RECORD WARMTH IN WESTERN U.S. IN JULY, DROUGHT SEVERITY WORSENED, GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 7th WARMEST FOR JULY — July 2007 brought record and near-record warmth to the western United States, while much of the eastern and southern U.S. experienced cooler-than-average temperatures, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Below-average rainfall, combined with scorching temperatures, helped put 46 percent of the contiguous U.S. in some stage of drought by the end of July. The global average temperature was the seventh warmest on record for July, and the presence of cooler-than-average waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific reflected the possible development of a La Niña episode.

NOAA COAST SURVEY CONTINUES SEA FLOOR MAPPING EXPEDITION IN THE ARCTIC — NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, in partnership with the University of New Hampshire’s Joint Hydrographic Center and the National Science Foundation, will embark on a four-week cruise to map a portion of the Arctic sea floor starting Aug. 17. This is the third expedition in a series of cruises aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY designed to map the sea floor on the northern Chukchi Cap.

NOAA UPDATES ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON OUTLOOK: Above-Normal Season Still Expected — NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center today released its update to the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook, maintaining its expectations for an above-normal season. As we enter the peak months (August through October) of the Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA scientists are predicting an 85 percent chance of an above-normal season, with the likelihood of 13 to 16 named storms, with seven to nine becoming hurricanes, of which three to five could become major hurricanes (Category 3 strength or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale).