The year just past ranks among the top 10 wettest years on record for the contiguous United States, and was warmer than average, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The findings are based on preliminary data, and historical records dating back to 1895.
Although parts of the West remained in drought, rainfall was above average in 33 states, especially in the South and East, partly due to the effects of tropical storms and hurricanes, which affected 20 states. Nine tropical systems hit the United States, including six hurricanes, three of which were classified as major. In addition to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, Hurricane Gaston made landfall in August along the coast of South Carolina.
Beyond the extensive wind damage in Florida and other coastal locations, the storms resulted in flooding further inland. After a wetter-than-average summer, Frances caused millions of dollars in flood damage to the Southeast and southern Appalachians. When Ivan followed, shortly thereafter, widespread flooding led to loss of power and landslides.
A preliminary calculation of the average temperature for the contiguous United States for 2004 is 53.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.7 degrees above the 1895-2003 mean. In Washington and Oregon, the mean annual temperature was much above average, while 30 states posted above-average temperatures, 16 were near average, and none was below the long-term mean.
Alaska, which had a record warm summer, posted an annual temperature approximately 1.8 degrees above the 1971-2000 mean, making 2004 one of the five warmest years for the state since reliable records began in 1918. Although the West Coast experienced record or near-record temperatures for the summer of 2004, much of remainder of the contiguous United States was relatively cool from June through August, including several cities in the Upper Midwest that had afternoon high temperatures in the low 50s during the middle of August.
Spring temperatures across the country were above average in all states, except Florida, which was near normal for the season. Fall was warm across much of the mid-section of the country, but the West remained near average. Winter began relatively warmly in November and early December for states from the Upper Midwest to the East Coast.
In contrast to the excessive rainfall in the East, much of the West began the year with a long-term rainfall deficit, intensifying a four-to-five-year drought. As a result, the wildfire season got an early start in the western states, but the season concluded as below average for the contiguous United States. However, a record number of acres were burned in Alaska in 2004.
Globally, the average temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces for the year is approximately 0.55 degrees above the 1880-2003 long-term mean, making 2004 the fourth warmest year since 1880 (the beginning of reliable instrumental records). Averaged over the year, land surface temperatures were anomalously warm throughout western North America, southern and western Asia, and Europe. The period from September through November was the warmest on record for combined land and ocean surfaces.
Other climate events and anomalies that NOAA noted across the world in 2004 include an active tropical season in the Northwest Pacific, with Japan's sustaining 10 tropical storm landfalls, exceeding the previous record of six. India recorded below-normal monsoon rainfall, especially in the northwestern part of the country, yet suffered flooding in the Northeast from monsoons from June through October. A rare hurricane formed in the South Atlantic in March, while an extensive and severe heat wave struck Australia in February.
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