JANUARY 2012 | VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR

IN THIS ISSUE:

Page 2 - Weather-Ready Nation

Page 3 to 4 - Year 2011 in Review

Page 4 - Drought Update

Page 5 - Southern U.S. Precipitation Summary for January

Page 6 - Southern U.S. Temperature Summary for January

Page 6 - Climate Perspective and Station Summaries Across the South

Disclaimer: The Southern Climate Monitor is an experimental climate outreach and engagement product. While we make every attempt to verify

this information, we do not warrant the accuracy of any of these materials. The user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data. The

Southern Regional Climate Center (SRCC), Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP), the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, and

the Louisiana Office of State Climatology disclaims any and all warranties, whether expressed or implied, including (without limitation) any

implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This publication was prepared by SRCC/SCIPP with support in part from

the U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA, under award NA080AR4320886 and other grants. The statements, findings, conclusions, and

recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA.

The Southern Climate Monitor is available at www.srcc.lsu.edu & www.southernclimate.org

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Weather-Ready Nation: A Vital Conversation on Tornadoes and Severe WeatherJohn Ferree, National Weather Service Office of Climate Water and Weather Services

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

Despite excellent warnings and longer thanaverage lead times, more than 550 lives were lostin tornadoes in 2011 making it the third deadliesttornado year in U.S. history. On December 13-15,175 national experts and leaders includingemergency managers, academics, private sectorweather forecasters, communication experts,news media and decision-makers gathered inNorman, Okla., to initiate a national conversation.Their goal was to identify, prioritize, and set inmotion actions to improve the nation's resiliencyagainst severe weather, especially tornadoes, toprotect lives and property.

The national summit is the first in a series ofWeather-Ready Nation conversations NOAA willparticipate in across the country in the comingyear to learn from the experience and insights ofimportant weather partners. A briefing on the initialpriorities identified was delivered at a Weather-Ready Nation Town Hall meeting during theAmerican Meteorology Society's Annual Meetingin New Orleans on January 23. The priorities willfocus on how to improve impact-based forecastsand warnings, sharpen science-service linkages,and identify enhanced communication and servicedelivery innovations.

All plenary sessions from "Weather Ready Nation:A Vital Conversation" can currently be viewed onthe workshop web site:http://www.joss.ucar.edu/events/2011/weather_ready

The conversation has just begun. Planning is wellunderway for the 2012 National Severe WeatherWorkshop on March 1-3, co-organized by theNOAA-NWS Storm Prediction Center, and heldeach year near Norman Oklahoma. This year'sworkshop will explore themes associated withdeveloping a more Weather Ready Nation.http://www.norman.noaa.gov/nsww/

The National Conversation to Build a Weather-Ready Nation will continue throughout 2012 with anumber of symposia, events, town halls,workshops, and speeches. In her summarystatements of the meeting, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan(Assistant Secretary of Commerce forEnvironmental Observation and Prediction) notedthat "conversation is the seminal technology of allsocietal change." To join the conversation, checkout the NWS Facebook page. Or find out more onthe Weather-Ready Nation web page athttp://www.weather.gov/com/weatherreadynation.

“Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation is a sharedresponsibility from the federal government to theindividual citizen and everyone in between,” saidJack Hayes, director of the National WeatherService. “NOAA’s National Weather Service iscommitted to delivering the highest quality offorecast and warning services and fosteringinnovation. Building a Weather-Ready Nation willtake the commitment of everyone we’re engagingwith through these national conversations.”

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

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Year 2011 in ReviewLuigi Romolo, Southern Regional Climate Center

For the southern region, 2011 will be longremembered as a year in which the weatherdominated our day to day activities. Throughoutthe year, there were several major weather eventsthat caught the attention of the entire nation. Infact, the South was impacted by almost everyprimary weather hazard that is known to occur inthe southeastern United States. These hazardsvaried from drought and associated wildfires, toflooding, heat waves, tornadoes, and tropicalcyclones.

Perhaps the biggest weather story for theSouthern Region in 2011 was the drought thatgripped much of the southeastern United States.Still ongoing, the drought really took hold in theSouthern Region in the summer of 2010. By thestart of 2011, almost 60 percent of the region wasexperiencing drought conditions. By early April,this number climbed to just over 80 percent. At thispoint, a strong majority of Texas, Oklahoma,Arkansas and Louisiana were experiencing severedrought or worse, with almost 40 percent of theregion being classified as extreme drought. ForTexas, this particular drought is arguably the worstdrought in its history. Persistent dry patterns fed byan unrelenting La Nina led to over 5 billion dollarsin agricultural impacts in Texas alone. In August,almost every county in the state was under a burnban, as the dryness cultivated near perfectwildfires conditions. With over 22 major fires in2011, Texas endured one of its worst wildfireseasons in recent memory and perhaps the worston record for the state. For the year, Texas sawalmost 4 million acres in burned territory, whichaccounts for almost half of the total burn area forthe entire country. The fires claimed over 2800homes. Perhaps the worst fire to occur in Texaswas the Bastrop County Complex Fire. This firestarted during Labor day weekend and lasted intoearly October. Ironically, this particular fire was fedby strong winds from Tropical Storm Lee (See

Below). By the time the fire was 100 percentcontained, it had burned over 34 thousand acresof land and claimed over 1600 homes.

One factor that exasperated the drought andwildfires conditions mentioned above was theextremely high temperatures that led to one of thehottest summers on record for the entire country.The 2011 heat wave set countless recordsthroughout the Southern Region. This pastsummer, the Dallas/Fort Worth area recorded 40consecutive days in which temperatures exceeded100 degrees F. This value fell two days short ofthe record which was set in 1980. These extremeswere not confined to just the Dallas Area. Much ofsouthwestern Oklahoma experienced 43consecutive days with temperatures in excess of100 degrees F. The historical perspective of thisheat wave is illustrated by the fact the Oklahomaset the record for the hottest month in any state onrecord. This occurred in July, when Oklahomarecorded a state wide average temperature of88.9 degrees F. The month of July was also thewarmest July on record (1895-2011) for Texas,which recorded a state average temperature of87.1 degrees F.

In the midst of drought, wildfires and heat wavescame the 2011 Mississippi river flooding event.The event was catastrophic, producing floodingimpacts that were comparable to that which wasexperienced in both 1927 and 1993. This was nottoo unusual in that there have been several floodsalong the river over the past 100 years. Whatmade this particular event extremely odd was thatthe flood drove right through drought-riddenArkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The floodwas caused by a combination of heavy rainfallstorms upstream that coincided with a heavierthan normal spring melt. This produced ananomalously high spring freshet that pushed downthe river causing record flood levels from

DROUGHT CONDITIONSLuigi Romolo, Southern Regional Climate Center

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

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Drought conditions continued to improve over themonth of January in the Southern Region, withdrought being removed in north central Texas andin eastern Oklahoma. Much of eastern Texas hasalso seen a one-category improvement in droughtconditions. As of January, 31, 2012, 61.19 percentof the Southern Region remains in drought, whichis approximately an 8 percent improvement from

the end of last month. Drought conditions inLouisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi did notchange much over the course of the month, andTennessee remains the only state in the region tobe completely drought free. Large areas of Texas,however, are still facing "exceptional drought," themost intense category of the Drought Monitorscale.

Tennessee to Louisiana. In Tennessee, the riverreached a stage of 47.8 feet in Memphis on May10th, making it the highest recorded stage since1937. In Arkansas, a total of 14 fatalities werereported. Thousands of homes were evacuated inTennessee alone. As the flood pushed southwardinto Louisiana, concerns grew for the safety ofboth Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Because ofthe imminent threat to catastrophic flooding inLouisiana's two larges cities, government officialsdecided to open the Morganza spillway. Thespillway is a flood-control structure in PointCoupee Parish. Its primary design is to divertwater from the Mississippi River into theAtchafalaya Basin. The spillway was opened forthe first time in 37 years and diverted enoughwater to keep Baton Rouge and New Orleans frombeing inundated.

If all of this wasn't enough, the Southern Regionalso experienced one its worst tornado seasons inhistory. For many areas in the region, April andMay were some of the busiest months in history.Perhaps the most devastating occurrences wasbetween the dates of April 25 to 27, 2011. Thetornadoes resulted in at least thirteen deaths inArkansas, two deaths in Louisiana, thirty-fourdeaths in Mississippi, and thirty-four deaths inTennessee. In Smithville, Mississippi, an EF5tornado touched down on April 27, 2011. Thetwister was reported to have destroyed over 150

homes. Twenty-seven people are believed to havedied as a result. Winds from that twister wereestimated at 205 miles per hour.

On September 1, 2011, while Texas and much ofsouth eastern Louisiana were plagued withdrought, Tropical Storm Lee approached the Gulfcoast. The tropical cyclone moved very slowlytoward the coast, only to stall there for a little overtwo days. By the 4th of the month, Lee began tocreep into landfall and slowly pushed to the northeast. Because it moved slowly, rainfall totals insouthern Mississippi and Louisiana wereexcessive. Rainfall totals varied from 10 to 15inches in the New Orleans area and along coastalMississippi. Jackson, Mississippi reported over 11inches of rainfall, and values as high as ten incheswere reported in south eastern Tennessee. Intotal, the storm resulted in 21 fatalities and isbelieved to have caused approximately one billiondollars in damage.

In summary, 2011 will long be remembered as aweather making year. It is extremely difficult torank these events in terms of impacts anddevastation. Clearly, the importance of theseevents is local to the citizens that endured them. Itis fair to say, however; that if you were living in theSouthern Region in 2011, you were likelyimpacted in some way by at least some, if not allof the above mentioned events.

Precipitation varied spatially during the month ofJanuary with parts of the Southern Region havinga wetter than normal month, while for other areas,it was much drier than normal. Wetter than normalconditions occurred over much of easternOklahoma and in central and northern Texas.Stations in that part of the Southern Regionaveraged between 150 and 300 percent ofnormal. These values equate to 2 to 7 inches(50.80 to 177.80 mm) of precipitation. Similartotals were also observed in south centralLouisiana, which received approximately 130 to150 percent of its expected precipitation for themonth. Elsewhere, conditions were quite dry. Most

stations in southern Texas and in westernOklahoma only received between 5 and 50percent of normal precipitation, with severalstations reporting zero precipitation for the month.State average precipitation values were asfollows: 2.87 inches (72.90 mm) in Arkansas, 4.66inches (118.36 mm) in Louisiana, 4.39 inches(111.51 mm) in Mississippi, 1.95 inches (49.53mm) in Oklahoma, 4.78 inches (121.41 mm) inTennessee, and 2.24 inches (56.90 mm) in Texas.For Texas, it was the twenty-eighth wettestJanuary on record (1895-2012), and the secondconsecutive month with precipitation greater thantwo inches.

PRECIPITATION SUMMARYLuigi Romolo, Southern Regional Climate Center

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

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To the Right: Drought conditions in the SouthernRegion. Map is valid for January 2012. Image courtesyof the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Total precipitation values (left) and The percent of 1971-2000 normal precipitation totals (right) for January 2012.

TEMPERATURE SUMMARYLuigi Romolo, Southern Regional Climate Center

The month of January proved to be a warm monthfor the entire Southern Region with all statetemperature averages ranking in at least the toptwenty on record (18-95-2012). A strong majorityof the station in the Southern Region averagedbetween 2 to 8 degrees F (1.11 to 4.44 degrees C)above normal. Louisiana was the warmest state,reporting a state average temperature for themonth of 55.40 degrees F (13.00 degrees C). ForLouisiana, it was the eleventh warmest Januaryon record (1895-2012). Mississippi reported astate average temperature of 50.70 (10.39degrees C), while Texas was a close third with

50.30 (10.17 degrees C). For Mississippi, it wasthe fifteenth warmest January on record (1895-2012), while for Texas it was the seventeenthwarmest. With a state average temperature of44.30 degrees F (6.83 degrees C), Arkansasposted its eighteenth warmest January on record(1895-2012), while Oklahoma posted its tenthwarmest January on record (1895-2012) with astate average temperature of 42.70 degrees F(5.94 degrees C). For Tennessee, it was thetwentieth warmest January on record (1895-2012)as it reported a state average temperature of42.50 degrees F (5.83 degrees C).

Average temperatures (left) and departures from 1971-2000 normal average temperatures (right) for January 2012,across the South.

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

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State temperature and precipitation values and rankings for January 2012. Ranks are based on the NationalClimatic Data Center's Statewide, Regional and National Dataset over the period 1895-2011.

CLIMATE PERSPECTIVE

STATION SUMMARIES ACROSS THE SOUTH

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SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

Summary of temperature and precipitation information from around the region for January 2012. Data provided bythe Applied Climate Information System. On this chart, "depart" is the average's departure from the normal average,and "% norm" is the percentage of rainfall received compared with normal amounts of rainfall. Plus signs in thedates column denote that the extremes were reached on multiple days. Blue-shaded boxes represent cooler thannormal temperatures; red-shaded boxes denote warmer than normal temperatures; tan shades represent drier thannormal conditions; and green shades denote wetter than normal conditions.

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SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR, JANUARY 2012

SOUTHERN CLIMATE MONITOR TEAM:

Luigi Romolo, Regional ClimatologistSouthern Regional Climate Center (LSU)

Charlotte Lunday, Student AssistantSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OU)

Lynne Carter, Program ManagerSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (LSU)

Margret Boone, Program ManagerSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OU)

Rachel Riley, Associate Program ManagerSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OU)

Hal Needham, Research AssociateSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (LSU)

Barry Keim, State Climatologist for LouisianaCo-PI, Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (LSU)

Mark Shafer, Principal InvestigatorSouthern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OU)

Gary McManus, Associate State Climatologist forOklahoma

Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OU)

Kevin Robbins, DirectorSouthern Regional Climate Center (LSU)

SOUTHERN CLIMATE 101Have a question about Southern U.S. climate? Letus know and we may feature the answer in afuture issue of the Monitor!

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The Monitor is an experimental climate outreach and engagement product of the Southern RegionalClimate Center and Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program. To provide feedback orsuggestions to improve the content provided in the Monitor, please contact us atmonitor@southernclimate.org. We look forward to hearing from you and tailoring the Monitor tobetter serve you. You can also find us online at www.srcc.lsu.edu and www.southernclimate.org.

For any questions pertaining to historical climate data across the states of Oklahoma, Texas,Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Tennessee, please contact the Southern Regional ClimateCenter at 225-578-502. For questions or inquiries regarding research, experimental tooldevelopment, and engagement activities at the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, pleasecontact us at 405-325-7809 or 225-578-8374.

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