Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for September 15, 2001

1. South-Central Canada:

ABNORMALLY DRY WEATHER CONTINUES
Little or no rain fell on the Prairie Provinces for the 6th consecutive week. Fewer than 100 mm of rain has fallen during the last 8 weeks, allowing short-term moisture deficits of 50 to 150 mm to accumulate [DRY - Up to 7 weeks].

2. Southeastern United States:

TROPICAL STORM GABRIELLE SOAKS FLORIDA; THUNDERSHOWERS IN TEXAS; TRANQUIL ELSEWHERE
Moderate to heavy thundershowers dropped 25 to 100 mm of rain on eastern Texas, but little or no precipitation was reported across the South from Louisiana eastward to the Atlantic Seaboard. During the last 8 weeks, 170 to 600 mm of rain has fallen on Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas, resulting in short-term moisture surpluses of 50 to 300 mm [WET - Up to 6 weeks]. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gabrielle dumped 100 to 300 mm of rain on much of Peninsular Florida [Episodic Event].

3. Maritime Provinces:

DRY CONDITIONS PERSIST
Little or no rain fell on Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for the 2nd consecutive week. Generally less than 150 mm of precipitation has been reported since July 22, allowing precipitation shortfalls of 50 to 200 mm to dominate the region [DRY - Up to 13 weeks].

4. Mexico:

MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS BRING RELIEF
Moderate to heavy thundershowers dropped 50 to 200 mm of rain on much of eastern Mexico, providing some relief from the dryness there. Despite the recent rains, 8-week precipitation shortfalls still ranged from 50 to 300 mm [DRY - Up to 19 weeks].

5. East-Central South America:

A RELATIVELY DRY WEEK
Little or no rain fell on Uruguay and northeastern Argentina this past week; however, 8-week moisture surpluses remained in the 50 to 200 mm range [WET - Up to 9 weeks].

6. Eastern South Africa:

TORRENTIAL RAINS DRENCH EASTERN SOUTH AFRICA
Moderate to heavy precipitation (50 to 200 mm) soaked eastern South Africa, with weekly totals dropping off sharply to the north, west, and south. Despite the heavy precipitation, short-term moisture surpluses remained below 100 mm [WET - Up to 6 weeks].

7. North-Central Siberia:

EARLY-SEASON COLD SNAP
Temperatures averaged 3°C to 7°C below normal across north-central Siberia. Subfreezing lows dominated the region, with the mercury plummeting to -18°C as far south as Selagoncy (66°N). The mercury failed to reach 20°C across most of northern and central Siberia [COLD - Up to 2 weeks].

8. Mongolia, Southern Siberia, and Northern China:

WARM ANOMALY SHIFTS SOUTHEASTWARD
Weekly departures of +2°C to +5°C prevailed across much of the region while temperatures were 5°C to 7°C above normal in eastern Mongolia and adjacent parts of China [WARM - Up to 22 weeks].

9. Central and Eastern China:

STILL VERY DRY
Little or no rain fell on most of the region again last week, with only eastern Sichuan receiving 10 to 50 mm of precipitation. Short-term precipitation deficits ranged from 50 to 200 mm across central and eastern China [DRY - Up to 13 weeks].

10. Japan and Southeastern China:

TYPHOONS NARI AND DANAS FUEL HEAVY RAINS
As much as 500 mm of rain, fueled by Typhoon Nari, inundated the Ryukyus and the southern coast of Japan. Meanwhile, the remnants of Typhoon Danas dumped 100 to 500 mm of rain on Hokkaido. The remainder of the archipelago received 50 to 200 mm of precipitation. In sharp contrast, only light rain (less than 25 mm) fell on southeastern China, with the exception of 50 to 200 mm of rain falling on Hainan Island. Between 300 and 1400 mm of rain have fallen on Japan during the past 8 weeks, yielding moisture surpluses of 50 to 350 mm, except along the southern coast, where excesses reached as high as 840 mm [WET - Up to 7 weeks].