Global Highlights:
- *Global average land and sea surface
temperature was the second warmest on record for February and
boreal winter (December-February)
- Lower tropospheric temperatures were warmer than average for
February and boreal winter
- Temperatures in the lower stratosphere remained cooler than
average
- During December-February, above average precipitation was most
notable across western Europe and parts of Bolivia and Brazil, with
below average precipitation across much of the U.S. and the
Mediterranean region
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Contents of this Section:
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Introduction
| Using a 1992-2002 base
period as shown in the adjacent blended temperature
product of satellite and in-situ data, anomalous warmth during
the period December-February in the Northern Hemisphere was closely
associated with the location of upper level ridges of high
pressure. These ridges of high pressure (depicted
by positive 500 millibar height anomalies) were centered across
mid-latitude areas. Temperature anomalies calculated from in-situ
station
data using a 1961-1990 base period also show the warmer than
average temperatures in these regions with cooler than average
temperatures restricted to much of Australia and the Russian Far
East. The temperature distribution across Asia was highlighted by a
large area of above average warmth during February. |
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Temperature
- A slow evolution toward warm
ENSO conditions continued in February 2002, and
the global land and ocean temperature was the second warmest in the
1880-2002 record or 0.71°C (1.28°F) above the long-term
average
- Temperatures averaged across land areas
were also second warmest on record globally, or 1.39°C
(2.50°F) above the long-term February mean
- Record warmth was noted across extratropical
areas of the Northern Hemisphere, where combined land and ocean
temperatures were 1.35°C (2.43°F) above the 1880-2001
average
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- Based on data available at the time of this report, the global
average land and ocean temperature for boreal winter
(December-February) was 0.59°C (1.06°F) above the
1880-2001 mean, the second warmest winter season on record
- During December-February, temperatures in the Northern
Hemisphere, also ranking as second warmest, averaged
0.76°C (1.37°F) warmer than the average
- Global land temperatures were third warmest for boreal winter,
or 0.96°C (1.73°F) above the mean
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- Serial monthly global surface temperature departures with
respect to a 1971-2000 mean are shown in the figure to the
right
- The recent return to record or near record temperature
departures is evident, as monthly global temperatures (land and
ocean) have been warmer than the 1971-2000 average for the last 70
consecutive months
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Precipitation
- During December-February, much above average precipitation fell
across parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Indonesia and western Europe
- Drier than average weather prevailed across much of the U.S.,
the Argentinian Pampas, and the Mediterranean region
- A similar precipitation pattern was observed during February
2002
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References:
Peterson, T.C. and R.S. Vose, 1997: An Overview of the Global
Historical Climatology Network Database. Bull. Amer. Meteorol.
Soc., 78, 2837-2849.
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NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
