US December Warmer Than Average, Fifth-Warmest Worldwide On Record

[hatrack]

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, January 18, 2005 (ENS) - The national average temperature for December 2004 was above normal for the Lower 48 United States, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center in Asheville. The global average temperature for December was fifth warmest on record.
While much of the western half of the nation was warmer than average, a brief period of very cold temperatures and heavy snowfall occurred in the Midwest and parts of the South, where temperatures averaged near the long-term mean - the period from 1895-2003.

Based on preliminary data, NOAA scientists report that the average temperature for the Lower 48 states for December was 35.7° F (2.1° C), which was 2.2 F (1.2° C) above the 1895-2003 mean. This was the 23rd warmest December on record.

The December temperature ranking of 23rd warmest is close to that for all of 2004 as a whole, which ended as the 24th warmest year on record. The mean temperature in 19 states was above average, with all of these states being west of the Mississippi River with the lone exception of New Hampshire."

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[XemaSab]

1. Saw my first

California Tortoiseshell Butterfly for the year today!

Sunny and warm here today in the Sierra foothills.