Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for October 21, 2000

1. Central United States:

STILL VERY DRY
Little or no precipitation fell on Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and northwestern Illinois, except for 10 to 25 mm in parts of northern Iowa. The region received only 30 to 100 mm of rain during the last 8 weeks, allowing precipitation shortfalls of 50 to 125 mm to accumulate [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

2. East-Central Brazil:

UNUSUALLY DRY CONDITIONS SPREAD ACROSS REGION
Little or no rain has fallen on Tocantins, Goias, Minas Gerais, and Bahia states of east-central Brazil while only light amounts (10 to 25 mm) were reported in Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo states. Short-term (8-week) moisture deficits were generally less than 100 mm [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].

3. Western Europe:

WETNESS CONTINUES
Storms again soaked parts of Europe from the British Isles southeastward to southern Italy with moderate to heavy rain (20 to 140 mm). According to press reports, the recent rains have caused widespread flooding in northern Italy and the deaths of dozens of individuals.  Since the end of August, 150 to 300 mm (with up to 650 mm in the higher elevations ) has fallen over much the area, allowing moisture excesses to reach 50 to 150 mm [WET - Up to 8 weeks].

4. Northern and Eastern Europe:

WARM ANOMALY DEVELOPS
Unusually warm weather persisted over Europe from the Arctic coast southward to northern Greece. Temperatures averaged 3°C to 8°C above normal over the region, with temperatures reaching 18°C as far north as Goteborg, Sweden (58°N) [WARM - Up to 5 weeks].

5. Northern Europe:

DRYNESS PERSISTS
Little or no rain fell across northern Europe from Finland and northwestern Russia southward to northeastern Poland and Belarus. Precipitation totals for the last 8 weeks were less than 100 mm, resulting in shortfalls of up to 130 mm [DRY - Up to 12 weeks].

6. Southern Africa:

WARMTH CONTINUES
Temperatures again averaged above normal (+3°C to +6°C) across South Africa, southern Namibia, and southern Botswana. The mercury soared as high as 38°C at Upington, South Africa  (28°S) [WARM - Up to 4 weeks].

7. South-Central Siberia:

COLD ANOMALY DEVELOPS
Temperatures averaged 3°C to 6°C below normal across the region, with lows plummeting below -20°C as far south as 50°N. Highs failed to reach freezing in the northeastern portions of the depicted region [COLD - 2 weeks].

8. Hokkaido, Japan:

ANOTHER RELATIVELY DRY WEEK
Precipitation totals of 25 to 50 mm were restricted to the immediate western coast of Hokkaido, with totals dropping rapidly to the east. Between 300 and 450 mm of rain has fallen on Hokkaido during the past 8 weeks, yielding moisture surpluses of 50 to 200 mm [WET - Ending at 9 weeks].

9. Southern Japan:

ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES PREVAIL
Temperatures were 2°C to 3°C above normal across the Ryukyus, Kyushu, Shikoku, and southern Honshu, with highs above 30°C on the Ryukyus, and ranging from 20°C to 29°C elsewhere. Meanwhile, lows remained above freezing, except for the highest elevations, and the mercury remained above 20°C on the Ryukyus. [WARM - Up to 19 weeks].

10. Eastern China:

MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS DRENCH CHINA
Heavy rains (100 to 200 mm) soaked northern Guangxi, south-central Guangdong, eastern Hunan, and central Jiangxi provinces of southeastern China while moderate precipitation (50 to 100 mm) dominated the rest of southeastern China from the western portions of Guangxi and Guizhou eastward through Jiangxi and Guangdong. Meanwhile, lesser amounts (20 to 50 mm) covered the remainder of the region. Precipitation totals were highly variable during the last 8 weeks, ranging from 90 to 1250 mm. Despite the relatively wet weather, 8-week moisture surpluses of 100 to 200 mm were confined to east-central and south-central China, with locally higher precipitation excesses of 200 to 660 mm. Elsewhere, short-term moisture surpluses were less than 100 mm [WET - Up to 7 weeks].

11. Australia:

UNSEASONABLY COOL CONDITIONS REPORTED
Weekly departures of -3°C to -6°C dominated southern Northern Territories, southwestern Queensland, western New South Wales, and most of South Australia. Lows reached 4°C as far south as Alice Springs (24°N), and the mercury failed to reach 20°C in southwestern Northern Territories and northern South Australia [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].