Climate of 2001
June in Historical Perspective

National Climatic Data Center, 13 July 2001

Global Highlights:

• Global average land and sea surface temperature was the second warmest on record for June
• Lower tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures were slightly cooler than average during the month
• Above average precipitation was most notable across the Gulf Coast of the U.S., northern Brazil, northern India and southeast Asia

Contents of this Section:

• Introduction
• Global Temperatures
• Global Precipitation
• Microwave Sounding Unit Data

Introduction

Anomalous warmth (based on a 1992-2001 base period as shown in the adjacent blended product of satellite and in-situ data) was dominant across much of Asia and the United States in June. Strong upper level ridges of high pressure (depicted by positive 500 millibar height anomalies) were situated across Alaska, eastern Canada, the central Former Soviet Union (FSU) and northwest Africa. Temperature anomalies calculated from in-situ station data using a 1961-1990 base period also show these warmer than average temperatures, with cooler than average temperatures denoted across much of Europe, northern India and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

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Temperature

The global land and ocean temperature ranked as the second warmest June in 2001 and was 0.51°C (0.92°F) above the long-term average using an 1880-2000 base period (0.41°C / 0.74°F above the 1961-1990 mean) Temperatures averaged across the Northern Hemisphere ranked second warmest, or 0.64°C (1.15°F) above the June average Land areas of the Southern Hemisphere were slightly cooler than average, a departure of -0.14°C (-0.25°F)

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The warmest June on record was observed across extratropical areas of the Northern Hemisphere (90°N-20°N), as the combined land and ocean temperature was 0.84°C (1.51°F) above average Using a 1961-1990 base period, the combined land and ocean temperature in the extratropics was 0.77°C (1.39°F) above the 30-year average Temperatures averaged over land areas were the warmest ever for June using an 1880-2000 base period, or 1.15°C (2.07°F) higher than the mean

Precipitation

Heavier than average monsoon rains began across northern India, with above average precipitation extending through southeast Asia and parts of eastern China Other areas that were wetter than average included the U.S. Gulf Coast and northern Brazil, with monthly rainfall surpluses locally exceeding 200 mm (7.87 inches) Unusually dry weather was found across the U.S. southern Plains, much of the Mediterranean, southern India and southwest Australia

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Microwave Sounding Unit Data

larger image Northern Hemisphere temperatures in the lower troposphere were slightly warmer than average (0.05°C / 0.09°C), while Southern Hemisphere temperatures were a bit cooler than the 1979-1998 average (-0.16°C / -0.29°F)

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In the lower stratosphere, June was -0.36°C (-0.65°F) cooler than average This was the 9th consecutive June with below average temperatures in the lower stratosphere

For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in June 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.

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