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Here's the latest from EarthNow...
This display shows the NOAA climate digest for June 2013.
The climate digest summarizes noteworthy statistics for the month, season, and year.
The average global land and ocean temperature for June tied with 2006 as the fifth warmest
June since records began in 1880.
Alaska saw it's third warmest June since records began in 1918, while the western U.S. experienced
drought from January 2013 -- June 2013. California reported its driest year-to-date period on
record.
Tropical storm Andrea made landfall along Florida's Gulf Coast on June 6th, 2013. With
maximum winds at 100 km/ hr, the storm caused minor storm surge, heavy rainfall, and tornadoes.
Meanwhile, Spain had its coolest June since 1997.
Also, Norway experienced it's fourth wettest June since national records began in 1900.
Due to the monsoon, Northern India and Nepal experienced heavy rains that contributed to
floods and landslides. These natural disasters resulted in over 5,000 fatalities.
Now, we'll turn to the Arctic sea ice extent. The June sea ice extent for the Arctic was
2.6 percent below the 1981 to 2010 average. This makes it the eleventh smallest ice extent
on record for the month of June.
Finally, we'll move to Antarctica and discover that its sea ice extent for June was 5.2%
above the 1981 to 2010 average, making it the third largest June ice extent on record.
This real-time dataset is updated monthly and shows the global land and ocean temperature
anomalies. Anomalies are simply departures from average. Blue colors indicate cooler
than normal temperatures, whereas red colors indicate warmer than normal temperatures.
White indicates near average conditions.
First, we can see the deep blue colors over Spain as well as central Asia and India, indicating
below average temperatures throughout June 2013. Spain experienced its coldest June since
1997, with temperatures as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit below average.
Red portions of the map highlight several regions around the world that experienced
above average warmth. These areas include Alaska, northern Canada, the western United
States, Australia, and northwestern Russia. In fact, Australia's June 2013 minimum temperature
was the ninth highest minimum since records began in 1910.
This real-time dataset shows sea surface temperature anomalies measured by NOAA satellites. Blue
colors indicate cooler than normal ocean temperatures, whereas red indicates warmer than normal ocean
temperatures.
In the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures were near average to warmer than average, helping make
this area conducive for hurricane formation.
In the eastern tropical Pacific, water temperatures hovered around average, meaning that no El
Niño or La Niña conditions were present. The Climate Prediction Center expects this
to continue through at least the Northern Hemisphere fall.
Now, take a look at some of the ocean temperature differences around the world.
This real-time dataset collected by microwave sensors on NOAA satellites shows snow and
ice cover updated daily. Watch the progression of days and note the retreat and expansion
of snowfall.
And that's your June 2013 climate digest!
For more information, please visit the website shown at the end of this video.