IRI Climate Digest November
2000
November Global Climate Summary
Climatological Background During November,
the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude storm tracks increase in strength,
while monsoon systems in South Africa, Australia, and South America expand
southward following the maximum solar heating. Tropical storm activity
winds down in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific and northern Indian
Oceans.
Monthly Mean Temperature (1961-1990), data from the Climate Research
Unit, University of East Anglia |
DATA: Univ. of East Anglia |
Monthly Mean Precipitation (1961-1990), with data from
the Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia |
|
DATA: Univ. of East Anglia |
Temperatures Over Land
Temperatures were dramaticaly lower over portions of North America and
Asia compared with recent trends. Meanwhile, portions of eastern
and northern Europe were unusually warm - as much as 5 C above average.
Details:
North America: Most of the United States saw below average
temperatures with eight western states seeing the coldest November in over
100 years.
Asia: Unusually cold conditions persisted across north
central Asia from the Urals eastward to the Pacific coast. Temperatures
were as much as 7 C below average across Siberia.
Europe: Temperatures were well above average across most
of Europe. Eastern Europe and Scandinavia were as much as 5 C warmer
than average.
Africa: Warmer than average conditions were seen along
coastal regions of West and North Africa.
Australia: Below average temperatures prevailed across
much of coastal Queensland with unseasonably warm conditions along the
southern coast of the continent.
South America: Generally colder than average across
most of Argentina northward into Boliva and western Paraguay. Slightly
above average temperatures continued over much of Brazil.
Temperature Difference from the 1961-1990 mean, with
data from NCEP Climate Prediction Center, CAMS. |
NOAA NCEP CPC CAMS anomaly temperature anomaly |
Precipitation
Unusually wet conditions continued across portions of western Europe.
Heavy rains caused havoc in Indonesia and eastern Australia.
Details:
Europe: For the second month in a row unusually heavy rain
fell across the southern British Isles. Precipitation was also well
above average in western France and the Italian Alps.
Africa: Above average rainfall from Tanzania southward
into Zambia and Mozambique. Eastern South Africa was
also unseasonably wet for November.
Indonesia: Very heavy rainfall fell over Sumatra and Java.
Taiwan, Philippines: Typhoons Xangsane and Bebinca brought
exceptionally heavy rains.
Australia: Rainfall was unusually heavy across most of
Queensland and New South Wales with widespread flooding.
South America: Much of Brazil as well as northern Argentina
saw above average rainfall. Venezuela also had an unusually wet November
while unusually dry weather dominated elsewhere north of the equator.
North America: Rainfall was well above average across
the southern US from New Mexico eastward to Georgia, easing some long term
moisture shortages. Sections of southeast Manitoba had the most intense
rains in 90 years.
Caribbean: Unusually dry conditions across much of the
region. Reports from Cuba indicate the recent drought has been
the worst in 50 years.
Precipitation Difference from 1961-1990 mean, with
data from NCEP Climate Prediction Center, CAMS-OPI. |
NOAA NCEP CPC CAMS_OPI v9906 anomaly Precipitation Anomaly (mm/day).
Contours 0.5, 2, 4, 6, 8,... |
Oceanic Conditions
Tropics: Cooling in the equatorial eastern Pacific indicates
a slight shift from near-neutral conditions towards that of a weak La
Nina. However, cooling is typical in this region during
the current season and the intensification of the existing weak La Nina
conditions is not expected at this time. Elsewhere, temperatures
in the central Indian ocean remained above average.
Midlatitudes: Above average water temperatures intensified
to the south of Australia. Above average conditions persisted
in the northwestern North Pacific and in the central North Atlantic.
Monthly Sea Surface Temperature Difference from the 1950-1979 mean,
with data from the Environmental Modeling Center, NCEP/NOAA. |
![](http://ingrid.ldeo.columbia.edu/expert/SOURCES/.IGOSS/.nmc/.monthly/.ssta/startcolormap/DATA/-5./5./RANGE/black/navy/blue/-5./VALUE/cyan/-0.5/VALUE/white/white/0.5/bandmax/yellow/0.5/VALUE/red/5./VALUE/firebrick/endcolormap/DATA/0.5/STEP/X/Y/fig:/colors/|/nozero/contours/land/:fig/.auxfig+//T/487.5/plotvalue/X/20./380./plotrange/Y/-60/80/plotrange+//XOVY+2+psdef//plotaxislength+500+psdef+.gif) |
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