Weekly Global Climate Highlights Map for September 21, 2002

1. Northeastern United States:

PRECIPITATION DEFICITS REMAIN
Light to moderate rains (10 to 100 mm) during the past week provided limited relief from recent dryness. Precipitation amounts for the last 13 weeks were in the 100 to 200 mm range, allowing moisture shortages of 50 to 225 mm to dominate much of the northeastern quadrant of the country. See the United States Drought Monitor for more details [DRY - Up to 25 weeks].

2. Eastern United States and Adjacent Canada:

WARM ANOMALY DEVELOPS
Weekly temperature departures of +2°C to +6°C dominated the eastern half of the United States, with highs in the thirties (°C) covering much of the northern Great Plains and the southern Great Lakes. Subfreezing lows were restricted to a few isolated areas of Ontario [WARM - Up to 4 weeks].

3. East-Central South America:

MORE VERY WET WEATHER
Moderate to heavy rains (50 to 200 mm) soaked southern Brazil while lesser amounts (10 to 50 mm) were reported elsewhere. Precipitation totals of 75 to 300 mm during the last 4 weeks were among the highest 10% of the climatological distribution and were generally 2 to 4 times the amount expected at this time of the year [WET - Up to 5 weeks].

4. Central Europe:

DRY ANOMALY SHIFTS WESTWARD
Little or no rain fell on Germany, the Benelux Countries, and northern France, but 10 to 25 mm brought some relief to Poland. Fewer than 100 mm of rain has accumulated during the last 8 weeks, yielding short-term moisture deficits of 50 to 170 mm [DRY - Up to 7 weeks].

5. Greece and Turkey:

MOISTURE SURPLUSES PERSIST
Light to moderate rains (10 to 50 mm) fell on much of Greece and the western half of Turkey, with locally heavier amounts (50 to 200) reported at a few scattered locations. Between July 28 and September 21, precipitation totaled 60 to 250 mm, pushing short-term moisture excesses into the 50 to 240 mm range [WET - Up to 7 weeks].

6. Southern Africa:

COOL CONDITIONS SHIFT NORTHWARD
Temperatures averaged 2°C to 6°C below normal across much of southern Africa, with locally larger negative departures reaching -8°C in parts of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Fortunately the mercury remained above freezing throughout the region and highs managed to reach the thirties (°C) at many locations [COLD - Up to 3 weeks].

7. Southwestern Siberia and Northeastern Kazakhstan:

ABOVE-NORMAL TEMPERATURES PREVAIL
Temperatures were 2°C to 4°C above normal across the region, with highs in the thirties (°C) in northeastern Kazakhstan, but only in the twenties (°C) in Siberia. Despite the relatively warm conditions, subfreezing lows covered most of the region [WARM - Up to 3 weeks].

8. Northeastern China:

ANOTHER DRY WEEK
Little or no rain fell on Manchuria during the past week as unusually dry weather persisted. During the last 8 weeks, only 50 to 200 mm of rain has fallen on the region, allowing short-term moisture deficits to range from 50 to 185 mm [DRY - Up to 9 weeks].

9. South-Central China:

RAINS BRING SCATTERED RELIEF
Scattered light to moderate rains (25 to 100 mm) fell on Sichuan and the adjacent parts of neighboring provinces last week. Between 100 and 450 mm of precipitation accumulated since July 28, yielding precipitation shortfalls of 50 to 220 mm [DRY - Up to 9 weeks].

10. Southeastern Asia:

ABUNDANT RAINS PELT INDOCHINESE PENINSULA
Moderate to heavy thunderstorms dumped 50 to 200 mm of rain on Thailand and Vietnam with locally heavier amounts (200 to 500 mm) at many scattered locations. In Thailand, 4-week precipitation totals of 300 to 450 mm were among the highest 10% of the climatological distribution [WET - Up to 5 weeks].