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Present Weather and Climate: Average Conditions

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Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States

Part of the book series: NCA Regional Input Reports ((NCARIR))

Abstract

The Southwest straddles the mid- and subtropical latitudes, with mountains, land-surface contrasts, and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of California, and Gulf of Mexico having substantial impacts on climatic conditions (Sheppard et al. 2002). Much of California has a Mediterranean-like climate characterized by hot, dry summers and mild winters with episodic, but occasionally intense rainstorms. The interior, southern, low-elevation portion of the region, which includes the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts (see Chapter 3 for a geographic overview of the Southwest), contains the hottest (based on summertime maximum temperatures) and driest locations in the United States, a result of persistent subtropical high pressure and topographic effects. Interior northern and eastern portions of the Southwest have lower mean annual temperatures and see a larger seasonal temperature range, greater weather variability, and more frequent intrusions of cold air from the higher latitudes due to increased elevation and distance from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

Chapter citation: Steenburgh, W. J., K. T. Redmond, K. E. Kunkel, N. Doesken, R. R. Gillies, J. D. Horel, M. P. Hoerling, and T. H. Painter. 2013. “Present Weather and Climate: Average Conditions.” In Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment, edited by G. Garfin, A. Jardine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, 56–73. A report by the Southwest Climate Alliance. Washington, DC: Island Press.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Utah, USA

    W. James Steenburgh & John D. Horel

  2. Western Regional Climate Center and Desert Research Institute, USA

    Kelly T. Redmond

  3. NOAA Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, North Carolina State University and National Climate Data Center, USA

    Kenneth E. Kunkel

  4. Colorado State University, USA

    Nolan Doesken

  5. Utah State University, USA

    Robert R. Gillies

  6. NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, USA

    Martin P. Hoerling

  7. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA

    Thomas H. Painter

  8. National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA

    Roy Rasmussen

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  2. University of Arizona, USA

    Angela Jardine , Robert Merideth , Mary Black  & Sarah LeRoy , ,  & 

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Steenburgh, W.J. et al. (2013). Present Weather and Climate: Average Conditions. In: Garfin, G., Jardine, A., Merideth, R., Black, M., LeRoy, S. (eds) Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States. NCA Regional Input Reports. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-484-0_4

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