Assessing the U.S. Climate in February, 2022

March 16, 2022Posted inClimate, weatherNo Comments

Updated at 0:15 AM EDT March 17, 2022 to include information on worldwide precipitation and the corresponding discussion.

Recently I published a podcast about February climate prepared by two meteorologists who work at CLIMAS. It focuses on why February was the way it was for the U.S. Southwest and West Coast.

This is the official NCEI assessment of the U.S. Climate in February, 2022. it describes what it was not why it was. Sometimes I use an email that a PR person sends out on that report. This time I am working with the report itself. Plus there was some supplementary information provided and I am including some of that as well. The report is pretty complete so I only added a few comments to it. The main comment is that the last decade has been the warmest ever in modern times but that can be confusing if you say that this is the fifth warmest year ever (just an example). That could mean it is average for the last ten years. Although this article is mostly about CONUS plus Alaska, I have included the World temperature record for the last 128 Februaries.

Mar 2022 Southwest Climate Podcast – Cold(ish), Windy, and Dry – Winter Recap & Looking Ahead

March 14, 2022Posted inClimate, weatherNo Comments

In the March 2022 edition of the CLIMAS Southwest Climate Podcast, Mike Crimmins and Zack Guido “dive into a recap of winter (so far) in the Southwest. First, recap winter to date, and put it in the context of a double-dip La Niña, including precipitation totals, temperature, and snowpack. Then they take a closer look at the phases of the PNA (Pacific/North American pattern) and how this links to ENSO/La Niña and the weather conditions this winter. Finally, they revisit temperature to consider just how “cold” it has actually been, and preview a closer look at fire outlooks, snowpack, and water supply in upcoming podcasts”.

Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2021

January 12, 2022Posted inClimate, weather2 Comments

The National Centers of Environmental Information (NCEI) publishes a monthly analysis of the U.S. climate as well as an annual report.  John Bateman, a meteorologist, and an NOAA Public Affairs specialist, sends out an email that summarizes the NCEI report. This article is based on the summary written by John Bateman. At the end of the article is the link to the full NCEI Report. The key takeaways:  CONUS had the fourth warmest year in recent history and 20 billion-dollar disasters were identified.