Print article WASHINGTON - The official calculation of what constitutes “normal” U.S. climate has been updated - and to virtually nobody’s surprise, it’s a warmer picture than ever before. On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated set of climate averages for the contiguous United States based on the 30-year period from 1991 to 2020, including more than 9,000 daily reporting stations. It refers to these averages as “climate normals,” and updates them once every decade. Compared to previous 30-year periods, the climate has turned unambiguously warmer. “We’re really seeing the fingerprints of climate change in the new normals,” Michael Palecki, manager of NOAA’s effort to update the climate normals, said at an April news conference. “We’re not trying to hide that, we’re in fact reflecting that.”
Whatâs ânormalâ US weather? Itâs hotter than ever, NOAA says, and often wetter
By Bob Henson and Jason Samenow The Washington Post,Updated May 4, 2021, 4:10 p.m.
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Drought conditions in early April left the San Luis Reservoir in California depleted.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
WASHINGTON â The official calculation of what constitutes ânormalâ US climate has been updated â and to virtually nobodyâs surprise, itâs a warmer picture than ever. Itâs also, for much of the nation, wetter.
On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated set of climate averages for the contiguous United States based on the 30-year period from 1991 to 2020, including more than 9,000 daily reporting stations. It refers to these averages as âclimate normals,â and updates them once every decade.
Oklahoma saw its worst winter storm in decades last week, but don’t go blaming climate change for the bitter cold and heavy snow just yet.
Climate change is a phenomenon studied on a global scale over the course of decades.
Two University of Oklahoma professors said that makes it nearly impossible to label a singular weather event, even one that brings subzero temperatures to a large swath of the United States, a result of climate change.
“The data does not support being able to attribute what’s going on now to climate change,” said Kevin Kloesel, director of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.