We, at the Division of Climatology, could not get the forecast office guys to admit there was a problem and fix it. It took the newspaper expose to get someone to do something about the oil.

During the past couple of years the temperatures at HNL began to increase relative to other nearby stations. A simple comparision with those stations, and other statewide temperatures, shows that by mid June the HNL readings had hit 3-4 degrees higher than an index of other Oahu stations and other statewide stations. This is much more than a “couple of degrees”. The bogus readings should be removed from the official record.

I sent a detailed email with a thorough statistical analysis to the NWS office in Honolulu and did not receive a response. I also sent the same email to one of the Honolulu TV stations that had been advertising the record temperatures and they even did a live story on The Weather Channel about the record heat. Of course, I have yet to receive a response.

I would suggest to anyone reading this that they do a similar, simple statistical comparison of HNL vs any other Hawaii temperature station. You’ll immediately see the 3-4 degree variance into mid June compared with past months and years.

REPLY: Spot on Tom, and welcome. – Anthony

http://geomag.usgs.gov/observatories/honolulu/

It is certainly a cooler environment than the airport:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=21.31528,-157.99917&z=17&t=h&hl=en

And just 3.9 miles to the west, about the same distance inland, but sans the asphalt ocean.

[ 2008-04-10 ] Current EVAP GALVAN(F) PRIMARY GALVANIZED PAN, FIXED POINT EVAPORATION — — COOP SOD
PRCP SRG STANDARD RAIN GAGE PRECIPITATION
TEMP MMTS MMTS ELECTRONIC SENSOR TEMPERATURE UNK
CRS — COTTON REGION SHELTER — — —

Something hinky there. Will investigate. – Anthony

Do they? I see HONOLULU OBS OAHU and HONOLULU, OAH (the two near stations shown below the quote) but not the Honolulu Airport in GISS’s “list of stations actually used”:

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/station_list.txt

It does show up in the “full list”:

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/v2.temperature.inv.txt

The above links in context are here:
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/

“According to the Hadley CRUTEM3 data the 5×5 degree grid containing Honolulu has had no warming since the early 1970s (See: http://www.appinsys.com/GlobalWarming/hawaii.jpg) Since the IPCC attributes warming prior to the 1970s to natural causes and there has been no warming in Hawaii since, it appears that CO2 causes no warming in that environment.”

I’ve made this point before … why aren’t there CO2 measurements being taken at all/most/a few of the temperature recording sites? It would seem like a study of the relationship would be essential to understanding the impact of CO2 on temperatures. With all the money being spent on climate research the cost would be low. I guess no one really wants to know.

Here is a climate summary for the state of Hawaii (http://www.appinsys.com/GlobalWarming/RS_Hawaii.htm)
Some observations:
Hilo temperatures correspond almost exactly to the local SSTs.
Hilo temperatures correspond to the PDO.
Hilo sea level fluctuations match the PDO.

The left does not have much time left to get us all an order of magnitude lower living standard and pick our pockets clean.

Each thermometer had a special pellet in the mercury column. The max pellet was pushed ahead by the mercury, and stuck at the hottest point as the mercury shrank away from it by cooling. The min pellet, on the other hand was pulled down (cooler) by the retreating end of the mercury column. It somehow stayed put at the coldest point when the mercury expanded again by heating.

After observation, the max thermometer was spun like a propellor- it was mounted on an axle. The centrifugal force moved the mercury and the pellet to a low temperature position, hopefully lower than the highest temperature that could occur in the following observation period.

The min thermometer was reset by shaking the mercury and pellet to an artificially high temperature position.

These two thermometers never agreed closer than two degrees as to the current temperature at the time of observation. At first, I thought the thermometers were faulty, and requested new ones from our NWS supervisor. Well, the new ones were no different.

Now we are using a Nimbus electronic sensor and digital readout. It displays to the nearest 0.1 degree. However it is only accurate to 0.3 degree, per manufacturers literature. It has no stamps or stickers indicating calibration. Is it better than the old mercury sticks? Couldn’t prove it by me.

Accurate temperature measurement is not and never has been trivial. Don’t think that your Kmart digital with 0.1 degree precision means it’s accurate, unless you can calibrate it – more than once.

Sorry for the long ramble. It’s not much fun for me to think that weird government actions causing the degradation of our country’s energy supply could hinge on data collected in this way.

dh

REPLY: Typically it is crushed rock – Anthony

Thanks again, Anthony… Sorry for this question: what kind of rock? The total normal emittancy at environmental temperatures is 0.93 for crushed quartz, 0.9 for calcite and 0.83 for sandstone with 5% calcite.

If I understand your thread, you are discussing MIA (Miami International)….white gravel in south Florida is virtually always crushed shellrock/limestone, usually about 1″ sized…particularly on government locations as it produced locally….cdl

And how much warming did we have last century? About 2 degrees?

Yes, you heard it right. I am shocked over +-2 degrees, as I thought +-1 degree was as
bad as things got. Start looking at some RAWS data, for example, and you will see whole degrees. Look at other type of stations, such as CalTrans or Water Resources and you will most likely see outputs to the nearest 10th of a degree.
Good project now that most of the stations have been identified.

The warming of the last century (AFAIK) was 0.7C, or 1.26F.
+-2 F is ugly.

Info HNL 1960-1969
A new airport was under construction in 1961.

1959-1960Construction of the jet age terminal facilities for Honolulu International Airport proceeded according to schedule. Stage 1, which included site preparation and rough grading work on the north side of the airport where the new terminal facilities will be located, was completed in December 1959. Work was immediately started on the next stage for building site development and construction of taxiways leading to the new terminal.

The HAC awarded contracts for the next succeeding construction stages. These included construction of all electrical, water, drainage, sewer systems and communications ducts; electrical distribution systems; the terminal buildings, and grading and paving of aprons and installation of related utilities.
Work was started in February 1960 for the construction of all electrical, water, drainage, sewer systems and communication ducts.
Construction of the new Terminal Buildings was started in March 1960, and the Interisland Terminal was expected to be completed by the end of November 1960. The Foreign Arrivals building was expected to be completed by the end of June 1961. Construction work on the remaining two units of the terminal facilities, the Domestic Arrivals and Overseas Departure-Administration buildings, were underway and completion of these buildings was expected by the end of August 1961. While all the construction activity was going on on the north side and a portion of the south side of the airport, aircraft activity, passenger traffic and related activities continued to increase, over-taxing the present inadequate terminal facilities.
September 1959
Pan American Airways inaugurated Boeing 707 jet service between the mainland United States and Hawaii.
December 1959
Stage 1 for the new terminal at Honolulu International Airport was completed. Stage two was begun immediately.
March 1960
United Air Lines began its DC-8 jet service between the Mainland and Honolulu.
FY 1960
Commercial passenger traffic increased 33.3 percent over the preceding year. This increase was attributed to the effect of Statehood for Hawaii in August 1959 and the inauguration of jet aircraft service. Interisland passenger traffic increased by 32.6 percent due to more visitors coming to Hawaii and traveling to the Neighbor Islands.
1959
Canadian Pacific Airlines initiated jet prop service to Australia from Vancouver via Hawaii in Bristol Britannia aircraft.
May 4, 1960
Ground breaking was held for the Hawaii Air National Guard fighter complex at Hickam AFB. Completion was expected in July 1961 at a cost of $1.847 million.
May 22, 1960
The entire Hawaiian Island chain was put on alert for a possible tsunami. Bellows was evacuated, aircraft moved to higher ground north of Runway 8 or to Wheeler. Hickam received the full force of the tsunami.
December 31, 1960
Commercial passenger traffic increased 33.3 percent in 1960.
January 13, 1961
Use of Dillingham AFB by privately owned aircraft was the subject of a meeting due to concerns about the increasing hazards of air traffic at HNL. When the privately owned Kipapa airstrip was converted to housing, the military was approached for use of Wheeler or Bellows. This was not considered feasible by the military so Dillingham AFB was offered instead and a proposed lease negotiated.

April 1, 1962
The Naval Station at Ford Island was decommissioned.

1962-1963 The new John Rodgers Terminal was sufficiently completed to be dedicated August 22, 1962, during the annual conference of the Airport Operators Council, held in Honolulu August 19-25, 1962. Several members of the Legislature, as well as aviation officials, participated in the dedication program. Keynote speakers were Najeeb Halaby, Federal Aviation Administration, and W. A. Patterson, United Air Lines president.

On the day of the dedication, Pan American World Airways delayed its Flight No. 843 from San Francisco for 50 minutes to preface the formal program with the first commercial jet arrival at the new Terminal.

All operations ceased at the old Terminal at midnight, October 14, 1962, and the first passengers from the new Terminal departed for Japan shortly after midnight the following day.

The new airport, more than 14 years in the planning and building, was regarded as a $34 million investment. With its opening, Honolulu had caught up with the Jet Age.

The roofed area of the new passenger buildings covered about 550,000 square feet, or roughly five times the area of the old buildings they replaced. The Crossroads of the Pacific at last had a facility that was appropriate to its rating as the nation’s ninth busiest airport.

The rating had been bestowed on Honolulu International Airport by the FAA on the basis of figures for the calendar year 1962. Aircraft movements, including arrivals and departures of all types of aircraft, totaled 266,561 for that period.

Travelers expressed concerns about the new airport, including: the access road system confused motorists; the system of signs and maps for the guidance of pedestrians was inadequate; and inter-line connecting passengers needed more frequent and more easily accessible ground transportation between the various arrival and departure terminals. The airport was studying solutions to these problems.
July 10, 1962
The widening of Taxiway X and restoration of P Road with a crossing over a new drainage ditch was completed at a cost of $113,463.82.
August 20, 1962
Construction of the U.S. Department of State office building was completed.
August 31, 1962
Construction of a wood and concrete building for 15 lei sellers was completed at a cost of $129,274.
September 1, 1962
The enlargement of a reinforced hollow tile building housing equipment for enplaning and deplaning passengers was competed at a cost of $47,869.
September 24, 1962
Construction of a interisland joint maintenance hangar building with 41,000 square feet for aircraft, excluding shop space, concrete walls, hollow tile partitions and a metal roof was completed at a cost of $1,229,223.
October 8, 1962
Construction of a concrete elevated walkway on the field side of the terminal and construction of nine rooms underneath the walkway for final ticketing and agricultural inspection was completed at a cost of $773,029.
October 15, 1962
Installation of amplifiers, wiring and loudspeakers for the overseas paging system was completed at a cost of $62,200.
November 13, 1962
Construction of the Ramp Control Tower and Aloha Airlines Lounges was completed. Cost of this project and the Department of State building was $117,410.
December 7, 1962
Construction of a rigid-frame steel building, 70 by 160 feet, with freezer and chill rooms, each 35 by 20 feet, was completed as a Hawaiian Airlines Cargo Building. Cost: $119,494.
January 22, 1963
Construction of nine pools (three with fountains and three with waterfalls), construction of a children’s playground, and landscaping of the overseas terminal area was completed at a cost of $633,808.54.
April 30, 1963
Construction of two general aviation light plane hangars, each 120 by 144 feet, was completed at a cost of $354,413.
May 9, 1963
Construction of a high-speed taxiway and a concrete apron on the Ewa side of the terminal, drainage provisions and taxi way lighting was completed at a cost of $3,279,746.28.

And how much warming did we have last century? About 2 degrees?

1959
A groundbreaking ceremony for a
new jet-age airport at Honolulu
International was held on February
5. Construction started on
February 11.
Pan American Airways inaugurated
Boeing 707 jet service
between the mainland U.S. and
Honolulu. United Air Lines began
DC-8 jet service in March 1960

The station was probably moved to the new airport and hansenization began.

From: http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/11/08/special/story8.html

1959: Hawaii officially becomes 50th U.S. state on Aug. 21: U.S. Senate approval occurs March 11, then the House on March 12, then signing of the law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 18; a plebiscite of residents OK it in June. In Hawaii’s first general election on July 28, Republican William F. Quinn is voted governor; Oren Long and Hiram Fong, U.S. senators; and Daniel Inouye, U.S. representative.

As a pact of statehood, U.S. transfers former Hawaiian Government and Crown lands to the state of Hawaii and puts the land in a public trust, to be used only for Hawaiians and specific public purposes. ALSO: Ala Moana Center opens. ALSO: First Hawaii-mainland jet service. ALSO: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Punahou School.