2010 Weather “Wows”

Each month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases interesting factoids about the nation’s weather. Here are the most recent as of press time:

Warm — The average temperature for the nation from January-September 2010 was 56.9°F, one degree above the long-term mean. This was the 21st warmest year-to-date period for the nation, and the warmest since 2007.

Warmer — The Northeast had its warmest 2010 year-to-date on record at 3.3°F above the long-term mean. Despite having a cool September, the East North Central region had its sixth warmest January-September period on record.

Warmest — These states had their warmest January-September on record: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey. In addition, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota had average year-to-date temperatures in their top 10 warmest. Only Florida and Texas had below-normal temperatures for the period.

Wet — Average precipitation for the U.S. during the January-September period was 0.9 inches above the long-term mean.

Wetter — The East North Central region had its third wettest year-to-date period, while the West North Central region had its ninth wettest period. The Southeast was the only climate region with below-average precipitation for January-September.

Wettest — These states had precipitation amounts ranking in their top ten wettest for the January-September period: Wisconsin (second wettest), Iowa (second), North Dakota (third), South Dakota (fifth) and Minnesota (seventh). Conversely, Louisiana had its sixth driest January-September.