January Precipitation

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The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, January 2003 was much drier than average, ranking 2nd driest. This marks a return to dry conditions after a wet December .

Most states across the contiguous U.S. averaged drier than the 109-year mean for January 2003, with 7 states ranking as near average, and only 2 states which were wetter than the long-term mean. Four states (Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida and Minnesota) were record dry for January, while a further 18 states were much drier than average including Oklahoma, which was second driest in the last 109 years and 6 states (ME, GA, MS, TN, KY, and NM) that were 3rd driest. Only Washington and Idaho were significantly wetter than average with Washington state having its 10th wettest January since comprehensive record-keeping began in 1895. The drought alleviation in many eastern states, which had been reasonably sustained for the last several months, was interrupted in January, and some long-term dryness remained in Georgia and the Carolinas. For more details on drought across the country, please click on the U.S. drought page.

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Some precipitation fell as snow in January, especially in the New England region and along the east coast. More details of snowfall in January and the season so far can be found on the snow season page.

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The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation from October 2002-January 2003 averaged across the Primary Hard Red Winter Wheat Belt. The growing season runs from October to February for the hard red winter wheat and preliminary data indicate that precipitation was above average for the growing season as of the end of January 2003.

Precipitation Departures

The map below, based on more than 500 airport stations, shows January 2003 total precipitation as a percent of the 1971-2000 station normals. Above normal precipitation was generally confined to the Pacific Northwest and southern coastal Alaska. Much of the remainder of the contiguous U.S. was drier than normal.

Some of the precipitation which fell in January was in the form of snow. Click to the snow page for more details on January and the season-to-date. Many minimum monthly precipitation records were broken in January 2003, with cities such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA receiving over 5 inches (127 mm) less than average. Other towns which broke records for the driest January on record include Fayetteville, NC (0.65 in/ 16.5 mm), Little Rock, AR (0.31 in/ 7.9 mm), Los Angeles, CA (trace) and Lansing, MI (0.24 in/ 6.1 mm). Dozens of towns received their least amount of January precipitation in many years, including Tampa, FL, Flint, MI, Denver, CO and Albequerque, NM. For more records during January 2003, see NCDC's Extremes Page.

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Past Two & Three Months (Dec-Jan, Nov-Jan)

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The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, November 2002-January 2003 was drier than average, ranking 26th driest in the last 108 years.

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Seven states along the eastern seaboard received slightly above average precipitation over November-January 2003. However dryness is again the story for the 3 months (Nov-Jan). Three states (Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan) received record low precipitation over the period, and 5 other states ranked in the top ten driest November-Januarys. The pattern of precipitation over the U.S. for the last 2 months appears very similar, though several strong Pacific storms in December led to above average totals in 4 western states. Dryness in January also contributed to a 2-month ranking of below average for 4 Southeastern states, and Maine, in the Northeast, fell into the much below average category for the 2 month precipitation totals.

National Precipitation - February 2002-January 2003

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The graph to the left is a time series depicting precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. Based upon preliminary precipitation data, February 2002-January 2003 was drier than average, ranking 32nd driest in the last 108 such periods. The last 4 February-January periods have averaged slightly to much below the long term mean precipitation.

Record dryness occurred in Colorado from February 2002 to January 2003. The pattern of state-averaged annual precipitation can be seen in the map to the right. Five other states ranked in the top ten driest such periods. More information on drought analysis for these states and others can be found on NCDC's Drought Pages. Despite a wetter than average fall and early winter, some residual dryness remained in the Carolinas. However, most of the Gulf states were wetter than average in part due to the moisture associated with tropical systems during the summer and fall of 2002.

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Questions?

For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:

For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:

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