RECORD WARMTH IN WESTERN U.S. IN JULY, DROUGHT SEVERITY WORSENED,
GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 7TH WARMEST FOR JULY
July
2007 brought record and near-record warmth to the western United States,
while much of the eastern and southern U.S. experienced cooler-than-average
temperatures, according to scientists at NOAA’s National
Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Below-average rainfall,
combined with scorching temperatures, helped put 46 percent of the
contiguous U.S. in some stage of drought by the end of July. The global
average temperature was the seventh warmest on record for July, and
the presence of cooler-than-average waters in the central and eastern
equatorial Pacific reflected the possible development of a La
Niña episode.
U.S.
Temperature Highlights
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The
persistent atmospheric pattern that brought cooler-than-average
temperatures to the East contributed to record and near-record warmth
in the West. It was the warmest July on record in Montana, Wyoming
and Idaho. Boise, Idaho’s average temperature of 98.6°
F (37° C) was more than 9° F (5° C) above average, and
made July 2007 its warmest month ever.
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The
cooler-than-average July temperatures in the heavily populated eastern
U.S. helped push down residential energy needs for the nation as
a whole. Using the Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI
- an index developed at NOAA to relate energy usage to climate),
the nation's residential energy demand was approximately 4 percent
lower than what would have occurred under average climate conditions
for the month.
U.S.
Precipitation Highlights
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The record warmth and drier-than-average conditions in the northern
Rockies led to rapidly worsening drought conditions and helped give
the western wildfire season an early and extremely active start.
By early August more than 5 million acres had burned in the contiguous
U.S, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
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Drought conditions worsened in parts of the northern Rockies, northern
Plains, Midwest, and mid-Atlantic. At the end of July, 46 percent
of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate-to-exceptional drought, an
increase of 12 percent since June. Eighty percent of the Southeast
was in drought, with the most severe drought in the nation concentrated
in the northern half of Alabama.
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It was the third wettest July on record in Texas and Louisiana,
the second wettest for the region that includes four neighboring
states. The Northeast was also wetter than average along with six
western states: Wyoming, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and California.
-
Rainfall
from the remnants of Hurricane
Cosme eased dry conditions on the eastern end of the Big Island
of Hawaii, but moderate-to-severe drought continued to affect several
of the Hawaiian Islands at the end of July.
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Although above average temperatures covered most of the world’s
land surfaces during July, monthly temperatures were cooler than
average in some countries. In much of Argentina, temperatures were
more than 5° F (3° C) cooler than average for July, and
Buenos Aires had its first major snowfall since 1918.
NOAA is celebrating 200
years of science and service to the nation in 2007. From the establishment
of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation
of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the
1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.
NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through
the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events
and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing
environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries
and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network
that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
On
the Web:
NOAA:
http://www.noaa.gov
Complete
information, including links to data, graphics and analysis: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/jul/jul07.html
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