Fourth warmest October on record

October 2006 was the 4th warmest October on record globally, according to the latest monthly report issued by the National Climatic Data Center. The period January through October was the fifth warmest on record. The El Ni�o episode that began in September significantly warmed ocean temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, which helped make global ocean temperatures for October the 3rd warmest on record. Arctic sea ice extent remained near record low levels in October at 8.4 million square kilometers.


Figure 1. Departure of temperature from normal (anomaly) for October 2006. Siberia and parts of Indonesia joined North America with having below normal temperatures.

An average October for the U.S.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, October of 2006 was near average for temperature in the U.S., ranking as the 52nd coolest in the 110-year record. It was a very wet October, ranking as the 12th wettest October on record. The period January to October ranks as the 3rd warmest such period on record in the U.S., thanks to some unusually warm weather in January, April, and July.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone! I'll have some thoughts on Florida hurricanes in Friday's blog, inspired by my just-completed trip to Florida.

Jeff Masters