Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for March 31, 2001

1. Southwestern United States:

WARM ANOMALY REPORTED
Weekly departures of +2°C to +5°C dominated California, Nevada, Arizona, and adjacent portions of Utah, with departures approaching +6°C in parts of southern and western Nevada. The mercury soared above 30°C in southeastern California and southern Arizona while highs exceeded 20°C across the reminder of the Southwest. Subfreezing lows were reported across Nevada, Utah, and the northern half of Arizona [WARM - Up to 3 weeks].

2. Southeastern United States:

COLD WEATHER PERSISTS
Temperatures were 2°C to 6°C below normal across the region, with weekly departures of -6°C to -8°C in northern and central Texas. Subfreezing lows pushed as far south as northern Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northern Georgia, and southern South Carolina. The mercury remained below 20°C across the region from the northern portions of Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama northward, and highs above 30°C were restricted to southern Florida and extreme southern Texas [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].

3. Southern and Eastern United States:

ABNORMALLY WET CONDITIONS SPREAD ALONG GULF AND ATLANTIC COASTS
Torrential rains (100 to 200 mm) drenched parts of southeastern Texas and west-central Florida while moderate to heavy rains (25 to 100 mm) dominated the Gulf Coast, most of Florida, and the eastern United States between the ridge of the Appalachians and the Atlantic Seaboard. Although 8-week moisture surpluses of 50 to 200 mm prevailed across the region, significant long-term dryness remains. Please see the United States Drought Monitor for complete details [WET - Up to 11 weeks].

4. Western Great Lakes:

DRY WEATHER DOMINATES
Little or no precipitation fell on the region this past week, allowing abnormally dry conditions to develop. Short-term (8-week) moisture deficits remained less than 50 mm. Please see the United States Drought Monitor for complete details [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].

5. Northern Europe:

COLD PERSISTS
Cold weather continued across northern Europe from Norway and Denmark eastward into northwestern Russia, where temperatures averaged 3°C to 5°C below normal. The mercury plunged to -33°C at Siccajavre, Norway (69°N) [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].

6. Mediterranean Basin:

WARMTH CONTINUES
Temperature departures of +2°C to +7°C prevailed over a large area extending from southern France southward to Morocco and eastward to Turkey and Egypt. The mercury soared to 35°C at Larissa, Greece (40°N) and 39°C at Medenine, Tunisia (33°N) [WARM - Up to 5 weeks].

7. Northwestern Africa and Southwestern Turkey:

LITTLE OR NO RAIN REPORTED
Unusually dry weather dominated northwestern Africa and southwestern Turkey for the fourth consecutive week [DRY - 4 weeks].

8. East-Central Asia:

WARMTH PERSISTS
Temperature departures of +2°C to +5°C prevailed over much of the region from the southeastern corner of Siberia southward to Japan. Readings climbed to 20°C as far north as Takamatsu, Japan (34°N) [WARM - Up to 9 weeks].

9. East-Central China:

DRYNESS DEVELOPS
Little or no rain again fell on China from Sichuan Province eastward to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Moisture deficits from 60 to 175 mm have accumulated in this region since early February [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].

10. Southeastern Asia and the Philippines:

HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE
Storms doused parts of the region from the Malay Peninsula eastward to the Philippine Islands with heavy rain (50 to 225 mm).  Since early February, 200 to 700 mm of rain has fallen on much of the area, allowing moisture surpluses of 100 to 450 mm to accumulate [WET - Up to 9 weeks].

11. Northeastern Australia:

UNUSUALLY DRY CONDITIONS DEVELOP
Except for a few scattered showers (25 to 100 mm) along the immediate central Queensland coast, little or no rain fell on central and southern Queensland. Many interior locations have not received significant rain for four weeks. Since the beginning of February, precipitation deficits of 100 to 350 mm accumulated in eastern Queensland, with smaller deficits reported inland [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].

12. Western and Southern Australia:

UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER PREVAILS ACROSS THE REGION
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 6°C below normal across Western Australia, South Australia, southern and central Northern Territory, Queensland, and most of Victoria, with weekly departures reaching -7°C in east-central Western Australia and south-central Northern Territory. The mercury dipped below -5°C as far north as Ceduna (32°N) while lows of 10°C to 19°C dominated the region. Highs failed to reach 30°C in east-central and southeastern Western Australia, southwestern Northern Territory, and western South Australia [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].