NCDC / Climate Monitoring / August / U.S. Climate / Search / Help
|
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Climate Monitoring National Overview
August 2003
National Climatic Data Center Asheville, North Carolina 12 September 2003
|
|
Global Analysis / Global Hazards /
United States / U.S. Drought /
Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data available on the 12th.
These pages provide temperature and precipitation rank maps and graphics as well as textual weather and climate summaries for August 2003, the three-month period June-August 2003, the six-month period March-August 2003, and the last 12 months - September 2002-August 2003.
|
National Overview:
Monthly and Seasonal Highlights:
National:
August 2003 ranked as the 5th warmest August in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 74.9�F (23.8�C), which was 2.1�F (1.2�C) above the long-term mean.
August 2003 was near average for precipitation nationally, ranking 37th wettest. The persistent west-east, dry-wet contrast for the nation over the summer was still present but more muted for August
For tables of national, regional, statewide and selected city data from 1895-present, for August, summer or other periods, please go to the Climate At A Glance page
June-August temperature was near normal to only slightly above average and ranked as the 43rd warmest such period in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature for June-August was 72.5�F (22.5�C) which was 0.4�F (0.2�C) above the long-term mean.
June-August 2003 was wetter than average, ranking 15th wettest in the last 109 years.
September 2002-August 2003 ranked as the 25th warmest such 12 months in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 53.3�F (11.8�C) which was 0.5�F (0.3�C) above the long-term mean.
Precipitation was greater than average for September-August leading to a rank of 21st wettest for the last 12 months based on a record of 108 such periods.
Regional and Statewide:
August 2003 ranked record warm for Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming, with 10 other states averaging much warmer than the long term mean.
Alaska was slightly warmer than average for August with an anomaly of 1.1�F (0.6�C) above the 1971-2000 mean, while summer was 1.4�F (0.8�C) above average.
August was second driest on record for Minnesota and Iowa while Wisconsin was also much drier than average. Three eastern states and California were much wetter than the long term mean.
For the Primary Corn and Soybean Belt, preliminary data indicate that precipitation was near average for August and slightly above average for the growing season thus far (March-August) in 2003. The growing season runs from March to September for corn and soybeans.
The summer period (June-August) was much colder than average for seven eastern states, while eight western states were much warmer than average for June-August 2003, including Nevada, which had a record warm summer. Generally, the eastern half of the country was cooler than the long term mean for the period, with the western half of the U.S. remaining warm.
June-August 2003 was record dry for Washington, and three other states were much drier than average for the three months. Fourteen eastern states were much wetter than average and the Southeast region as a whole ranked second wettest.
The last 12 months were record wet for five states, as was the Southeast region as a whole. Dryness remained in many northern states.
See NCDC's Monthly Extremes web-page for weather and climate records for the month of August.
|
Maps and Graphics:
It should be emphasized that all of the temperature and precipitation ranks and values are based on preliminary data. The ranks will change when the final data are processed.
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
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.info@noaa.gov
For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
Jay Lawrimore NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
NCDC / Climate Monitoring / August / U.S. Climate / Search / Help
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/aug/national.html
Downloaded Saturday, 04-Oct-2008 10:49:10 EDT
Last Updated Friday, 18-Nov-2005 14:11:45 EST by Anne.Waple@noaa.gov
Please see the NCDC Contact Page if you have questions or comments.
|
|