Tampa Bay Newspapers : Front Page

Nationwide, it was the second warmest summer on record, and the warmest ever-recorded January to August since record keeping began in 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The previous record was set in 1934.

The average maximum temperature in Pinellas County for June through August was 89.7 degrees F., with July coming in with the hottest temperature of 90.2 degrees F., according to National Weather Service records from St. Petersburg-Albert Whitted Airport. The average temperature for the three months was 83 degrees F., a degree cooler than the average temperature of 84 degrees F. recorded for the same three months in 2005.

Average June, July and August temperatures recorded for 2006 were the same as the 30-year average recorded from 1971-2000.

The average maximum high temperature for June, July and August 2006 was 89.8 degrees F., compared to 90.2 degrees F. in 2005.

January through August, 2006 temperatures in Pinellas averaged the same as for the years 1971-2000 - 73.97 degrees F. The year 2005 was the warmest with an average temperature for the eight months of 74.13 degrees F.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the average June through August 2006 temperature for the contiguous United States (based on preliminary data) was 2.4 degrees above the 20th century average of 72.1 degrees F.

"This was the second warmest summer on record, slightly cooler than the record of 74.7 degrees F. set in 1936 during the Dust Bowl era. This summer's average was 74.5 degrees F.," according to officials at the Climatic Data Center. "Eight of the past ten summers have been warmer than the U.S. average for the same period."

The Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index ranked the summer of 2006 as the sixth highest index in the 112-year record.

Drought conditions persist

Moderate-to-extreme drought conditions continue to affect 40 percent of the United States, according to the Climatic Data Center. Rainfall totals in Pinellas have been below normal this year, according to NWS records from the St. Petersburg-Whitted Airport.

For the months of January through May 2006, rainfall recorded at the St. Petersburg-Whitted Airport totaled 3.79 inches - much below the 30 year average for 1971-2000 of 13.64 inches. Rainfall for the same eight months last year totaled 12.94 inches.

June through August 2006, rainfall totaled 16.32 inches, compared to the 30-year average of 21.07. Rainfall for the same eight months last year was 18.92 inches.

Rain gauges at St. Petersburg-Albert Whitted Airport recorded a total of 20.11 inches of rain for the first eight months of 2006, compared to 31.86 in 2005. The 30-year average, 1971-2000, was 34.71 inches.

According to the Climatic Data Center, the summer's record and near-record heat, combined with below-average precipitation, worsened drought conditions throughout much of the summer for large parts of the country.

"But above-average rainfall in August helped ease drought conditions in some of the most severely affected states," officials said.

More than 5 inches of rain in September also has provided some relief for Pinellas County. The 30-year average for September is just over 7.5 inches.

Drought relief extended to New Mexico, parts of Arizona and west Texas. The Plains states, the Midwest, the Carolinas and parts of the Northeast benefited from above-average precipitation in August.

Drought conditions worsened in some parts of the country. Rainfall in August was below normal from Montana to southern California and the Pacific Northwest. This contributed to a continuing and already-active wildfire season. Through early September, the number of acres burned in the U.S. is nearing the record of almost 8.7 million acres burned during all of 2005, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

NOAA issues unscheduled El Niño advisory

Scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center reported that El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific and are likely to continue into early 2007, according to a press release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center.

Ocean temperatures increased remarkably in the equatorial Pacific during the last two weeks, officials said on Sept. 13.

"Currently, weak El Niño conditions exist, but there is a potential for this event to strengthen into a moderate event by winter," said Vernon Kousky, NOAA's lead El Niño forecaster.

Meteorologists think that the development of weak El Niño conditions may explain why this Atlantic hurricane season has been less active than was previously expected.

El Niño typically acts to suppress hurricane activity by increasing the vertical wind shear over the Caribbean Sea region, the press release said; however, at this time the El Niño impacts on Atlantic hurricanes are small

"We are still in the peak months of the Atlantic hurricane season, and conditions remain generally conducive for hurricane formation," said Gerry Bell, NOAA's lead seasonal hurricane forecaster.

Typical El Niño effects are likely to develop over North America during the upcoming winter season, according to NOAA officials. The effects include warmer-than-average temperatures over western and central Canada, and over the western and northern United States. Wetter-than-average conditions are likely over portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast and Florida, while drier-than-average conditions can be expected in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest.

The term El Niño refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate phenomenon linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (between approximately the date line and 120 degrees west), according to NOAA.

El Niño represents the warm phase of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, cycle, and is sometimes referred to as a Pacific warm episode. El Niño originally referred to an annual warming of sea surface temperatures along the west coast of tropical South America.

Article published on Friday, Sept. 22, 2006

Printable Version

E-mail article

•	Super sniffers - Dogs trained to find bedbugs, mold
->	El Niño advisory - High temperatures make record books

Tampa Bay Newspapers
9911 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 397-5563
Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

	© 2003 - 2008 Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved. Privacy Policy
	Questions, Comments, Suggestions, e-mail webmaster@tbnweekly.com