Weekly Global Climate Highlights

1. Western United States and Southwestern British Columbia:

MORE HEAVY PRECIPITATION Pacific storms systems delivered 70 to 250 mm of precipitation to most of the West Coast from northern California northward through southwestern British Columbia. Lesser amounts (up to 70 mm) fell on central California and the central sections of Washington and Oregon. Between 200 and 1230 mm of precipitation drenched many coastal locations since the beginning of 1999, resulting in moisture excesses of 100 to 570 mm [WET - 4 to 11 weeks].

2. Gulf Coast:

STILL ABNORMALLY DRY Little or no rain fell on Texas, western Louisiana, southern Georgia, and Florida while 10 to 40 mm dampened Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana. During February, several Texas locations received little or no rain, including Austin, Del Rio, Lubbock, Midland, and San Antonio. Since the beginning of the year, moisture shortages of 100 to 170 mm accumulated across southeastern Louisiana, the southern portions of Mississippi and Alabama, and extreme western Florida while deficits of 50 to 100 mm prevailed elsewhere [DRY - 4 to 11 weeks].

3. New England:

SNOW STORM BATTERS CAPE COD AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND A powerful Nor'easter dumped up to 55 cm of snow on Cape Cod and up to 30 cm on Rhode Island and the remainder of eastern Massachusetts during February 24-25. According to the media, the storm disrupted transportation and electrical power across the region [Episodic Event].

4. Northwestern South America:

PRECIPITATION SURPLUSES PERSIST Light to moderate rain (10 to 80 mm) dampened the region, with locally heavy showers in western Venezuela (up to 250 mm), west-central Colombia (up to 150 mm), and central Peru (up to 100 mm). Since January 1, precipitation has totaled 90 to 820 mm, yielding excesses of 50 to 345 mm, particularly in northwestern Colombia, western Venezuela, and northern Peru [WET - 4 to 10 weeks].

5. Southeastern Europe and Turkey:

STORM BRINGS HEAVY SNOW TO THE ALPS; WETNESS DEVELOPS IN TURKEY A winter storm continued to dump heavy snow across the Alps during the first of the week. Weekly precipitation totals of 80 to 120 mm were measured in Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and northern Romania. According to media accounts, the heavy snowfall engendered more avalanches, again closing roads and killing a number of people (Episodic Event). Moderate rains this past week (20 to 50 mm) also kept parts of western Turkey wet. Since the first of January, the Alpine region has accumulated precipitation surpluses of up to 415 mm while up to 135 mm have accumulated in western Turkey [WET - 4 to 6 weeks].

6. Southwestern Europe:

DRYNESS DEVELOPS Weekly precipitation amounts of 10 to 20 mm were scattered across southern France, northern Spain, and northern Portugal. Locally heavier amounts up to 60 mm, however, fell in the Pyrenees. Since the start of January, much of the region has received less than 130 mm of precipitation which is 50 to 210 mm less than normal [DRY - 4 to 6 weeks].

7. Asia and Northeastern Africa:

WARM ANOMALY EXPANDS Unseasonably high temperatures again encompassed a huge landmass, extending from northeastern Africa northeastward to north-central Siberia and eastward to eastern China and the Korean Peninsula. Weekly temperatures averaged 3°C to 8°C above normal across northeastern Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and Iran; 3°C to 6°C above normal across much of south central and southeastern Asia; 4°C to 12°C above normal across the trans-Caucasus and central Asian Republics and western and central Siberia; 3°C to 7°C above normal across Mongolia, the Korean Peninsula, and northern China; and 3°C to 6°C above normal across central and southern China. Temperatures reached as high as 40°C at Khartoum, Sudan (15.6°N), 38°C at Bhubaneswar, India (27.5°N), and 27°C at Serahs, Turkmenistan (36.5°N) [WARM -2 to 6 weeks].

8. East Central China:

DRY ANOMALY DEVELOPS Little or no rain (0 to 10 mm) fell across most of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and southern Hunan Provinces the past week as short-term (January 1 to February 27) moisture deficits of 50 to 150 mm have accumulated Weekly precipitation amounts of 5 to 15 mm were also scattered over northern Taiwan where short-term deficits of 55 to 180 mm have accumulated since January 1 [DRY - 4 to 6 weeks].

9. Malaysia, Northwestern Indonesia, and the Central Philippines:

SCATTERED HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE Thunderstorms during the week again brought heavy rains of 80 to 190 mm to sections of northern Sumatra, Malaysia, and the central Philippines. According to media accounts, the heavy rains have inundated parts of the central Philippines, forcing numerous evacuations and causing dozens of deaths. Since the first of January, the region has accumulated precipitation surpluses of 100 to 410 mm [WET - 6 to 20 weeks].

10. South-Central Indonesia and Northwestern Australia:

MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE Between 20 and 100 mm of rain fell on coastal regions of northern Western Australia and adjacent parts of the Northern Territories, with locally heavy rains (up to 250 mm) drenching a few locations. Meanwhile, 50 to 150 mm of precipitation fell on eastern Java and the Lesser Sundas. During January and February, 100 to 570 mm of rain (100 to 235 mm more than normal) drenched the northern coast of Western Australia. Farther north, up to 900 mm soaked eastern Java, and up to 1850 mm inundated the Lesser Sundas, resulting in precipitation excesses of 250 to 810 mm [WET - 4 to 9 weeks].

11. Northwestern Australia:

UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER PREVAILS Temperatures averaged 3°C to 6°C below normal, with lows dropping below 20°C as far north as Giles Met Station (25°S) [COLD - 4 to 6 weeks].