Upper Air ReportNovember 2005

Troposphere

Current Month / Seasonal
Mid-tropospheric and lower stratospheric temperature data are collected by NOAA's TIROS-N polar-orbiting satellites and adjusted for time-dependent biases by the Global Hydrology and Climate Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). An independent analysis is also performed by Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and a third analysis has been preformed by Dr. Qiang Fu of the the University of Washington (UW) (Fu et al. 2004)**.

The tables below summarize mid-tropospheric conditions for September-November and November 2005. These temperatures are for the atmospheric layer centered in the mid-troposphere (approximately 2-6 miles above the Earth's surface) which also includes a portion of the lower stratosphere. (The MSU channel used to measure mid-tropospheric temperatures receives about 25 percent of its signal above 6 miles). For additional information on MSU data used in this report, please see the Microwave Sounding Unit page.

All datasets indicate November and boreal fall temperatures were above average. Records began in 1979.


November Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record Trend
UAH mid-trop +0.15°C/0.27°F 5th warmest 2002 (+0.23°C/0.41°F) +0.04°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop +0.30°C/0.54°F 3rd warmest 2002 (+0.32°C/0.58°F) +0.12°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop +0.21°C/0.38°F 4th warmest 2002 (+0.27°C/0.49°F) +0.09°C/decade
**UW-*RSS mid-trop +0.44°C/0.79°F warmest 2nd - 2003 (+0.41°C/0.74°F) +0.19°C/decade
*Version 02_1

September-
November		 Anomaly Rank Warmest Year on Record Trend
UAH mid-trop +0.20°C/0.36°F 3rd warmest 1998 (+0.29°C/0.52°F) +0.07°C/decade
*RSS mid-trop +0.35°C/0.63°F 2nd warmest 1998 (+0.37°C/0.67°F) +0.17°C/decade
**UW-UAH mid-trop +0.26°C/0.47°F 3rd warmest 1998 (+0.38°C/0.68°F) +0.13°C/decade
**UW-*RSS mid-trop +0.48°C/0.86°F 2nd warmest 1998 (+0.50°C/0.90°F) +0.22°C/decade
*Version 02_1




Stratosphere

Current Month / Seasonal
The tables below summarize stratospheric conditions for September-November and November 2005. The stratosphere is located between 10-14 miles above the Earth's surface. Over the last decade, stratospheric temperatures have been below average in large part due to the depletion of ozone. The large increase in temperature in 1982 was caused by the volcanic eruption of El Chichon in Mexico, and the increase in 1991 was a result of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. Therefore the base period used is 1984-1990 which was chosen to avoid contamination by these eruptions.

November Anomaly Rank Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere -0.67°C (-1.21°F) 2nd coolest 2000 (-0.87°C/-1.57°F)
*RSS stratosphere -0.76°C (-1.37°F) 2nd coolest 2000 (-0.84°C/-1.51°F)
*Version 02_1

September-November Anomaly Rank Coolest Year on Record
UAH stratosphere -0.63°C (-1.13°F) 3rd coolest 2000 (-0.78°C/-1.40°F)
*RSS stratosphere -0.71°C (-1.28°F) Tied coolest/2000 3rd - 1996 (-0.63°C/-1.13°F)
*Version 02_1

Citing This Report

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Upper Air Report for November 2005, published online December 2005, retrieved on April 18, 2025 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/upper-air/200511. DOI: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ncdc:C00762