National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce


 
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FY 1999

Seasonal U.S. temperature and precipitation anomalies associated with El Niño: Historical results and comparison with 1997–1998

Harrison, D.E., and N.K. Larkin

Geophys. Res. Lett., 25(21), 3959–3962, doi: 10.1029/1998GL900061 (1998)


Extreme weather occurred in many parts of the United States during the 1997-98 El Niño. We compare the 1997-98 autumn, winter, and spring temperature and precipitation anomalies with the historical El Niño period anomalies. About 90% of the contiguous U.S. has one or more statistically significant historical weather associations with El Niño. The 1997-98 wet anomalies and the autumn and winter temperature anomalies resemble their historical counterparts. Taken together, about 80% of the U.S. experienced extreme seasonal anomalies during 1997-98; 20% of the U.S. experienced 50-year-record winter temperature anomalies. However, these percentages are not remarkable.




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