CONTACT:  Patricia Viets, NOAA             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Stephanie Kenitzer, NOAA         3/9/98

The first two months of 1998 were the warmest and wettest in the 104-year record of temperatures and precipitation measurements for the contiguous 48 states, according to preliminary data compiled by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"During the period January-February the national average temperature was 37.5 degrees Fahrenheit compared with a normal of 32.1. The previous record was 37.0 in 1990. For precipitation, 6.01 inches fell, compared with a normal of 4.05. The previous record was 5.7 inches in 1979," said William Brown of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

For the winter (December-February) as a whole, however, temperatures and precipitation were not as extreme. This past winter was the second warmest on record and the seventh wettest. The normal national average temperature for the winter months of December, January and February is 32.3 degrees F. This year's figure is 36.4 degrees F. The record is 36.6 set in 1991-1992. For the three-month period, the normal precipitation value for the country is 6.35 inches. This year's figure is 7.96 inches, compared with 8.5 inches in 1932.

NOAA reports that California and North Dakota had their wettest February on record. Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Virginia had their second wettest February since 1895. The warmest February on record took place in much of the upper Midwest and parts of the East, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

"These are the patterns one would typically expect during a strong El Nino event," said Ants Leetmaa, director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md. "With the newest figures, the long-term trend of increasing temperatures and precipitation in the United States continues," said Tom Karl, senior scientist at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. "These record-breaking statistics are generally consistent with both a strong El Nino and climate model projections of a continuing trend toward a warmer and wetter world as greenhouse gases continue to increase."

The temperature and precipitation patterns that have dominated much of the winter months are expected to continue through March and April, according to NOAA's climate predictions. In the summer, at least slightly warmer than normal conditions are expected across Southern California, the southwest and much of the East Coast. There are no strong indications for either above or below normal precipitation across the country. El Nino conditions in the tropical Pacific will gradually diminish through the summer. Ocean temperatures in this region are predicted to be near normal later in the year.

The next monthly El Nino advisory from the Climate Prediction Center will be available on Tuesday, March 10, on the Internet at http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov. Click on El Nino.

Statistics about the past months, compiled by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, are available on the center's World Wide Web site at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Click onto
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/warmest.html for "What's Hot."

A map of individual state rankings is available on the World Wide Web from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center:

February PrecipitationRankings
http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring /1mpranks.gif

February Temperatures Rankings
http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/1mtrank s.gif

Dec - Feb Historical Precipitation Rankings
http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/3mprank s.gif

Dec - Feb. Historical Temperature Rankings
http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/3mtrank s.gif