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State of the Climate
Global Analysis
September 2001

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

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Global Analysis Report

Global Highlights:

  • Global average land and sea surface temperature was the eighth warmest on record for September
  • Lower tropospheric temperatures were slightly cooler than average during the month
  • Temperatures in the lower stratosphere were cooler than average
  • Above average precipitation was most notable across the islands of the western Pacific and central Europe, with below average precipitation across most of India
  

Contents of this Section:
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Top of Page Introduction

Anomalous warmth (using a 1992-2001 base period as shown in the adjacent blended product of satellite and in-situ data) was dominant across much of Canada and the western U.S., much of northwest Russia and southeastern Australia. While strong upper level ridges of high pressure controlled the weather in these areas during September, upper level troughs of low pressure (depicted by negative 500 millibar height anomalies) were situated across central Europe and eastern Siberia. Temperature anomalies calculated from in-situ station data using a 1961-1990 base period also show the cooler than average temperatures in these regions as well as over the eastern U.S. Global Blended Temperature in September 2001
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Top of Page Temperature

  • September 2001 global land and ocean temperature ranked as eighth warmest in the 1880 to present record and was 0.33°C (0.59°F) above the long-term average (0.23°C / 0.41°F above the 1961-1990 mean)
  • Temperatures averaged across land areas were fifth warmest for September, or 0.46°C (0.83°F) above average
 Global Temp Anomalies in September 2001
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September Hemispheric Temperatures
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  • Northern Hemispheric temperatures remained above average (0.30°C / 0.54°F above the mean), although no records were in jeopardy this month
  • Temperatures averaged across the Southern Hemisphere were fourth warmest for September, or 0.40°C / 0.72°F above average using an 1880-present base period (0.25°C / 0.45°F above average using a 1961-1990 base period)
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Top of Page Precipitation

  • Several landfalling tropical storms and typhoons in the western Pacific provided locally excessive rainfall from Japan south into the northern Philippines
  • Monthly precipitation surpluses of 100-200 mm (3.94-7.87 inches) were common across parts of central Europe
  • Monsoon rains were much lighter than average across most of India
 Global Precip Anomalies in September 2001 larger image

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Top of Page Microwave Sounding Unit Data

Lower Tropospheric Temperature time series
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  • September temperatures averaged in the lowest 8km (5 miles) of the troposphere were slightly below average (-0.05°C / -0.09°F)
  • Northern Hemisphere temperatures in the lower troposphere were a bit warmer than average (0.04°C / 0.07°F), while Southern Hemisphere temperatures were a bit cooler than the 1979-1998 average (-0.14°C / -0.25°F)
Lower Stratospheric Temperature time series
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  • September temperatures in the lower stratosphere were 0.27°C (0.49°F) below average
  • This was the 9th consecutive September with cooler than average temperatures in the lower stratosphere

Lower tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by NASA and the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

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For additional details on precipitation and temperatures in September see the Global Regional page .

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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.

Questions?

For questions on technical or scientific content of this report, please contact:

Ahira Sánchez-Lugo:
Ahira.Sanchez-Lugo@noaa.gov

For general climate monitoring questions, please contact:

CMB.Contact@noaa.gov

For climate data orders, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services and Monitoring Division:

NCDC.Orders@noaa.gov

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