Special Supplement to the Bullei of the A erica Meteorological Society Vol. 96, No. 7, July 2015 STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 Editors Jessica Blunden Derek S. Arndt Jacqueline A. Richter-Menge Ahira Sánchez-Lugo Sharon Stammerjohn Peter W. Thorne Kate M. Willett Howard J. Diamond A. Johannes Dolman Ryan L. Fogt Dale F. Hurst Martin O. Jeffries Gregory C. Johnson Ademe Mekonnen A. Rost Parsons Jared Rennie James A. Renwick Chapter Editors AmericAn meteorologicAl Society Technical Editor Mara Sprain STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 How to cite this document: Citing the complete report: Blunden, J. and D. S. Arndt, Eds., 2015: State of the Climate in 2014. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96 (7), S1– S267. Citing a chapter (example): Mekonnen, A., J. A. Renwick, and A. Sánchez-Lugo, Eds., 2015: Regional climates [in “State of the Climate in 2014”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96 (7), S169–S219. Citing a section (example): Macara, G. R., 2015: New Zealand [in “State of the Climate in 2014”]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96 (7), S217–S219. Cover Credits: Front: AdAm Ü — Argo float WMO ID# 4900835 upon deployment at 13° 43.22' N; 105° 21.23' W on 11 September 2007. This float was still fully functional and reporting data as of June 2015. BACk: ©iStockphotos.com/Robert Pavsic—Capital city of Maldives Male coastline. SiJULY 2015STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 | EDITOR & AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS (AlphABetiCAl By nAme) Aaron-Morrison, Arlene P., Trinidad & Tobago Meteoro- logical Service, Piarco, Trinidad Ackerman, Steven A., CIMSS, University of Wisconsin– Madison, Madison, Wisconsin Adamu, J. I., Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Abuja, Ni- geria Albanil, Adelina, National Meteorological Service of Mexico, Mexico Alfaro, Eric J., Center for Geophysical Research and School of Physics, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Allan, Rob, Met Ofice Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom Alley, Richard B., Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania Álvarez, Luis, Instituto de Hidrología de Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales de Colombia (IDEAM), Bogotá, Colombia Alves, Lincoln M., Centro de Ciencias do Sistema Ter- restre, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Ca- choeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil Amador, Jorge A., Center for Geophysical Research and School of Physics, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Andreassen, L. M., Section for Glaciers, Ice and Snow, Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo, Norway Antonov, John, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland, and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boul- der, Colorado Applequist, Scott, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Arendt, A., Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Arévalo, Juan, Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hi- drología de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela Arguez, Anthony, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Arndt, Derek S., NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Banzon, Viva, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Envi- ronmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Barichivich, J., School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, and Center for Climate and Re- silience Research (CR)², Chile Baringer, Molly O., NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida Barreira, Sandra, Argentine Naval Hydrographic Service, Buenos Aires, Argentina Baxter, Stephen, NOAA/NWS Climate Prediction Cen- ter, College Park, Maryland Bazo, Juan, Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hi- drología de Perú, Lima, Perú Becker, Andreas, Global Precipitation Climatology Cen- tre, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Offenbach, Germany Behrenfeld, Michael J., Oregon State University, Corval- lis, Oregon Bell, Gerald D., NOAA/NWS Climate Prediction Center, College Park, Maryland Benedetti, Angela, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, United Kingdom Bernhard, G., Biospherical Instruments, San Diego, Cali- fornia Berrisford, Paul, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, United Kingdom Berry, David I., National Oceanography Centre, South- ampton, United Kingdom Bettolli, María L., Departamento Ciencias de la Atmós- fera y los Océanos, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Natu- rales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina Bhatt, U. S., Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Bidegain, Mario, Instituto Uruguayo de Meteorologia, Montevideo, Uruguay Bindoff, Nathan, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Coop- erative Research Centre, and CSIRO Marine and Atmo- spheric Laboratories, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Bissolli, Peter, Deutscher Wetterdienst, WMO RA VI Re- gional Climate Centre Network, Offenbach, Germany Blake, Eric S., NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida Blenman, Rosalind C., Barbados Meteorological Services, Christ Church, Barbados Blunden, Jessica, ERT, Inc., NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Bond, Nick A., Joint Institute for the Study of the At- mosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, and NOAA/OAR Paciic Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington Bosilovich, Mike, Global Modelling and Assimilation Of- ice, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Boudet, Dagne, Climate Center, Institute of Meteorology of Cuba, Cuba Box, J. E., Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark Boyer, Tim, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environ- mental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland Braathen, Geir O., WMO Atmospheric Environment Re- search Division, Geneva, Switzerland Bromwich, David H., Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Brown, L. C., Department of Geography, University of To- ronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Brown, R., Climate Research Division, Environment Cana- da, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Sii JULY 2015| Bulygina, Olga N., Russian Institute for Hydrometeoro- logical Information, Obninsk, Russia Burgess, D., Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, On- tario, Canada Calderón, Blanca, Center for Geophysical Research, Uni- versity of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Camargo, Suzana J., Lamont-Doherty Earth Observa- tory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York Campbell, Jayaka D., Department of Physics, The Univer- sity of the West Indies, Jamaica Cappelen, J., Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenha- gen, Denmark Carrasco, Gualberto, Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia, La Paz, Bolivia Carter, Brendan, NOAA/OAR Paciic Marine Environ- mental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington Chambers, Don P., College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida Chandler, Elise, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Vic- toria, Australia Chevallier, Frédéric, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Gif-sur- Yvette, France Christiansen, Hanne H., Arctic Geology Department, UNIS-The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway Christy, John R., University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama Chung, D., Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria Ciais, Philippe, LCSE, Gif sur l’Yvette, France Clem, Kyle R., School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wel- lington, New Zealand Coelho, Caio A.S., CPTEC/INPE Center for Weather Forecasts and Climate Studies, Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil Cogley, J. G., Department of Geography, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Coldewey-Egbers, Melanie, DLR (German Aerospace Center) Oberpfaffenhofen, Wessling, Germany Colwell, Steve, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom Cooper, Owen R., Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, and NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado Copland, L., Department of Geography, University of Ot- tawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Cronin, Meghan F., NOAA/OAR Paciic Marine Environ- mental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington Crouch, Jake, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Envi- ronmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Cunningham, Stuart A., Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll, United Kingdom Davis, Sean M., Cooperative Institute for Research in En- vironmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, and NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado De Jeu, R. A. M., Earth and Climate Cluster, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Degenstein, Doug, University of Saskatchewan, Saska- toon, Saskatchewan, Canada Demircan, M., Turkish State Meteorological Service, An- kara, Turkey Derksen, C., Climate Research Division, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Destin, Dale, Antigua and Barbuda Meteorological Service, St. John’s, Antigua Diamond, Howard J., NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland Dlugokencky, Ed J., NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado Dohan, Kathleen, Earth and Space Research, Seattle, Washington Dolman, A. Johannes, Department of Earth Sciences, Earth and Climate Cluster, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands Domingues, Catia M., Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Donat, Markus G., Climate Change Research Centre, Uni- versity of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Dong, Shenfu, NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, Florida Dorigo, Wouter A., Department of Geodesy and Geoin- formation, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Aus- tria, and Department of Forest and Water Management, Gent University, Gent, Belgium Drozdov, D. S., Earth Cryosphere Institute, Tyumen, and Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, Tyumen, Russia Duguay, C. R., Department of Geography & Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, and H2O Geomatics Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dunn, Robert J. H., Met Ofice Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom Durán-Quesada, Ana M., Center for Geophysical Re- search and School of Physics, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Dutton, Geoff S., Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, and NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado Ebrahim, A., Egyptian Meteorological Authority, Cairo, Egypt Elkins, James W., NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado SiiiJULY 2015STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 | Epstein, H. E., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Vir- ginia Espinoza, Jhan C., Instituto Geoisico del Peru, Lima, Peru Evans III, Thomas E., NOAA/NWS Central Paciic Hur- ricane Center, Honolulu, Hawaii Famiglietti, James S., Department of Earth System Sci- ence, University of California, Irvine, California Fateh, S., Islamic Republic of Iranian Meteorological Orga- nization, Iran Fauchereau, Nicolas C., National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand Feely, Richard A., NOAA/OAR Paciic Marine Environ- mental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington Fenimore, Chris, NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Fettweis, X., University of Liège, Liège, Belgium Fioletov, Vitali E., Environment Canada, Toronto, On- tario, Canada Flemming, Johannes, European Centre for Medium- Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, United Kingdom Fogarty, Chris T., Canadian Hurricane Centre, Environ- ment Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada Fogt, Ryan L., Department of Geography, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio Folland, Chris K., Met Ofice Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom Foster, Michael, CIMSS, University of Wisconsin–Madi- son, Madison, Wisconsin Francis S. D., Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Abuja, Ni- geria Franz, Bryan A., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Freeland, Howard, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada Frith, Stacey M., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Froidevaux, Lucien, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California Frost, G. V., ABR, Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska Ganter, Catherine, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Garzoli, Silvia, NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, Florida Gerland, S., Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway Gitau, Wilson, Department of Meteorology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Gobron, Nadine, Land Resources Monitoring Unit, Insti- tute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy Goldenberg, Stanley B., NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceano- graphic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida Goni, Gustavo, NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida Gonzalez, Idelmis T., Climate Center, Institute of Meteo- rology of Cuba, Cuba Good, Simon A., Met Ofice Hadley Centre, Exeter, United Kingdom Goto, A., Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo, Japan Grifin, Kyle S., Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin Grist, Jeremy, National Oceanography Centre, Southamp- ton, United Kingdom Grooß, J.-U., Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany Guard, Charles “Chip”, NOAA/NWS Weather Forecast Ofice, Guam Gupta, S. K., SSAI, Hampton, Virginia Hagos, S., FCSD/ASGC Climate Physics Group, Paciic Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington Haimberger, Leo, Department of Meteorology and Geo- physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Hall, Bradley D., NOAA/OAR Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado Halpert, Michael S., NOAA/NWS Climate Prediction Center, College Park, Maryland Hamlington, Benjamin D., Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Vir- ginia Hanna, E., Department of Geography, University of Shef- ield, Shefield, United Kingdom Hanssen-Bauer, I., Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Blindern, Oslo, Norway Harris, Ian, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmen- tal Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom Heidinger, Andrew K., NOAA/NESDIS/STAR University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin Heikkilä, A., Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland Heim, Jr., Richard R., NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Hendricks, S., Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany Hernandez, M., Climate Center, Institute of Meteorology of Cuba, Cuba Hidalgo, Hugo G., Center for Geophysical Research and School of Physics, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Hilburn, Kyle, Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, Cali- fornia Ho, Shu-peng (Ben), COSMIC, UCAR, Boulder, Colo- rado Hobbs, Will R., ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasma- nia, Australia Hu, Zeng-Zhen, NOAA/NWS National Centers for Envi- ronmental Prediction, Climate Prediction Center, Col- lege Park, Maryland Sviii JULY 2015| Steinbrecht, Wolfgang, DWD (German Weather Ser- vice), Hohenpeissenberg, Germany Stella, Jose L., Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, Argentina Stephenson, Kimberly, Department of Physics, The Uni- versity of the West Indies, Jamaica Stephenson, Tannecia S., Department of Physics, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica Strahan, Susan, Universities Space Research Association, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Mary- land Streletskiy, D. A., Department of Geography, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Swart, Sebastiaan, CSIR Southern Ocean Carbon & Cli- mate Observatory, Stellenbosch, South Africa Sweet, William, NOAA/NOS Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, Silver Spring, Maryland Tamar, Gerard, Grenada Airports Authority, St. George’s, Grenada Taylor, Michael A., Department of Physics, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica Tedesco, M., City College of New York, New York, New York, and National Science Foundation, Arlington, Vir- ginia Thompson, L., Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Thompson, Philip, Joint Institute for Marine and Atmo- spheric Research, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii Thorne, Peter W., Physical Geography (Climate Science), Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland Timmermans, M.-L., Yale University, New Haven, Con- necticut Tjernström, M., Department of Meteorology and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Tobin, Isabelle, LSCE-IPSL, CEA, Gif Sur Yvette, France Tobin, Skie, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Trachte, Katja, Laboratory for Climatology and Remote Sensing, Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Germany Trewin, Blair C., Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Mel- bourne, Victoria, Australia Trigo, Ricardo, Instituto Dom Luiz, Universidade de Lis- boa, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal Trotman, Adrian R., Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Bridgetown, Barbados Tschudi, M., Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado van de Wal, R. S. W., Institute for Marine and Atmo- spheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands van den Broeke, M., Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Nether- lands van der A, Ronald J., KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteoro- logical Institute), DeBilt, Netherlands van der Schrier, Gerard, KNMI (Royal Netherlands Me- teorological Institute), De Bilt, Netherlands van der Werf, Guido R., Faculty of Earth and Life Sci- ences, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands van Dijk, Albert I. J. M., Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia Vautard, Robert, LSCE-IPSL, CEA, Gif Sur Yvette, France Vazquez, J. L., National Meteorological Service of Mexico, Mexico Vega, Carla, Center for Geophysical Research, University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Verver, G., Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, De Bilt, Netherlands Vieira, Gonçalo, Center of Geographical Studies, Univer- sity of Lisbon, Portugal Vincent, Lucie A., Environment Canada, Toronto, On- tario, Canada Vose, Russell S., NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for En- vironmental Information, Asheville, North Carolina Wagner, W., Department of Geodesy and Geoinforma- tion, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria Wåhlin, Anna, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden Wahr, J., Department of Physics and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado Walker, D. A., University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Walsh, J., International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska Wang, Bin, SOEST, Department of Meteorology, Univer- sity of Hawaii, and IPRC, Honolulu, Hawaii Wang, Chunzai, NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida Wang, Junhong, State University of New York, Albany, New York Wang, Lei, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Wang, M., Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, Washing- ton Wang, Sheng-Hung, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Wang, Shujie, Department of Geography, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Wanninkhof, Rik, NOAA/OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida Weber, Mark, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany Werdell, P. Jeremy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Whitewood, Robert, Environment Canada, Toronto, On- tario, Canada Wilber, Anne C., Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton, Virginia SxiiiJULY 2015STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 | i. Sea ice cover ................................................................................................................................................... 145 j. Sea surface temperature ............................................................................................................................. 147 6. ANTARCTICA .............................................................................................................................................. 149 a. Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 149 b. Atmospheric circulation ............................................................................................................................. 149 c. Surface staffed and automatic weather station observations ............................................................151 d. Net precipitation (P – E)............................................................................................................................. 153 e. 2013/14 seasonal melt extent and duration ........................................................................................... 155 sideBAr 6.1: wAis-ting AwAy? the periloUs stAte oF the west AntArCtiC iCe sheet ............................ 156 f. Southern Ocean............................................................................................................................................. 157 1. Surface temperature and circulation ................................................................................................... 158 2. Upper-ocean stratification .................................................................................................................... 158 sideBAr 6.2: the soUthern oCeAn oBserving system (soos) .................................................................. 159 3. Shelf waters................................................................................................................................................ 160 g. Sea ice extent, concentration, and duration ......................................................................................... 160 1. January–mid-April .....................................................................................................................................161 2. Mid-April–mid-August .............................................................................................................................161 3. Mid-August–mid-November ..................................................................................................................161 2. Mid-November–December ................................................................................................................... 162 sideBAr 6.3: sUCCessive AntArCtiC seA iCe extent reCords dUring 2012, 2013, And 2014 ................. 163 h. Ozone depletion ........................................................................................................................................... 165 7. REGIONAL CLIMATES ........................................................................................................................... 169 a. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 169 b. North America ............................................................................................................................................. 169 1. Canada ......................................................................................................................................................... 169 2. United States ..............................................................................................................................................171 3. Mexico ......................................................................................................................................................... 172 c. Central America and the Caribbean ........................................................................................................174 1. Central America ........................................................................................................................................174 2. The Caribbean ...........................................................................................................................................176 d. South America .............................................................................................................................................. 178 1. Northern South America and the tropical Andes ........................................................................... 178 2. Tropical South America east of the Andes ....................................................................................... 179 sideBAr 7.1: enso Conditions dUring 2014: the eAstern pACiFiC perspeCtive ....................................... 181 3. Southern South America ........................................................................................................................ 182 e. Africa ............................................................................................................................................................... 184 1. North Africa .............................................................................................................................................. 184 2. West Africa ................................................................................................................................................ 185 3. Eastern Africa ............................................................................................................................................ 187 4. South Africa ............................................................................................................................................... 189 5. Indian Ocean .............................................................................................................................................. 190 f. Europe and the Middle East .........................................................................................................................191 1. Overview .....................................................................................................................................................191 2. Central and western Europe ................................................................................................................. 193 3. Nordic and Baltic countries ................................................................................................................... 194 4. Iberian Peninsula ....................................................................................................................................... 195 5. Mediterranean, Italy, and Balkan States ............................................................................................. 196 6. Eastern Europe ......................................................................................................................................... 197 sideBAr 7.2: devAstAting Floods over the BAlkAns .................................................................................... 198 7. Middle East ................................................................................................................................................. 199 g. Asia ................................................................................................................................................................... 200 1. Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 200 2. Russia ........................................................................................................................................................... 201 3. East Asia ...................................................................................................................................................... 205 4. South Asia .................................................................................................................................................. 206 5. Southwest Asia.......................................................................................................................................... 208 sula: Hurricane Norbert (2–8 September), Hurricane Odile (10–17 September), and Hurricane Polo (16–22 September). Odile was the most destructive due to its strong winds. Odile formed as a tropical storm off the coast of Michoacán on 10 September, where it moved parallel to the Mexican Pacific shoreline, strengthen- ing to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale on 13 September. On 14 September it reached Category 4 status, but then rapidly decreased to Cat- egory 3 as it was 45 km to the southeast of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. On 14 September, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center estimated its wind speed to be 116 kt (60 m s−1), with gusts of 140 kt (70 m s−1). According to the Mexican Weather Service, 265 mm of rain fell in San Jose del Cabo on 14–15 September (74% of the annual average precipitation at that loca- tion). In December 2014, the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) reported compensa- tions on the order of 16 billion pesos (approximately 1 billion U.S. dollars) to repair damages caused by Hur- ricane Odile in Baja California Sur [see section 4f(3) for more details about Eastern North Pacific storms]. c. Central America and the Caribbean— A. Sánchez-Lugo, Ed. 1) CentrAl AmeriCA— J. A. Amador, H. G. Hidalgo, E. J. Alfaro, A. M. Durán-Quesada, B. Calderón, and C. Vega For this region, nine stations from five countries were examined (Fig. 7.9). Stations located on the Pacific slope are: Tocumen International Airport and David, Panamá; Liberia, Costa Rica; Choluteca, Honduras; and Puerto San José, Guatemala. Sta- tions on the Caribbean slope are: Philip Goldson International Airport, Belize; Puerto Barrios, Guate- mala; Puerto Lempira, Honduras; and Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. Procedures follow Amador et al. (2011) for all variables. Anomalies are with respect to the 1981–2010 average. (i) Temperature Mean temperature (Tm) frequency distributions for nine stations are shown in Fig. 7.9. Most stations, with the exception of those in Panamá, experienced near-average annual temperatures. This resulted in a lower frequency of high mean temperatures in contrast to 2013 (Amador et al. 2014). The negative skewness in Tm at Philip Goldson (Tm1) and Puerto Barrios (Tm2) on the Caribbean slope reflects a larger number of cold surges than average during the winter months. On the Pacific slope, most stations recorded a higher frequency of warm Tm values to some degree during 2014. (ii) Precipitation The start of the rainy season is identified as two consecutive pentads with at least 25 mm of precipi- tation followed by a third pentad with measurable precipitation. A similar approach is used to compute the end of the rainy season, but from the end of the year backwards. Compared with the 1981–2010 pe- riod, 2014 was normal in terms of the start and end dates of the rainy season for nine stations in Central America, with the exception of Puerto Lempira (P3) which saw an early start to the rainy season (it could be considered in the lower tail of the distribution at the p = 0.05 level). The starting and ending pentads of the rainy season for the stations were: San José (34, 61), Puerto Limón (20, 73), Liberia (48, 62), Puerto Lempira (3, 73), David (25, 54), Choluteca (25, 60), Philip Goldson International Airport (40, 62), and Puerto Barrios (1, 69). The year began with drier- than-average conditions across the region (please see Notable Events section) followed by wetter-than- average conditions—resulting in near-normal annual precipitation totals for most stations analyzed (Fig. 7.9). Other variables such as the above-normal maxi- mum 5-day wet-period magnitude, below-normal to- Fig. 7.8. (a) Annual mean temperature (°C) and (b) precipitation anomalies (% of normal) observed in 2014 over Mexico (base period 1971–2000). (Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional de Mexico.) S174 JULY 2015| tal number of dry pentads, and below-normal number of dry outliers (below the 25th percentile) all indicate a near-normal year. The interquartile range (IQR), which is an indicator of variability, also depicts a near- average year, except for Limón, Costa Rica (P7), which had a significant positive extreme IQR during 2014. The number of wet outliers (above the 75th percentile) during 2014 was extreme (positive) in San José (P9), Lempira (P3), Limón (P7), and Puerto Barrios (P2) at the p = 0.05 level (Online Figs. S7.1–S7.6). Quiescent conditions were observed for Central America during the first quarter of 2014. Regionally, most of the relevant moisture uptake activity was concentrated in the Lloró region in Colombia (South America). The decrease of moisture exports from the Pacific became more noticeable during the first peak of the rainy season, leading to drier-than-normal conditions for the easternmost Pacific basin. An increase in the water vapor flux from the Caribbean Sea favored an intensification of the Pacific–Carib- bean rainfall seesaw for most of 2014. Linked to the enhancement of the Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ, Amador 1998), the water vapor flux increased dur- ing the summer period for most stations. The warm ENSO-like conditions dominated the moisture flux fields. (iii) Notable events Despite not meeting the official criteria for an El Niño event during 2014, positive SST anomalies were recorded over the Niño 3.4 region (see section 4b), especially after late boreal spring. However, stronger-than-average CLLJ 925-hPa winds during July (inserted arrows in Fig. 7.9) were consistent with an El Niño (Amador et al. 2006). Tropical storm activity during 2014 was near-average for the Caribbean basin (6°–24°N, 92°–60°W). There were four named storms (Bertha, Cristobal, Gonzalo, and Hanna), two of which became hurricanes and one reached major hurricane status [see section 4f(2) for more details]. Fig. 7.9. Mean surface temperature (Tm) frequency (F) and accumulated pentad precipitation (P) time series are shown for nine stations (blue dots) in Central America: (1) Philip Goldson International Airport, Belize; (2) Puerto Barrios, Guatemala; (3) Puerto Lempira, Honduras; (4) Puerto Limón, Costa Rica; (5) Tocumen International Airport, Panamá; (6) David, Panamá; (7) Liberia, Costa Rica; (8) Choluteca, Honduras; and (9) Puerto San José, Guatemala. The blue solid line represents the 1981–2010 average values and the red solid line shows 2014 values. Vertical dashed lines depict the mean temperature for 2014 (red) and the 1981–2010 period (blue). Tocumen (station 5) does not display 2014 precipitation due to missing data. Vectors indicate July wind anomalies at 925 hPa (1981–2010 base period). Shading depicts regional elevation (m). (Source: NOAA/NCDC.) S175JULY 2015STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN 2014 | The drier-than-normal conditions over most of the region are associated with the warm SST observed in the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean. Precipitation deficits were observed over the isthmus, especially during the first six months with a marked midsum- mer drought (Magaña et al. 1999) focusing on the northern countries of Central America (see P7 and P8 in Fig. 7.9) and severely impacting the agricultural sector and hydrologic sectors. Conversely, an intense CLLJ during summer (see wind anomalies in Fig. 7.9) associated with El Niño conditions (Amador 2008) and related to cold SST in the tropical North Atlantic, were associated with intense rainfall on the Carib- bean slope of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panamá. Heavy rainfall events during the second half of 2014, possibly associated with weaker trade winds and a decrease in the vertical wind shear over the Carib- bean, had severe impacts in several locations. During the first peak of the rainy season (June), convective storms triggered landslides, claiming at least 14 lives in Guatemala and affecting about 5000 people. On 5 July, a tropical wave produced abundant rain and f loods in western Nicaragua, near the Caribbean slope, causing three fatalities, affecting more than 1000 residents, and damaging 200 houses. On 18–19 August, 9 people died and 31 houses were damaged due to heavy rains in Chiriquí, Panamá. By the end of August, authorities from San Juan de Limay, Nica- ragua, reported that one person died after an active rainfall event. In September, several municipalities of Guatemala (El Progreso, Zacapa, Chiquimula, Jalapa, Jutiapa) claimed that drought had affected 80–90% of the bean and corn harvests. In late September and early October, floods and landslides were responsible for several fatalities across Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. 2) the CAriBBeAn—T. S. Stephenson, M. A . Taylor, A. R. Trotman, V. Marcellin-Honore’, A. O. Porter, M. Hernán- dez, I. T. Gonzalez, D. Boudet, J. M. Spence, N. McLean, J. D. Campbell, A. Shaw, A. P. Aaron-Morrison, K. Kerr, G. Tamar, R. C. Blenman, D. Destin, S. Joyette, B. Jeffers, and K. Stephenson The Azores high pressure and above-average North Atlantic sea surface temperatures dominated conditions over the Caribbean. This resulted in nor- mal to below-normal annual rainfall and normal to above-normal annual temperatures over most of the region (Fig. 7.10). The base period for comparisons is 1981–2010. Temperature and precipitation rankings provided in the subsections below for each of the fol- lowing territories are relative to the beginning of their records in parenthesis: Cuba (1951), Dominica (1971), Jamaica (1881), Puerto Rico (1898), St. Croix (1972), St. Thomas (1953), Trinidad (1946), and Tobago (1969). (i) Temperature Some islands experienced anomalously high temperatures throughout the year. Cuba and Puerto Rico recorded their sixth and eighth highest annual average temperature on record at 25.2°C and 25.3°C, respectively. San Juan (Puerto Rico) and St. Croix observed their third (27.8°C) and eighth (27.4°C) warmest year, respectively. With respect to monthly temperatures, Cuba re- corded its third warmest February (24.9°C), seventh warmest April (26.1°C), third warmest July (27.5°C), fifth warmest August (28.5°C), and third warmest September (28.2°C). San Juan had its warmest Janu- ary (26.8°C), third warmest February (26.3°C), third warmest March–May (26.6°C) and third warmest June–August (29.1°C). St. Croix recorded its seventh warmest January (26.1°C) and fourth warmest Feb- ruary (26.4°C). St. Thomas experienced its eighth Fig. 7.10. 2014 annual (a) rainfall (mm day–1) and (b) temperature (°C) anomalies across the Caribbean basin. Anomalies are with respect to 1981–2010 mean. (Source: ERA-Interim.) S176 JULY 2015|