Re: Temps at Elmira, NY Airport
Over the contiguous United States, annual mean 1998 temperatures averaged 1.2°C above the 1961_90 mean, which is the nation's second warmest year in the historical record (Fig. 5b ). Temperatures over the eastern half of the country averaged 1.0°2.0°C above normal for the year as a whole, while below-average temperatures were confined to the far West (Fig. 4). Eleven states located mainly in the Midwest and the Northeast set annual record temperatures during 1998, and 22 states recorded annual temperatures that ranked in the top five of the 104-year record dating back to 1895 (Fig. 6). California was the only state to record below-average annual mean temperatures during the year. It is interesting to note that the overall warmth observed over the United States during the 1980s and 1990s is comparable to that recorded during the 1920s and 1930s.