Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for June 3, 2000

1. Southern Alberta:

COOL CONDITIONS PREVAIL
Temperatures were 2°C to 6°C below normal again last week as unusually cool weather persisted across southern Alberta. Subfreezing lows dominated the province while highs failed to reach 20°C at several locations [COLD - Up to 4 weeks].

2. Southwestern United States:

EARLY-SEASON HEAT
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 4°C above normal across the Desert Southwest and southwestern High Plains, with departures reaching 6°C in parts of northern Arizona, southern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. The mercury soared above 40°C in Arizona, southern Nevada, and southeastern California while highs exceeded 30°C elsewhere. The high temperatures exacerbated wildfires in the region [WARM - Up to 3 weeks].

3. Southeastern United States:

STILL VERY DRY
Little or no rain fell on the southeastern United States, except for locally moderate to heavy showers (25 to 100 mm) in parts of central and eastern North Carolina and in southern Florida. During the past 8 weeks, fewer than 150 mm of rain fell on the region, allowing short-term moisture shortages of 100 to 200 mm to accumulate. The abnormally dry weather has aggravated the wildfire situation across much of Florida [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

4. Central South America:

FAVORABLY DRY WEATHER
Little or no rain fell on Uruguay and northern Argentina during the past week.  Eight-week precipitation totals ranged from 100 to almost 1000 mm, resulting in moisture excesses of 100 to 800 mm [WET - Up to 12 weeks].

5. Eastern Europe:

DRYNESS CONTINUES
Scattered light to moderate showers (up to 30 mm) brought some relief to Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine but little or no rain again fell over the remainder of the region. Since April 9th, less than 110 mm of precipitation has accumulated in the region, yielding shortfalls of 50 to 170 mm [DRY - Up to 9 weeks].

6. Southwestern Europe and Northwestern Africa:

WARM ANOMALY REMAINS
Abnormally warm weather continued over the western Mediterranean littoral. Temperatures averaged 2°C to 4°C above normal over southern France, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria and 3°C to 6°C above normal over much of Spain, northern Algeria, and northern Tunisia. The mercury reached 30°C as far north as Geneva, Switzerland (46°N) [WARM - Up to 9 weeks].

7. Western Sahel:

TEMPERATURES REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL
Weekly departures of +2°C to +3°C prevailed across the region, with localized larger temperature departures (up to +7°C) reported in western Mauritania. Highs of 40°C to 47°C dominated the southern portions of Mauritania, Mali, and Niger and the northern section of Burkina Faso, but remained below 40°C elsewhere [WARM - Up to 14 weeks].

8. East-Central Africa:

SHORT-TERM MOISTURE DEFICITS PERSIST
Scanty rains were reported again last week as 8-week moisture shortages of up to 275 mm dominated Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania [DRY - Up to 19 weeks].

9. East-Central China:

STORMS BRING RAIN, EASE DRYNESS
Thunderstorms brought scattered moderate to heavy rain (25 to 125 mm) to east-central China from western Sichuan Province eastward to the central China coast. Short-term moisture deficits range from 50 to 250 mm [DRY - Up to 15 weeks].

10. Southeastern Asia:

MORE HEAVY RAIN
A tropical depression contributed to heavy rains (50 to 200 mm) that saturated much of southeast Asia. Torrential rains of more than 200 mm inundated parts of southern Thailand and coastal Cambodia. During the last 8 weeks, amounts of 200 to 1250 mm have drenched the region, leaving moisture surpluses of 80 to 500 mm [WET - Up to 20 weeks].

11. Australia:

UNUSUALLY COLD WEATHER DOMINATES AUSTRALIA
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 6°C below normal across much of Australia, with weekly departures approaching 7°C at a few locations. The mercury failed to reach 20°C as far north as central Northern Territory and southern Queensland while subfreezing lows were widespread along the Great Dividing Range, and were recorded as far north as southern Northern Territory [COLD - Up to 7 weeks].

12. Southeastern Australia:

RAINS BRING SOME RELIEF
Between 25 and 50 mm of rain fell on much of southern and eastern Victoria and on the southern and western coasts of Tasmania, but fewer than 25 mm were reported elsewhere. Short-term moisture deficits were generally less than 100 mm, but precipitation shortfalls reached as high as 200 mm along the coast of New South Wales [DRY - Up to 10 weeks].