Comments on: From South Dakota: two more of NCDC’s “high quality” surface stations today

By: Evan Jones

Evan Jones — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:59:20 +0000

But whoever it is no doubt has my best interests at heart!

By: Evan Jones

Evan Jones — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:58:34 +0000

Well, the riddle is again gone. (So it must have been another hand at work!)

By: Evan Jones

Evan Jones — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:52:08 +0000

~Mike the Merry Temperature Sensor.

The answer to the riddle of the censored sensor:

“Is that a MMTS you is got there?”
“Why, no, thass Dr. Jim Hansen!”

(Unfortunately jeez is the only one who is going to get this, so unless he will relent and permit the posting of the original riddle, I lose another fin.)

I did not censor at CA, I do not mod there, only here. Feel free to post~Mike the Merry Temperature Sensor

By: Jeff Alberts

Jeff Alberts — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:46:58 +0000

Well, I’m sure the beaver didn’t see it that way. They don’t chew on trees for the fun of it. Intended for use of the public and not beavers?? Wha? I guess nature didn’t get the memo. ROTFL!!!

By: John G. Bell

John G. Bell — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:32:50 +0000

Jeff, I think it was the first beaver in the park that anyone could remember. In the few days it was there it killed a dozen large trees. As they were intended for use of the public, not beavers, destroy was the right word. I’m glad to see these animals come back in such large numbers.

Russ, thanks for the survey work!

By: coaldust

coaldust — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:28:08 +0000

So are these sensors in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, or was that the Neighborhood of Make-Believe?

By: jeez

jeez — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:26:58 +0000

Hmm…after your showboating over on CA, I may have to call it even. But I’m overdue for a trip to New York–maybe later this year.

~Mike the Merry Temperature Sensor.

By: Evan Jones

Evan Jones — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:25:54 +0000

No fair. It was a quote.

Is it my fault that a scientific readership is illiterate? (Or unappreciative?)

[We'll settle up with 1 drink per $5, someday.]

By: jeez

jeez — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:16:23 +0000

You owe me another five dollars.

By: Evan Jones

Evan Jones — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:12:53 +0000

Who is John Galt?

By: Jeff Alberts

Jeff Alberts — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:06:02 +0000

A beaver destroying trees! What’s this world coming to???

By: John G. Bell

John G. Bell — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:26:16 +0000

Russ,
Both the police and the firefighters you dealt with in Hot Springs were employees of the VA not Hot Springs. The towns Fire Department is located below and by the spring. The whole Hot Spring area is unusual in that it is in a bowl shaped depression and is warmer, by as much as 10F degrees, than the surrounding plain. That can be useful when it is -35F outside. Actually, the VA is located on a quite tall hill in that bowl so it is an exception to an exception. It doesn’t surprise me that the VA Fire Department started to improve the weather station site so quickly. My recollection was that they were pretty sharp and I’m glad to hear the VA Police talked with you and helped you out.
I used to hike all around up there. It is thick with deer which are almost tame and in very good shape. Down in the Hot Spring below, my wife and I watched a game warden and a policeman shoot a beaver that was destroying trees. Nice place to spend a vacation and a fine place to live.

By: xanthippa

xanthippa — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:46:15 +0000

Brilliant!

I loved the station nestled in the trees – kind of like playing ‘find Waldo’…

Dendrochronologists!!! What a cool word! For the next week or two, I’ll probably find myself twisting sentences in order to slip that word in…

By: John Galt

John Galt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:50:52 +0000

What’s the problem with the way it’s mounted on the pole? Looks real good, at least ways fer guv’ment work.

By: Clark

Clark — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:36:29 +0000

For the New Castle site, is the giant white cone supposed to be inches away from the temp sensor?

Reply from John Goetz: The giant white cone is the rain gauge, and no, they should not be anywhere near that close.

By: Jim Arndt

Jim Arndt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:59:46 +0000

Looks like they have a SCUD warhead next to the screen also.

By: Russ

Russ — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:43:22 +0000

More excellent work by your volunteers, Anthony. Your surface station project is a service to the world.

By: counters

counters — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:27:43 +0000

Glenn, “Wouldn’t temp be lower at higher elevations?”

It depends on the surface material and color of the roof. You also get better ventilation on roofs which impact temperature as well.

However, it’s a null point; in meteorology 101, when discussing basic data collection, biases such as these that are well known are addressed. Because a temperature station moved from it’s 1930’s home on a rooftop is not much to get upset over; I’d stay focused on the two new sites that were posted today.

By: Response to Cristine Russell: climate change, now what? | alexlockwood.net

Response to Cristine Russell: climate change, now what? | alexlockwood.net — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:49:22 +0000

[...] The popular sceptic blog Wattsupwiththat.com (written by former TV meteorologist Anthony Watt) had a huge 582,000 page views last month (June [...]

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:36:30 +0000

Unbelievable. I assume the second site is Newcastle, WY, a “coop” site.
There are interesting pictures of a Stevenson screen (?) in nearby Rapid City NWS in the 1930s, set on what looks like about a 15 foot stand above the ground at one point in time and on the roof of a two story building at another:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/unr/?n=office
main page: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/unr/include/tt.php?site=nclw4 (then look through the “local information” links.

Wouldn’t temp be lower at higher elevations?