First Quarter Sets a 106-Year Record for Warm Temperatures
The first quarter of 2000 was the warmest first quarter in the United States in the last 106 years, federal officials announced Tuesday. The average temperature during January, February and March was 41.7 degrees Fahrenheit, one degree higher than the previous first-quarter record set in 1990, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. In addition, NOAA data show, the nine-month period from June 1999 to March 2000 was the hottest similar interval on record.
This year’s winter warmth is likely to exacerbate the drought conditions that persisted in many parts of the United States during 1998 and 1999, produced in large part by La Nina conditions--cooler than normal water in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II
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