National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center
12 April 2001

• The globally averaged March surface temperature was the second warmest since reliable records began in 1880.
• Temperatures were most notably warm in the western U.S., much of Canada, southern Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.
• Notable incidents of flooding occurred in parts of Europe, Afria and South America, while severe drought continued from the eastern Mediteranean to the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
• Heavy tropical rains fell in parts of northern and western Australia.
• Temperatures in the lower troposphere were near the 20-year average, while lower stratosphere March temperatures were the second coldest on record.

U.S. Highlights

• Surface temperatures were generally cooler than average in the eastern U.S. and warmer than average from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast.
• Although beneficial rains fell in areas enduring long-term drought, severe to extreme drought continued in much of the Pacific Northwest and parts of the southeastern U.S., most notably in Florida.

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