U.S. National Overview - September 2005

September:

• September temperatures were much above average for the nation with much warmer-than-average conditions across a large portion of the eastern half of the country. For information on temperature records during the month, please go to NCDC's Extremes page.
• Precipitation was much below average for the nation with conditions especially drier than average across parts of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states. For more information on drought during September, please visit the U.S. Drought page.

• Indices used to determine the state of ENSO suggest that the Equatorial Pacific was in ENSO neutral conditions during September, having transitioned from a weak warm phase (El Ni�o) earlier in the year. Sea Surface Temperatures were near normal across the equatorial Pacific during September. To see the latest NOAA advisory and typical impacts of a La Ni�a or El Ni�o episode for the U.S., go to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

• September 2005 ranked as the 4th warmest September in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 68.1�F (20.1�C), which was 2.6�F (1.4�C) above the long-term mean.
• September 2005 had much below average precipitation, nationally, ranking 11th driest.
• For the last 3 months temperature was much above average and ranked as the 4th warmest such period in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature for July-September was 72.6�F (22.6�C) which was 1.7�F (0.9�C) above the long-term mean.
• July-September had near average precipitation, ranking 45th driest in the last 111 years.
• The October 2004-September 2005 temperature was much above average and ranked as the 7th warmest such period in the 1895 to present record. The preliminary nationally averaged temperature was 54.1�F (12.3�C) which was 1.3�F (0.7�C) above the long-term mean.
• Precipitation was above average for October-September, ranking 20th wettest for the last 12 months based on a record of 110 such periods.

• September 2005 temperatures ranked much above average for 28 states including Louisiana, which had a record warm September. No state was significantly cooler than average for September 2005.
• Alaska temperatures were warmer than average for both September and the last 3 months, ranking 12th and 2nd respectively.
• September was much drier than average for 8 states, including 3 states (GA, SC, MD), which had their driest September on record.
  
• The 3 month period, July-September, was warmer than average for the entire nation, with no state near average and no state below its long term mean. Six states (NY, VT, MA, RI, NJ, FL) had a record warm July-September.
• July-September 2005 was much wetter than average for 2 states (LA and AL), while 4 states were much drier than average (MT, ID, OR, DE). The precipitation signal was generally mixed across the nation.
• October 2004-September 2005 was warmer than average for much of the nation. No state was significantly cooler than average over the last 12 months.
• The last 12 months were wetter than average for much of the nation, with only parts of the Pacific Northwest and the mid-Atlantic drier than average.

  See NCDC's Monthly Extremes web-page for weather and climate records for the month of September.