Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for January 26, 2002

1. Eastern Canada:

BITTERLY COLD CONDITIONS PREVAIL
Weekly departures ranging from -6°C to -12°C dominated northern Ontario, central and northern Quebec, and Labrador, with the mercury failing to reach -20°C across the northern two-thirds of the region, and remaining below -10°C elsewhere. Lows ranged from -20°C across the southern fringes of the region to -47°C across the northern portions of Quebec and Ontario [COLD - Up to 2 weeks].

2. Midwestern United States:

DRY WEATHER DOMINATES
Little or no precipitation fell on the Midwest for the 8th consecutive week, and some areas reported significantly below average snow fall. Fewer than 65 mm of precipitation accumulated across the region since the beginning of December, but short-term moisture deficits remained below 90 mm [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

3. France:

ANOTHER DRY WEEK
Less than 25 mm of precipitation was reported across eastern France last week, except for 25 to 50 mm at a few isolated locations. During the last 13 weeks, precipitation totaled 50 to 170 mm, allowing moisture deficits to range from 70 to 250 mm [DRY - Up to 19 weeks].

4. Turkey:

COLD POCKET REMAINS
Temperatures were 5°C to 9°C below normal across the interior of east-central Turkey while weekly departures of -2°C to -4°C dominated the remainder of the country. Subfreezing lows covered the entire country, with readings below -10°C across most of the interior and extremes of -20°C to -33°C in eastern Turkey [COLD - Up to 12 weeks].

5. Morocco:

WARM CONDITIONS DEVELOP
Weekly departures of +2°C to +4°C covered Morocco, with highs ranging from 19°C to 27°C. Temperatures remained above freezing during the entire week [WARM - Up to 4 weeks].

6. Eastern Asia:

UNSEASONABLY MILD WEATHER CONTINUES
Temperatures averaged 4°C to 7°C above normal in Manchuria and adjacent parts of southeastern Siberia while weekly temperature departures of +2°C to +4°C prevailed elsewhere. Highs climbed above the freezing mark across Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and portions of China south of 40°N, but failed to reach -10°C in the extreme northern sections of the region. A sharp gradient in low temperatures was observed, with readings below -10°C along 40°N while the mercury plummeted below -20°C at around 42°N. Meanwhile, lows ranged from -9°C to -1°C south of 40°N [WARM - Up to 4 weeks].

7. Northern Japan:

UNUSUALLY WET CONDITIONS PREVAIL
Between 25 and 100 mm of precipitation soaked northern Honshu again this past week. Orographically-favored locations accumulated 400 to 650 mm of rain since December 2, resulting in short-term moisture surpluses of 50 to 250 mm [WET - Up to 6 weeks].

8. North-Central Australia:

DRY ANOMALY DEVELOPS
Although 25 to 100 mm of rain fell on the northwestern portion of the Northern Territory, most of north-central Australia received less than 25 mm. Between 150 and 330 mm of rain accumulated on the region during the last 8 weeks, yielding precipitation shortfalls of 300 to 350 mm [DRY - Up to 8 weeks].

9. Southeastern Australia:

DRY WEATHER PERSISTS
Fewer than 25 mm of rain fell on New South Wales, except along the coast, where moderate showers dropped up to 100 mm of rain. Since early December, fewer than 115 mm of rain has fallen on the region, yielding short-term moisture deficits of 50 to 115 mm [DRY - Up to 9 weeks].

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Tropical storm tracks are no longer depicted in this product. Please check websites of the Tropical Prediction Center for these data and other details. Comments are appreciated. Thank you.