Comments on: What is the red dot? http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/ The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:24:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Mike Bryant http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73889 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:10:38 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73889 Anthony, I don’t think I told you how impressive this bit of detective work was. Thanks again,
Mike

]]> By: Mike Bryant http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73594 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:16:14 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73594 EM,
Of course, -38F is normal… Global warming is the proximate cause of every “extreme” weather event.
Mike

]]> By: Fred Nieuwenhuis http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73577 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:10:09 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73577 The red dot kind of flies in the face of this map, eh?
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/2008/dec/01_12_2008_DvTempRank_pg.gif

]]> By: E.M.Smith http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73540 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:30:47 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73540 I think I just heard TWC say it was -38F in Bismarck N.D. right now… Is that normal?

]]> By: henry http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73488 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:26:30 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73488 The only reason I suggested the park was because of the “8 SE” reference given. Normally that’s a distance and direction from a given point, usually the main Post Office. A very quick look at the map put the park within that point. Since there is a ranger there (year-round, I suppose), I thought that as probable.

It could easily be a private residence close-by. Still looking…

]]> By: juan http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73067 Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:53:25 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-73067 I checked in at Picacho Peak St. Park this afternoon, spoke to the park employee at the entrance and was referred to a ranger who I presume is in charge of the park. He says they are provided with instruments which they read daily and phone in the results. The instrument(s) are currently sited in a temporary location which I couldn’t photograph because it is in a private area of the park. He thinks it was last moved in July. I described the fenced in station in Tucson; he is not aware of anything similar in the park. He thinks there might be some wind measuring device along the road farther north toward Eloy.
Henry, perhaps you are right to question whether there is really a ‘station’ there.
John

]]> By: Tom Davidson http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72716 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:42:06 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72716 I contacted my brother Bill (in Tuscon) regarding this post, and he had some interesting input:
“One surprising thing here is the cool air that pours down the arroyos at night from nearby hills and mountains. A station on one side of a wash can measure a significantly different temperature than one on the other side, especially at night. Where I live at the base of the mountains (Tanque Verde – Tom), for instance, there is a sort of a thermal wall formed by washes that keeps the temp here a degree or two cooler than the rest of the city. If there is any topography then if the station got moved it would throw it off considerably.”

]]> By: Jeff Alberts http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72096 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:45:06 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72096

MarkW (15:49:52) :

Ever consider trying to get the $50M reward for Bin Laden?

—————–

Would bin Laden show up as a hot spot or a cold spot?

Cold before cruise missile, hot after..

]]> By: juan http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72077 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:26:37 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72077 The location they show is just off the freeway at exit 219. I can probably go look faster than trying to reach them by phone.
juan

]]> By: henry http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72066 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:43:03 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72066 juan (17:18:16) :

“Gary A
Picacho State Park is indeed open, but they want six bucks to get in. All the same, I’ll be driving by there Tuesday, and I think I’ll try to talk my way in to get a picture.
Juan”

I don’t think we have proven that there IS a station there. It’s just that the “8 SE” notation of Picacho appears to place it there.

Has anyone tried calling the ranger station to see if there is a station there?

]]> By: Ron de Haan http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72047 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:00:47 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72047 Anthony,
This article is linked by Alan Sullivan, Fresh Bilge: http://www.seablogger.com/?p=12594

]]> By: Tom in Texas http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72027 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:27:33 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72027 Anthony, I was curious about the couple of orange dots in the northern US, so I checked out the one in ND.

A couple of points:

(1) The Station ID (and data) is available on the HPRCC web site, but only for the 10 High Plains states. I think the orange dot is Watford City and the temperature data is complete to Aug. 2008, but is only sporadic thereafter.

(2) On the regional maps there are many interesting / puzzling dots, e.g.,
(a) In TX there are 2 red dots that do not show up on the national map.
One appears to be Dallas, the other is east of Dallas somewhere out in the boonies.
(b) In southern OK, near the TX border is a red dot sandwiched between 3
green dots – a delta T of 4 degrees (or maybe 5, since one dot appears to be dark green).

]]> By: juan http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72025 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:18:16 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72025 Gary A
Picacho State Park is indeed open, but they want six bucks to get in. All the same, I’ll be driving by there Tuesday, and I think I’ll try to talk my way in to get a picture.
Juan

]]> By: MarkW http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72009 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:49:52 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-72009 Ever consider trying to get the $50M reward for Bin Laden?

—————–

Would bin Laden show up as a hot spot or a cold spot?

]]> By: Michael S http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-71927 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:13:21 +0000 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/10/what-is-the-red-dot/#comment-71927 It seems the ANN column uses the average of whatever is present, missing months or not… This throws lots of years off (and I think makes red dots). I added a column to correct for that, so that any year with complete data will have a pink line overlaying the black. Any with incomplete will not match (the pink line throws out any years with missing months) This throws out 2008 since it is missing 4 cold months. Still, there is a huge step in min temps around 1985/86.

I think this practice (throwing out years with missing data), if used on all stations would produce a much clearer picture of temps, and is a better practice than trying to fill it in, and certainly much better than trying to just take an average, even if you only have a few months of data (big DUH).

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