Weekly Global Climate Highlights

1. Western United States and Southwestern British Columbia:

UNUSUALLY WET WEATHER PERSISTS Moderate precipitation (20 to 60 mm, with locally heavier amounts to 135 mm) fell on the region from the Pacific Seaboard eastward to the windward slopes of the Cascades while 10 to 60 mm dampened the eastern Cascades and the western slopes of the northern Rockies. Since the beginning of February, precipitation excess ranged from 50 to 350 mm across the region, with locally higher surpluses. During February and the first 6 days of March, Estevan Point, BC received 811 mm while Quillayute, WA measured 739 mm, resulting in moisture excesses of 455 mm and 359 mm, respectively [WET - 4 to 12 weeks].

2. Northeastern United States:

MORE SNOWSTORMS BATTER REGION A series of winter storms dumped 15 to 60 cm of snow on the eastern Great Lakes, upstate New York, and much of New England, with locally heavier snows (60 to 110 cm) in central New York and northern New England. Since the beginning of March, Rochester has received 112 cm of snow, making this the snowiest March in 83 years [Episodic Events].

3. South-Central and Southeastern United States:

VERY DRY CONDITIONS PREVAIL; SEVERE WEATHER BUFFETS SOUTHEAST Moderate precipitation (20 to 70 mm), accompanied by a few tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, occurred across the South from eastern Arkansas southeastward through northern Florida [Episodic Events], but the remainder of the region received fewer than 20 mm of rain. During the 34 days between February 1 and March 6, precipitation totals failed to reach 100 mm, allowing deficits of 50 to 150 mm to accumulate across the region [DRY - 4 to 12 weeks].

4. Northwestern South America:

MOISTURE SURPLUSES REMAIN Between 20 and 50 mm of rain fell on most of Peru and Colombia, but up to 150 mm soaked central Peru and west-central Colombia. Little or no rain was observed in Venezuela. Since the beginning of February, as much as 370 mm of rain have fallen on Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru, yielding short-term moisture surpluses of 50 to 300 mm [WET - 4 to 11 weeks].

5. Central South America:

UNUSUALLY WARM CONDITIONS DEVELOP Temperatures averaged 3°C to 5°C above normal across most of central and northern Argentina, Uruguay, extreme southern Brazil, and southern Paraguay, with locally higher departures as high as +7°C. The mercury soared above 30°C as far south as Dolores, Argentina (36°S) [WARM - 2 to 4 weeks].

6. Southwestern Europe and the Azores:

RAIN RELIEVES DRYNESS Weekly precipitation amounts of 10 to 30 mm eased dryness across southern France, central Spain, and Portugal. Locally heavier amounts of 100 mm fell on the Pyrenees. Since the start of February, much of the region has still received less than 85 mm of precipitation which is 50 to 200 mm less than normal. Dry conditions prevailed in the Azores where less than 25 mm has fallen since the start of February which is up to 150 mm less than normal [DRY - 4 to 7 weeks].

7. Europe and Turkey:

DRY WEATHER EASES WETNESS Dry weather prevailed over western Turkey while scattered rains of up to 15 mm dampened parts of southeastern Europe. Heavier amounts (20 to 80 mm) fell over much of France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Poland. Since the first of February, precipitation surpluses have accumulated across central Europe (up to 290 mm), southeastern Europe (up to 160 mm), and western Turkey (up to 100 mm) [WET - 4 to 7 weeks].

8. Southeastern Europe:

WARM ANOMALY DEVELOPS Unseasonably high temperatures (5°C to 10°C above normal) persisted across the northwestern coast of the Black Sea. Temperatures reached as high as 24°C at Buzau, Romania (45°N) [WARM -2 weeks]

9. Southern Africa:

A LATE-SEASON HEAT WAVE Temperatures soared above 40°C as far south as Upington, South Africa (28°S) as weekly departures ranged from +3°C to +7°C [WARM - 2 to 4 weeks].

10. South-Central Asia:

WARMTH REMAINS Weekly temperatures averaged 3°C to 6°C above normal across Pakistan and the provinces of Gujarat and Rajasthan in northwestern India. Temperatures approaching 40°C scorched parts of Gujarat [WARM -2 to 6 weeks]

11. East-Central Asia:

WARM ANOMALY CONTINUES High temperatures encompassed a large area extending from Bangladesh and southeastern Tibet eastward to the Korean Peninsula, southern Japan, and Taiwan. Weekly temperatures averaged 3°C to 8°C above normal across the region with temperatures reaching as high as 38°C at Mandalay, Burma (22°N), and 39°C at Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh (21°N) [WARM -2 to 7 weeks].

12. East-Central China:

DRY ANOMALY CONTINUES No rain fell across Taiwan and the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian while Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Hubei provinces received scattered amounts of up to 15 mm. Short-term (February 1 to March 6) moisture deficits of 50 to 170 mm have accumulated across east-central China while deficits of 65 to 155 mm prevailed over Taiwan [DRY - 4 to 7 weeks].

13. Malaysia, Northern Indonesia, and Central Philippines:

HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE Torrential rains drenched the east-central Philippines (100 to 400 mm), Sumatra (80 to 250 mm), western portions of Sarawak and Borneo (80 to 200 mm), and parts of peninsular Malaysia (80 to 150 mm). Since the beginning of February, the region has received 50 to 300 mm more rain than normal, and locally higher excesses were reported in the Philippines at Legazi (325 mm), Borongan (375 mm), and Tacloban (445 mm), and at Sandakan, Malaysia (400 mm) [WET - 4 to 7 weeks].

14. Eastern Australia:

ABNORMALLY WET WEATHER RETURNS Moderate to heavy rains (50 to 150 mm) drenched the coastal sections of eastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales, with locally heavy showers dumping up to 450 mm at some locations. Short-term (February 1 - March 6) moisture surpluses generally ranged from 50 to 350 mm, but reached as high as 520 mm at Cardwell [WET - 4 to 7 weeks].