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Here's the latest from EarthNow...
This display shows the NOAA climate digest for July 2013.
The climate digest summarizes noteworthy statistics for the month, season, and year.
The average global land and ocean temperature for July was the sixth warmest since records
began in 1880.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Flossie was the first tropical system to threaten
Hawaii since 2007. Fortunately, the storm weakened before making landfall, but provided
Hawaii with up to three inches of rain.
Meanwhile, Alaska experienced its fifth warmest July since records began in 1918.
New Zealand and Australia also experienced a warmer than normal July. Australia had its
third warmest on record, whereas New Zealand had its fourth warmest on record.
Also warm this July was South Korea, with temperatures over three degrees Fahrenheit
above normal, marking the fourth warmest July on record.
In Europe, Austria experienced its driest July on record, dating back to 1858, whereas
the United Kingdom had its third warmest July 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 blue colors over the southeastern part of the United States, indicating
below average temperatures throughout July 2013.
Red portions of the map highlight several regions around the world that experienced
above average warmth. Note the red shading over Australia and New Zealand, for example.
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 eastern tropical Pacific, water temperatures hovered around average, meaning that no El
Niño or La Niña conditions were present. This has been the case since the Northern
Hemisphere Spring of 2012. 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.
The July sea ice extent for the Arctic was 12.9 percent below the 1981 to 2010 average.
This makes it the fifth smallest ice extent on record for the month of July.
Finally, we'll move to Antarctica and discover that its sea ice extent for July was 4.2 percent
above the 1981 to 2010 average, making it the second largest July ice extent on record.
And that's your July 2013 climate digest!
For more information, please visit the website shown at the end of this video.