Expanding U.S. Drought. Worst Since 1956 by End of December.
10/03/2022, 4:37 am EDTRhine River Water Level Forecasts Improving
10/07/2022, 10:53 am EDTThe 2022 U.S. Monthly CDD Totals Vs. Various Recent Climatology
Fig. 1: Comparing the 30-year, 20-year and 10-year climatology of U.S. population weight CDD and the 2022 monthly observed value and the max amount for each month of the past 20 years for May through September.
Discussion: Nationally, meteorological summer 2022 ranked 3rd hottest in the 1895-2022 climatology. Interestingly, the monthly U.S. population weight CDD (according to NOAA) are not nearly as impressive with June and July ranking 8th hottest of the past 20 years and August ranking 9th hottest for the same period (Fig. 1). The explanation is twofold as modern-day hot summer would rank very hot in a cooler 128-year climatology. Note how the climatology warms when comparing the 30-year, 20-year and 10-year climatology in Fig. 1. Also, ranking for each month during summer 2022 was likely not as hot in high population regions as observed in other years during the 20-year climatology. Interestingly, the 2022 CDD observations for May through September were close to or warmer than the warmest climatology (the 10-year) but not quite as warm as the record value for the past 20 years. Each monthly plot has a “ladder” appearance identifying a warming summer climate pattern.