Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for July 21, 2001

1. California:

ABNORMALLY LOW TEMPERATURES REPORTED
Weekly departures of -2°C to -6°C dominated California during the past week, with lows generally ranging from 10°C to 17°C. The mercury managed to climb above 30°C across most of California, except along the immediate Pacific Coast [COLD - 2 weeks].

2. South-Central United States:

MORE VERY DRY WEATHER
Moderate rain showers were restricted to a few locations along the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and Texas and to parts of Kansas while dry weather, characterized by scanty rains (less than 10 mm) dominated the south-central United States from the Mexican border northward to southern Nebraska. Fewer than 125 mm of rain has fallen on the region since late May, allowing short-term moisture deficits of 50 to 200 mm to accumulate. Please see the United States Drought Monitor for more details [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

3. North-Central and Northeastern United States:

UNUSUALLY DRY CONDITIONS SPREAD EASTWARD
Fewer than 25 mm of rain fell on most of the region, except for scattered light to moderate showers (25 to 100 mm) in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Maine. During the past 8 weeks, the region has received only 50 to 130 mm of rain, resulting in precipitation shortfalls of 25 to 150 mm. Please see the United States Drought Monitor for more details [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].

4. Atlantic Seaboard:

SUBNORMAL TEMPERATURES PREVAIL
Temperatures were 2°C to 3°C below normal along the Atlantic Seaboard from Virginia northeastward to Maine. Lows dipped below 10°C in northern New England and ranged from 10°C to 20°C elsewhere. The mercury reached 30°C at most locations as warmer weather began approaching from the west [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].

5. Central South America:

UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER DOMINATES
Weekly departures of +5°C to +8°C prevailed across southeastern Bolivia, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Highs were in the twenties (°C) in Argentina and Uruguay while the mercury soared into the thirties (°C) in Paraguay and Bolivia. Subfreezing lows were restricted to southern Uruguay and the provinces of La Pampa and Buenos Aires in central Argentina [WARM - Up to 3 weeks].

6. Eastern Europe:

WARM ANOMALY SHIFTS EASTWARD
Temperatures averaged 6°C to 8°C above normal across most of European Russia while readings were 3°C to 6°C above normal across the remainder of eastern Europe, the Ukraine, and western Turkey. Highs were in the thirties (°C) across most of the region, and reached 41°C in western Turkey. The mercury remained above 20°C at many locations in Turkey and around the Black Sea [WARM - Up to 10 weeks].

7. Western Asian Russia and North-Central Kazakhstan:

WETNESS CONTINUES IN PARTS OF REGION
Thunderstorms spread moderate to heavy rains (15 to 60 mm) across north-central Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia. Little or no rain, however, fell over the remainder of the region, easing recent wetness. During the past 8 weeks, rainfall totaled 130 to 260 mm in much of the region, yielding moisture excesses of 50 to 160 mm [WET - Up to 15 weeks].

8. Northwestern India:

COOL CONDITIONS CONTINUE
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 3°C below normal over Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the western portions of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as relatively cool conditions persisted [COLD - Up to 7 weeks].

9. North-Central and East-Central Asia:

WARM ANOMALY REMAINS
Temperature departures of +2°C to +5°C prevailed over a large area extending from north-central Siberia southeastward into central and east-central China and eastward across central and southern Japan. The mercury soared to 35°C as far north as Borzia, Russia (50°N), and climbed to as high as 39°C at Xi'An, China (34°N) and Nanchong, China (31°N) [WARM - Up to 14 weeks].

10. Central and East-Central China:

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EASE DRYNESS
Moderate to heavy thunderstorms (25 to 120 mm) gave some relief from dryness to parts of China extending from Sichuan and eastern Qinghai Provinces eastward to the Yellow Sea. Precipitation shortfalls of 50 to 165 mm for the past 8 weeks dominated the region [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

11. Southeastern China and Northern Vietnam:

VERY HEAVY RAINS DOUSE REGION
Storms brought moderate to torrential rains (50 to 250 mm) to much of the Provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan in southeastern China and to northern Vietnam. During the last 8 weeks, 500 to 900 mm of rain has soaked much of the area, yielding short-term moisture surpluses of 100 to 450 mm. Meanwhile, 1000 to 2200 mm of rain inundated southern Guangdong, resulting in 8-week precipitation excesses of up to 1600 mm [WET - Up to 10 weeks].

12. Southeastern Australia:

DRY ANOMALY DEVELOPS
Although scattered showers dropped 25 to 50 mm on a few locations in Victoria, most of southeastern Australia received little or no precipitation. Despite the dry weather, short-term moisture deficits were generally less than 100 mm [DRY - Up to 5 weeks].