1. Western United States:
ABNORMALLY WARM CONDITIONS DEVELOP
Unusually warm weather, characterized by temperatures averaging 2°C
to 5°C above normal, dominated the western United States. According
to the media, wildfires continued to rage in parts of the Intermountain
West as the high temperatures exacerbated dry conditions. The mercury soared
above 40°C across the desert Southwest and in parts of northern Nevada
and southern Idaho while highs of 30°C to 39°C dominated the remainder
of the West. Readings remained above 20°C in parts of southeastern
California, southern Nevada, south-central Utah, and central Arizona [WARM
- Up to 3 weeks].
2. South-Central United States and Northern Mexico:
STILL VERY DRY
Little or no rain fell on the south-central states from western Texas eastward
to eastern Mississippi, except for scattered moderate showers (25 to 100
mm) along the Gulf Coast. Farther east, 25 to 100 mm of rain provided limited
short-term relief from the dryness. During the last 8 weeks, precipitation
totaled 100 to 300 mm, yielding shortfalls of 50 to 200 mm. Please see
the U.
S. Drought Monitor for more complete details [DRY - Up to 17 weeks].
3. Eastern United States:
UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER EASES
Temperatures were generally within 2°C of normal across New England
and the mid-Atlantic, but readings failed to reach 30°C in much of
New England. Based on preliminary calculations, July 2000 was one of the
ten coolest such months in 9 states (CT, DE, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA,
VA, and WV), with Pennsylvania and West Virginia reporting the coolest
July since 1895. In addition, the Northeast reported the 3rd coolest July
in 106 years of record [COLD - Ending at 5 weeks].
4. Central South America:
COLD CONDITIONS ABATE
Weekly departures ranged from -1°C to -3°C in Uruguay, northeastern
Argentina, southeastern Paraguay, and extreme southern Brazil while near-normal
conditions prevailed elsewhere. Subfreezing lows were confined to Uruguay
and northeastern Argentina, except for isolated locations in southern Brazil.
Meanwhile, the mercury remained below 30°C at most locations south
of 23°S [COLD - Ending at 5 weeks].
5. Southeastern Europe, Southwestern Asia, and Northeastern Africa:
HIGH TEMPERATURES PERSIST
Temperatures of 40°C to 48°C covered much of the region from interior
Egypt and northeastern Sudan northward through eastern Turkey and eastward
through western and southern Kazakhstan. Despite the high temperatures,
weekly departures were only +2°C to +4°C in northeastern Africa,
the Middle East, and Turkey while weekly averages were 3°C to 6°C
above normal elsewhere [WARM - Up to 6 weeks].
6. China:
DRY WEATHER CONTINUES
Fewer than 25 mm of rain fell on central and northeastern China from eastern
Qinghai northeastward across Nei Mongol to Heilongjiang, and from Hebei
and Shandong northeastward through Liaoning. Scattered light rains (25
to 50 mm) dampened much of Sichuan, northern Shaanxi, southern Shanxi,
and Beijing while heavier amounts (50 to 100 mm) fell on southern Sichuan
and western Henan. Large 8-week moisture deficits (100 to 250 mm) covered
northeastern China from Shandong and eastern Hebei northeastward through
Jilin while shortages of 50 to 100 mm prevailed across the remainder of
the region [DRY - Up to 14 weeks].
7. Japan:
WARM ANOMALY STRENGTHENS
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 4°C across most of the archipelago,
with locally higher departures (up to +6°C) reported on Hokkaido and
central Honshu. Weekly highs ranged from 30°C to 38°C across Japan,
except in eastern Hokkaido, where readings ranged from 25°C to 29°C.
The mercury remained above 20°C across Honshu and on all islands to
the south and west [WARM - Up to 9 weeks].