EarthNow

Overview

The data for the global temperature and precipitation outlooks are provided by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). The IRI was established as a cooperative agreement between NOAA’s Climate Program Office and Columbia University. It is part of The Earth Institute, Columbia University. These maps are constructed primarily with data from NOAA climate models, with some minor tweaks by climatologists.

Temperature Outlook

• What does RED mean on the map? The red and orange shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “warmer than normal”, than “normal”, or “cooler than normal”.
• What does BLUE mean on the map? The blue shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “cooler than normal”, than “normal”, or “warmer normal”.
• WHITE indicates areas that have a higher probability of being “normal” than “cooler or warmer than normal” and also, areas where the chances for being cooler than normal, warmer than normal, and normal are equal.

It should be noted that areas in the “warmer than normal” region may still have cooler than normal days, and may not be “hot”. This outlook only suggests that after the three months are over, those areas in the “warmer than normal” region are more likely to have experienced warmer than normal average temperatures.

Precipitation Outlook

• What does GREEN mean on the map? The green shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “wetter than normal”, than “normal”, or “drier than normal”.
• What does BROWN mean on the map? The brown shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “drier than normal”, than “normal”, or “wetter than normal”.
• WHITE indicates areas that have a higher probability of being “normal” than “drier or wetter than normal” and also, areas where the chances for being drier than normal, wetter than normal, and normal are equal.

It should be noted that areas in the “wetter than normal” region may still have drier than normal days, and may not be “flooded”. This outlook only suggests that after the three months are over, those areas in the “wetter than normal” region are more likely to have experienced wetter than normal average rainfall.

High Resolution Global Seasonal Outlook Graphics for Science On a Sphere^®

Background and References:

Starting in April 2017, the IRI probabilistic seasonal climate forecast product is based on a re-calibration of model output from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s North American Multi-Model Ensemble Project (NMME). This includes the ensemble seasonal prediction systems of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Environment and Climate Change Canada, NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NASA, NCAR and COLA/University of Miami. The output from each NMME model is re-calibrated prior to multi-model ensembling to form reliable probability forecasts. The forecasts are now presented on a 1-degree latitude-longitude grid.

IRI Seasonal Forecasts, http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=944&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2

Credits:

EarthNow Team
NOAA</h

June through August 2019 was the second warmest in a 140-year data set, second only to 2016. July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded worldwide.

Looking at the Northern Hemisphere, where more of Earth’s land mass and population are located, global land and ocean surface temperature for summer 2019 tied with 2016 as the warmest summer on record.

The five warmest Northern Hemisphere summers have all occurred in the last five years.

Looking at ocean-only departures from average, June, July and August 2019 also tied with 2016 as the highest such period on record. Warm ocean waters fuel tropical cyclone development and contribute to sea ice melt.

Summer 2019 Arctic ice melt was on par with 2012, which holds the record for the lowest sea ice minimum extent since satellite records began in 1979.

Polar sea ice plays a critical role in the Earth’s climate. As sea ice diminishes, more solar energy is absorbed by the ocean, which in turn contributes to a faster rate of warming in the Northern Hemisphere.

Space–based observations indicate that Arctic summer sea ice extent has decreased significantly since records began. This dramatic trend towards a smaller ice cap provides one of the clearest indications of climate change.

The music for this climate digest is arctic sea ice data set to music. As sea ice disappears, one hand dips into the lower register of a piano while the other plays a twinkling pattern that replicates repeating, shifting seasons.

The quarterly climate digest, produced seasonally, consists of a short movie (3:34 minutes) made for Science On a Sphere® (SOS) and an MP4 video accessible through YouTube.

You can download the SOS content from this FTP Site.

Content includes:
– Global 3-month land and ocean temperatures
– 3-month Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies
– Information and imagery on Hurricane Dorian
-Arctic Sea Ice graphics
-Global temperature outlook for Autumn

References:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201908
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/201908
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/tropical-cyclones/201908
https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/34256
https://sites.uci.edu/zlabe/arctic-sea-ice-volumethickness/
http://www.judytwedt.com/

Credits:
EarthNow Team
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)

Monthly state of the climate reports are available from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Climate Global Analysis and National Overview at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

Overview

The data for the global temperature and precipitation outlooks are provided by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). The IRI was established as a cooperative agreement between NOAA’s Climate Program Office and Columbia University. It is part of The Earth Institute, Columbia University. These maps are constructed primarily with data from NOAA climate models, with some minor tweaks by climatologists.

Temperature Outlook

• What does RED mean on the map? The red shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “warmer than normal”.
• What would BLUE mean? Blue shading would indicate areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “cooler than normal”,
• WHITE indicates areas that have a higher probability of being “normal” than “cooler or warmer than normal” and also, areas where the chances for being cooler than normal, warmer than normal, and normal are equal.

It should be noted that areas in the “warmer than normal” region may still have cooler than normal days, and may not be “hot”. This outlook only suggests that after the three months are over, those areas in the “warmer than normal” region are more likely to have experienced warmer than normal average temperatures.

Precipitation Outlook

• What does GREEN mean on the map? The green shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “wetter than normal”.
• What does BROWN mean on the map? The brown shading on the map indicates areas that have a higher probability (greater than 35%) of being “drier than normal”.
• WHITE indicates areas that have a higher probability of being “normal” than “drier or wetter than normal” and also, areas where the chances for being drier than normal, wetter than normal, and normal are equal.

It should be noted that areas in the “wetter than normal” region may still have drier than normal days, and may not be “flooded”. This outlook only suggests that after the three months are over, those areas in the “wetter than normal” region are more likely to have experienced wetter than normal average rainfall.

High Resolution Global Seasonal Outlook Graphics for Science On a Sphere^®

Background and References:

Starting in April 2017, the IRI probabilistic seasonal climate forecast product is based on a re-calibration of model output from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s North American Multi-Model Ensemble Project (NMME). This includes the ensemble seasonal prediction systems of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Environment and Climate Change Canada, NOAA/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, NASA, NCAR and COLA/University of Miami. The output from each NMME model is re-calibrated prior to multi-model ensembling to form reliable probability forecasts. The forecasts are now presented on a 1-degree latitude-longitude grid.

IRI Seasonal Forecasts, http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=944&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2

Credits:

EarthNow Team
NOAA