2007 U.S. Weather Extremes

Extreme weather was the norm in 2007.

Photo: NOAA

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The contiguous United States is on pace to reach its 8th hottest year on record in 2007. Here are some of the weather extremes and their impacts recorded this year:

• $1 billion in crop damage was sustained when exceptional late March warmth led to early maturation of plants that were killed when a record April cold snap hit a large portion of the country, from the central Plains to the Southeast.

• More than 2,500 new daily record high temperature records were set in August across the central and southeastern United States.

• Severe to exceptional drought affected most of the Southeast that has continued from midsummer to date, affecting crops, leading to water sharing tension and ongoing water use restrictions. Drought also affected the West, parts of the upper Midwest and parts of the Northeast. Five southeastern states, two Western states and three mid-Atlantic and New England states declared states of emergency due to drought.

• Death and millions of dollars in damages followed a series of strong storms from Texas to Kansas and Missouri in June and July. Making matters worse were the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which produced heavy rainfall in the same region in August.

• 9 million acres burned as wildfires, fueled by heat and drought, raged across the Western United States, destroying homes and leading to several deaths.

• 15 named tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Basin, four more than the long term average. Six of them were hurricanes, including Dean and Felix which made the first back-to-back Category 5 landfalls in recorded history.

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