS Hydrologic Information Center. Drought threat assessments and other information can be found at NOAA's Drought Information Center.
February Precipitation and Temperature Ranks, Extremes and Normals
- Table 1 shows precipitation and temperature ranks for each of the 9 regions and the nation for February 2001, the two months of January-February 2001, the six months of September 2000-February 2001, and the past 12 months, March 2000-February 2001.
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE RANKS, BASED
ON THE PERIOD 1895-2001. 1 = DRIEST/COLDEST,
107 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR FEB 2001,
107 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR JAN-FEB 2001,
106 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR SEP 2000-FEB 2001,
106 = WETTEST/WARMEST FOR MAR 2000-FEB 2001.
FEB JAN-FEB SEP 2000- MAR 2000-
REGION 2001 2001 FEB 2001 FEB 2001
------ ---- --------- --------- ---------
PRECIPITATION:
NORTHEAST 21 4 7 68
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 95 79 62 67
CENTRAL 89 55 30 45
SOUTHEAST 17 8 14 3
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 79 55 78 43
SOUTH 97 92 90 63
SOUTHWEST 78 74 82 56
NORTHWEST 11 3 2 2
WEST 74 60 30 19
NATIONAL 67 30 29 27
TEMPERATURE:
NORTHEAST 79 78 46 55
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 32 70 37 67
CENTRAL 74 61 18 41
SOUTHEAST 94 66 21 43
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 25 58 28 67
SOUTH 65 49 16 68
SOUTHWEST 60 52 51 102
NORTHWEST 30 35 27 57
WEST 44 49 50 88
NATIONAL 53 58 21 74
It should be emphasized that all of the temperature and precipitation ranks and values in Tables 1 through 3 are based on preliminary data. The ranks will change when the final data are processed. National ranks and values are based on a combination of USHCN and divisional data.
Table 2 shows historical extremes for February, the 1961-1990 normal, and the February 2001 value for each of the 9 regions and the contiguous U.S. for precipitation and temperature. It should be noted that the 2001 values will change when the final data are processed.
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
DRIEST WETTEST NORMAL 2001
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR PCPN PCPN
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 0.70 1987 5.43 1900 2.65 2.07
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 0.31 1987 2.40 1922 0.95 1.64
CENTRAL 0.67 1947 5.46 1909 2.64 3.69
SOUTHEAST 1.36 1898 7.45 1998 4.15 2.25
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 0.30 1985 1.07 1936 0.55 0.73
SOUTH 0.66 1916 5.63 1903 2.30 3.38
SOUTHWEST 0.14 1972 2.07 1980 0.80 0.99
NORTHWEST 0.69 1920 5.95 1904 2.86 1.37
WEST 0.21 1964 7.57 1998 2.27 3.08
NATIONAL 0.96 1947 3.20 1998 1.98 2.14*
* PRELIMINARY VALUE, CONFIDENCE
INTERVAL + OR - 0.15 INCHES
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
COLDEST WARMEST NORMAL 2001
REGION VALUE YEAR VALUE YEAR TEMP TEMP
------ ---------- ---------- ------ ------
NORTHEAST 11.6 1934 31.8 1998 23.3 26.2
EAST NORTH CENTRAL 1.1 1936 31.6 1998 17.6 15.0
CENTRAL 20.6 1978 41.8 1930 32.2 35.9
SOUTHEAST 37.8 1895 56.4 1927 47.1 52.5
WEST NORTH CENTRAL 2.7 1936 34.5 1954 22.2 15.8
SOUTH 33.7 1905 53.5 1930 45.2 47.4
SOUTHWEST 25.1 1903 42.8 1995 35.9 36.4
NORTHWEST 23.3 1933 39.7 1963 33.5 30.9
WEST 32.6 1903 48.8 1963 42.7 41.2
NATIONAL 26.2 1936 42.4 1954 34.63 34.66
Water Year River Basin Statistics, October 2000-February 2001
- Table 3 shows statistics for selected river basins: Precipitation rankings are for October 2000-February 2001, where 1 = driest, and 106 = wettest, based on the period 1895 to 2001. Also shown is the areal percent of the basin experiencing severe or extreme long-term (Palmer) drought, and areal percent of the basin experiencing severe or extreme long-term (Palmer) wet conditions, as of February 2001.
PRECIPITATION % AREA % AREA
RIVER BASIN RANK DRY WET
----------- ------------- ------ ------
MISSOURI BASIN 100 7.3% 6.1%
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BASIN 2 56.5% 0.0%
CALIFORNIA RIVER BASIN 27 4.2% 0.0%
GREAT BASIN 70 0.0% 0.0%
UPPER COLORADO BASIN 77 0.0% 0.0%
LOWER COLORADO BASIN 85 0.0% 0.0%
RIO GRANDE BASIN 98 0.0% 20.6%
ARKANSAS-WHITE-RED BASIN 105 0.0% 28.6%
TEXAS GULF COAST BASIN 93 0.0% 29.7%
SOURIS-RED-RAINY BASIN 96 0.0% 63.4%
UPPER MISSISSIPPI BASIN 75 0.0% 1.3%
LOWER MISSISSIPPI BASIN 70 10.2% 6.0%
GREAT LAKES BASIN 25 0.0% 16.9%
OHIO RIVER BASIN 12 0.4% 0.0%
TENNESSEE RIVER BASIN 30 0.0% 0.0%
NEW ENGLAND BASIN 12 0.0% 7.7%
MID-ATLANTIC BASIN 2 6.8% 0.0%
SOUTH ATLANTIC-GULF BASIN 6 44.0% 0.0%
The river basin regions are defined by the U.S. Water Resources Council.
For more information, refer to ...
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 courtesy of the Climate Prediction Center.
NOAA works closely with the academic and scientific 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 from the Climate Prediction Center.
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4876
phone: 828-271-4800
email: questions@ncdc.noaa.gov
For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801-5001
fax: 828-271-4328
email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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