Today will mark the release of the highly-anticipated new NOAA U.S. Climate Normals.
What are these "Normals"?
The NOAA Climate Normals are a 30-year average of all types of weather data for locations all across the country. If you go to this database you can see how any given month compares to these normals at any location in the country. The Climate Normals are developed by NOAA scientists by analyzing data at nearly 10,000 weather stations around the country. Whenever I write my monthly or seasonal recaps, the data that I compare to are these climate normals. For instance, if a given month is 1.4 °F warmer than normal, what we are comparing to is the 30-year NOAA Climate Normals.
What's Happening Today?
Today NOAA will release the new climate normals for the period 1991-2020. Of course, it would be an incredibly laborious process to update the climate normals annually or semi-annually. They're updated every decade. The previous period that we were comparing to was 19981-2010. This update will provide a newer, more current picture of the state of U.S. climate. Many areas will see an increase in "normal" temperatures.
Some Thoughts on the Term "Normal"
I have some gripes about the use of the term "normal" to describe the statistical averages in weather data for locations throughout the U.S. In a changing climate and an extremely variable climate system, there is nothing that is truly normal, and there are massive fluctuations from the statistical "normals".
