Weekly Global Climate Highlights

1. Western Alaska:

WARM ANOMALY RETURNS Temperatures were as much as 5°C above normal across the western half of Alaska, and the mercury soared to 31°C at both Bettles (67°N) and Talkeetna (62°N) [WARM - 2 to 4 weeks].

2. Northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada:

UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER DEVELOPS Temperatures averaged 3°C to 5°C below normal across the region, with the weekly departure approaching -6°C at Banff, Alberta. Subfreezing lows were reported at some high altitude locations as far south as Kalispell, MT (48°N) while the mercury dropped below 10°C at most locations [COLD - 2 weeks].

3. Southwestern United States:

HIGH TEMPERATURES EXACERBATE WILDFIRES Highs climbed above 40°C across the interior deserts of southern California and the southern halves of Arizona and New Mexico. Weekly departures as high as +6°C aggravated the dry weather and contributed to scattered wildfires in the desert Southwest [WARM - 2 to 3 weeks].

4. Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada:

HEAT WAVE EXPANDS ACROSS REGION Temperatures averaged 3°C to 6°C from the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic northeastward along the New England coast through the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Highs generally ranged from 30°C to 37°C across the northeastern United States, the St. Lawrence River Valley, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia while the mercury remained below 30°C throughout most of Quebec, Labrador, and the remainder of the Maritime Provinces. Many daily high temperature records were set at the end of the week, and the hot weather persisted through the Independence Day weekend [WARM - 2 to 12 weeks].

5. Northeastern United States:

DRYNESS AGGRAVATE BY HEAT WAVE The heat wave (see item above) exacerbated the dryness across the Northeast. Although 50 to 100 mm of rain fell on New York and New England, fewer than 50 mm were reported elsewhere. Precipitation shortfalls since May 1 ranged from 50 to 160 mm across the region [DRY - 4 to 15 weeks].

6. Eastern Europe:

WARM ANOMALY PERSISTS Temperatures again averaged 2°C to 7°C above normal from Finland and the northwestern corner of Russia southward to the Black Sea and Bulgaria. Temperatures reached as high as 33°C at Vytegra, Russia (61°N) [WARM - 2 to 5 weeks].

7. Northeastern Europe and Western Siberia:

DRYNESS REMAINS Scattered showers brought only light rain (up to 25 mm) to Europe from southern Sweden eastward to western Siberia. The dryness has been exacerbated by the recent high temperatures (see item above) [DRY - 4 to 7 weeks].

8. Western Sahel:

TEMPERATURES MODERATE The mercury failed to reach 40°C in Senegal, the Gambia, southern Mauritania, and southwestern Mali as temperatures were within 3°C of normal [WARM - Ending at 3 to 15 weeks].

9. Sub-Saharan Sahel:

MOISTURE DEFICITS REMAIN Isolated heavy showers dropped up to 100 mm of rain on western Senegal, southwestern and south-central Mali, western Burkina Faso, and extreme northern Benin while 25 to 50 mm dampened Senegal, the Gambia, southern Burkina Faso, and central Sudan. Little or none was measured elsewhere. Short-term (May 1 - July 3) moisture shortages generally ranged from 50 to 100 mm [DRY - 4 to 11 weeks].

10. Southeastern South Africa:

STILL VERY DRY Little or no rain fell on the southeastern coast of South Africa during the past week. Since the beginning of May, moisture deficits of up to 100 mm have accumulated [DRY - 5 to 10 weeks].

11. Southwestern Asia:

UNUSUAL WARMTH CONTINUES Temperatures remained 2°C to 8°C above normal over southern Iran, southern Afghanistan, and eastern Pakistan, and the mercury soared as high as 46°C at Zabol, Iran (31°N) [WARM - 2 to 15 weeks].

12. West-Central India:

COLD ANOMALY DIMINISHES Weekly average temperatures returned to within 1°C of normal over the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra [COLD - Ending at 3 weeks].

13. East-Central China:

WETNESS DEVELOPS Strong thunderstorms drenched much of China from Sichuan eastward to Jiangsu with heavy to torrential rains (100 to 360 mm). Since the first of May, as much as 1075 mm has fallen in the region, resulting in moisture surpluses of 100 to 640 mm [WET - 4 to 7 weeks].