NOAA
REPORTS WARMER 2005 FOR THE UNITED STATES, NEAR-RECORD WARMTH GLOBALLY
HURRICANES, FLOODS, SNOW AND WILDFIRES ALL NOTABLE
Dec.
15, 2005 � After a record-breaking hurricane season, blistering heat
waves, lingering drought and a crippling Northeast blizzard, 2005 is
ending as a warm year in the United States. It will come close to the
all-time high global annual average temperature, based on preliminary
data gathered by scientists at the NOAA
National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. (Click
on NOAA image for larger view of USA significant weather and climate
events for 2005. Please credit "NOAA.")
Warmer-than-average
2005 for U.S.
NOAA scientists report that the 2005 annual average temperature for
the contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) will likely
be 1.0 degrees F (0.6 degrees C) above the 1895-2004 mean, which will
make 2005 one of the 20 warmest years on record for the country. Mean
temperatures through the end of November were warmer than average in
all but three states. No state was cooler than average. A July heat
wave pushed temperatures soaring beyond 100 degrees, and broke more
than 200 daily records established in six western states. A new record
of seven consecutive days at � or above � 125 degrees F was established
at Death Valley, Calif. The heat wave spread across the country during
late July, scorching the East and prompted record electricity usage
in New England and New York.
Drought,
Rainfall and Snow
The 2004-2005 winter was a season of contrasts for the West, with excessive
rainfall in the Southwest and severe drought in the Northwest. A parade
of winter Pacific storms triggered severe flooding and devastating landslides
in southern California and brought the second-wettest winter on record
to the Southwest region. Record and near-record snowpack levels, which
were widespread across the Southwest by early spring, eased drought
in a region where it had persisted for five years. Meanwhile, drought
conditions worsened in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies in
early 2005 and snowpack in much of the region was at record low levels
at the end of winter. However, above average precipitation in subsequent
months led to improving drought conditions in much of the region. (Click
on NOAA image for larger view of annual 2005 state rankings by precipitation.
Please credit "NOAA.")
During
spring, the drought focus shifted to the Midwest and southern Plains.
Severe dryness persisted across parts of northern Illinois, with Chicago
and Rockford recording their driest March-November on record. Drought
disasters were declared in all or parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin. Drier-than-average conditions
contributed to an active wildfire season that burned more than 8.5 million
acres in 2005 � 4.5 million acres consumed in Alaska alone, based on
preliminary data from the National Interagency Fire Center. This exceeds
the old record set in 2000 for acreage burned in a wildfire season for
the United States as a whole. At the end of November, 18 percent of
the contiguous United States was in moderate-to-extreme drought based
on a widely used measure of drought (the Palmer
Drought Index) in contrast to six percent at the end of November
last year. (Click on NOAA image for larger view of annual 2005
state rankings by temperature. Please credit "NOAA.")
Record
precipitation fell in the Northeast during the fall with three storm
systems affecting the region in October. Nine states in the Northeast
had their wettest October since 1895, and the October snowfall record
on Mount Washington was shattered when 78.9 inches of snow fell during
the month. Another notable snow storm in 2005 was the ‘Blizzard
of 2005,’ which brought more than two feet of snow across much
of southern New England in late January. This storm ranked as the seventh
most extreme snow event in the Northeast as measured by a newly developed
Northeast
Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) index and contributed to the snowiest
January on record in Boston.
Tropical
Cyclones and Hurricanes
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season set several records. There were 26
named storms (storms with sustained winds of at least 39 miles per hour).
In addition, there were an unprecedented 14 hurricanes, of which seven
were major hurricanes (Category 3 or better on the Saffir-Simpson
Scale). Three category 5 storms (sustained winds of 156 miles per
hour or more) formed in the Atlantic Basin for the first time in a single
season (Katrina, Rita and Wilma). Four major hurricanes and three tropical
storms made landfall in the U.S., with an eighth storm (Ophelia) brushing
the North Carolina coast. Tropical cyclone activity was near to below
average in the Eastern Pacific and Western North Pacific basins through
early December.
Global
The global annual temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces is
expected to be very close to the record global temperature that was
established in 1998 under the influence of an extremely strong El
Niño episode. There has been no such El Niño event
in 2005, but rather, unusual warmth across large parts of the globe
throughout the year. NOAA is in the process of transitioning to an improved
global temperature analysis system. The data analysis system used by
NOAA for global temperature analyses over the past eight years indicates
that 2005 would likely be the second-warmest year on record (1.06 degrees
F; 0.59 degrees C above the 1880-2004 mean), marginally lower than 1998.
(Click on NOAA image for larger view of January - December global
surface mean temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2005. Please credit
"NOAA.")
The largest
temperature anomalies were widespread throughout high latitude regions
of the Northern Hemisphere and included much of Russia, Scandinavia,
Canada and Alaska. During the past century, global surface temperatures
have increased at a rate near 1.1 degrees F/Century (0.6 degrees C/Century),
but the rate of temperature increase has been three times larger since
1976, with some of the largest temperature increases occurring in the
high latitudes.
Reflecting
the global warmth in 2005, a new record was established in September
for the lowest Arctic sea ice extent since satellite monitoring began
in the late 1970s, according to the National
Snow and Ice Data Center. This is part of a continuing trend in
end-of-summer Arctic sea ice extent reductions of approximately eight
percent per decade since 1979. (Click on NOAA image for larger
view of global significant climate anomalies and events in 2005. Click
here for high resolution version. Please credit "NOAA.")
The year began with the continuation of a weak El Niño episode
that developed in late 2004, but sea surface temperatures in the central
and east-central equatorial Pacific decreased early in the year and
the episode ended by late February. Few impacts from the weak El Niño
occurred worldwide, and neutral conditions persisted for the remainder
of the year.
Significant
weather and climate events for the globe included: severe drought
in parts of southern Africa and the Greater Horn of Africa, extreme
monsoon-related rainfall in western India including a 24-hour rainfall
total of 37.1 inches in Mumbai, the worst drought in decades in the
Amazon River basin, severe drought in large parts of western Europe,
and a record warm year in Australia.
NOAA, an
agency of the U.S. Department of
Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national
safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal
and marine resources.
Through
the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to
develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet
it observes.
Relevant Web Sites
NOAA
NOAA Satellite and Information Service
National Climatic Data Center
Climate
of 2005 - in Historical Perspective
Climate
of 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Media
Contact:
John
Leslie, NOAA Satellites and
Information Service, (301) 457-5005
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