NOAA REPORTS 2006 MARKED BY SEVERE HEAT WAVES, WIDESPREAD DROUGHT,
WILDFIRES
The
average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. will likely be
the third warmest on record in 2006, according to scientists at NOAA’s
National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The year is noted
for widespread drought and record wildfires, as well as heavy precipitation
and flooding in some parts of the country. Following the warmest year
on record for the globe in 2005, the annual global temperature for
2006 is expected to be sixth warmest since recordkeeping began in
1880.
U.S. Temperatures
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NOAA
scientists report that the 2006 annual average temperature for the
contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) will likely
be 2°F (1.1°C) above the 20th Century mean, which would
make 2006 the third warmest year on record, slightly cooler than
1998 and 1934. Three months (January, April and July) were either
warmest or second warmest on record, while only September and October
were cooler than average.
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The warmer than average conditions impacted residential energy demand
for the U.S. in opposing ways as measured by the nation’s
Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index. Using this index, NOAA
scientists determined that the nation’s residential energy
demand was approximately 9 percent less during the winter and 13
percent higher during the summer than that which would have occurred
under average climate conditions.
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The
near-record warm summer was highlighted by a July heatwave that
peaked during the last half of July. All-time records were set in
a number of locations across the central and western U.S., breaking
records that had stood for decades in many places.
U.S. Precipitation and Drought
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For
the contiguous U.S. as a whole, five of the first seven months of
the year were drier than average. Combined with unusually warm temperatures,
drought conditions persisted in much of the country. By late July,
half of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate to exceptional drought,
as reported by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
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Above average precipitation from August through November helped
end drought in many areas, although in places such as western Washington,
record rainfall in November led to extensive flooding. Drought coverage
fell from the July peak to 25 percent by early December. Widespread
severe drought remains over much of the southern Plains, the northern
High Plains and northern Rockies, as well as parts of Arizona and
Minnesota.
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Drought
and anomalous warmth contributed to a record wildfire season for
the nation, with more than 9.5 million acres burned through early
December, most of it in the contiguous U.S., according to the National
Interagency Fire Center.
Tropical Cyclones and Hurricanes
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The
2006 hurricane season was classified as near-normal. This activity
was far less than most other seasons since the current active Atlantic
hurricane era began in 1995. Nine, the number of named storms during
the 2006 season, is the second lowest since 1995. Only the below-normal
1997 season had fewer. This reduced activity in both years is attributed
largely to the rapid onset of El
Niño in the equatorial Pacific, which suppresses conditions
conducive to hurricane formation in the Atlantic.
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Also related to El Niño, the Eastern Pacific hurricane season
showed a sharp increase in activity compared to the below-normal
levels seen since 1998. Through early December, 19 named storms
(1971-2000 average is 15-16) had formed, with three making landfall
along the Pacific coast of Mexico, including Major Hurricane Lane,
which made landfall in Sinaloa state as a Category 3 storm on the
Saffir-Simpson scale.
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The global annual temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces
is expected to be sixth warmest on record for 2006. Some of the
largest and most widespread warm anomalies occurred in southern
Asia and North America. Canada experienced its warmest winter and
warmest spring since its national records began in 1948.
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Including 2006, six of the seven warmest years on record have occurred
since 2001 and the ten warmest years have occurred since 1995. The
global average surface temperature has risen between 0.6°C and
0.7°C since the start of the 20th Century, and the rate of increase
since 1976 has been approximately three times faster than the century-scale
trend.
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The extent of Arctic sea ice was second lowest on record in September,
when annual sea ice extent is at its lowest point of the year. This
was only slightly higher than the record low extent measured in
2005. 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, when record keeping began.
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El Niño conditions developed in September, and by the end
of November, sea surface temperatures in most of the central and
eastern equatorial Pacific were more than 1.8°F (1°C) above
average. This El Niño event is likely to persist through
May 2007, according to NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center.
In 2007 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency
of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and
service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the
Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather
Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of
America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.
NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through
the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events
and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing
environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries
and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network
that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
On
the Web:
NOAA:
http://www.noaa.gov
NOAA’s
Satellite and Information Service: http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov
National
Climatic Data Center: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov
Note
to Editors: A digital version of the press release including
links to data, graphics and analysis, in addition to further national
and global data are online at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/ann/ann06.html
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