Contact:  Stephanie Kenitzer            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        2/13/96 

ABOVE NORMAL GLOBAL TEMPERATURES, FLOODS, DROUGHT, HEATWAVE, ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON DOMINATE 1995 CLIMATE

The second highest estimated global mean temperature in the historical records (land surface data only), flooding along the West Coast and in the central United States, extremely dry conditions in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, a brief but deadly mid-July heat wave, and 19 named Atlantic tropical storms were among the climate features of 1995, according to early highlights of the annual Climate Assessment report available from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md. The NWS's 1995 estimated global mean temperature was the second highest since reliable records began in 1951. The 1995 global land surface temperature averaged 0.42 degrees C (0.76 degrees F) above the long-term (1951-1980) normal of 10.9 degrees C (51.6 degrees F), or 0.1 degrees C (0.18 degrees F) less than the record warm year of 1990. The NWS estimate is based only on land surface measurements.

Global mean temperature estimates for 1995 were also calculated by the British Meteorological Office and the University of East Anglia using land and some ocean surface reports, and by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama using satellite microwave soundings in the lower atmosphere (surface to 6 km). The British findings placed 1995 as the warmest year since such records began more than a century ago, while the NASA/University of Alabama data ranked 1995 as the eighth warmest out of 17 years of record.

The NWS report highlights several other significant climate events:

-- El Nino conditions, characterized by warming of ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, dissipated in early 1995. Later in the year, weak cold episode conditions developed in the region. During cold episode winters, the jet stream over North America deviates from its typical position, resulting in colder than normal conditions over western Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and the northern plains, and warmer and drier than normal conditions along the Gulf Coast and over portions of the Southeast.

-- Precipitation extremes dominated large parts of the United States during 1995. In January and March, near-record precipitation and resultant flooding were observed in California. Many areas of the central United States received more than twice the normal precipitation from April through early June, causing flooding along parts of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers and their tributaries. Heavy November and December precipitation generated flash flooding in parts of the Pacific Northwest as mild air accompanied the storms, causing the precipitation to fall as rain in the higher elevations.

-- A brief but deadly mid-July heat wave took nearly a thousand lives in the Midwest and East, including more than 500 in Chicago alone.

-- Much of New England and the mid-Atlantic regions experienced extremely dry conditions during late summer and early fall. The dryness impacted river and reservoir levels and crop production, and created dangerous wildfire conditions. Heavy October and November precipitation alleviated the drought.

-- The 1995 Atlantic hurricane season hit the record books as the second most active season since records began in 1871. Eleven of 19 tropical storms became hurricanes; five reached or exceeded category 3 hurricanes (sustained winds of 111 mph or higher).

Preliminary highlights are available on the Internet on NOAA's Climate Prediction Center World Wide Web Home Page, http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov . A condensed report should be available in the spring.

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