Extreme negative temperatures out-number extreme positive temperatures on the planet today, with a spread of over 100ºF. Eagle airport in upper Alaska on the Yukon River is one such example:
Source: http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/PAEG.html
No word yet on whether this is a new record low temperature. And there’s more… From this list at CoolWx, which seems to be behind in reporting (h/t Ryan Maue):
0 stations reporting temperature -55°C or colder
0 stations reporting temperature -50°C to -54°C
2 stations reporting temperature -45°C to -49°C
- CYOC: Old Crow Airport, Canada [-45°C, -49.0°F]
CYOC 261900Z 00000KT 20SM IC PRFG FEW010 M45/M49 A3029 RMK ST1 FROIN VIS NE 5/8 SW 5/8 WND ESTD SLP314
- PAEG: Eagle, Eagle Airport, AK, United States [-45.°C, -49.0°F]
PAEG 261932Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM SCT026 M46/ A3018 RMK AO2 T1456 TSNO
14 stations reporting temperature -40°C to -44°C
- CWEU: Eureka, NT, Canada [-43°C, -45.4°F]
CWEU 261800Z 00000KT 15SM SKC M43/M45 A2974 RMK SLP074
- CYLK: Lutsel KE, NT, Canada [-40°C, -40.0°F]
CYLK 261600Z 07004KT 15SM VCFG FEW100 M40/M43 A3002 RMK AC1 SLP203
- CYUS: Shepherd Bay, NT, Canada [-40°C, -40.0°F]
CYUS 261900Z AUTO 17005KT CLR M40/ A2966 RMK SLP055
- CYVQ: Norman Wells, NT, Canada [-43°C, -45.4°F]
CYVQ 261700Z 00000KT 5SM IC BR FEW090 SCT270 M43/M47 A3028 RMK AC2CI1 SLP269
- PABI: Delta Junction/Ft Greely, Allen Army Airfield, AK, United States [-40°C, -40.0°F]
PABI 261708Z 00000KT 5SM BR CLR M40/M42 A2994 RMK AO2
- PABT: Bettles, Bettles Airport, AK, United States [-43°C, -45.4°F]
PABT 261925Z 00000KT 10SM FEW001 M43/ A3020 RMK AO2 PNO
- PAEI: Fairbanks, Eielson AFB, AK, United States [-42°C, -43.6°F]
PAEI 261713Z AUTO 16003KT 2 1/2SM R32/3500FT BR CLR M42/ A3004 RMK AO2 VIS 2 1/2V4 $
- PAGA: Galena, Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport, AK, United States [-41.°C, -41.8°F]
PAGA 261858Z AUTO 00000KT 1 1/2SM BR CLR M42/ A3018 RMK AO2 SLP230 T1417 FZRANO PNO $
- PAML: Manley Hot Springs, Manly Hot Springs Airport, AK, United States [-44°C, -47.2°F]
PAML 261755Z 00000KT 5SM BR FEW000 M44/ A3013 RMK FEW000 NW-NE NOSPECI
- PANN: Nenana, Nenana Municipal Airport, AK, United States [-42.°C, -43.6°F]
PANN 261934Z AUTO 00000KT 3/4SM BR VV002 M43/ A3006 RMK AO2 T1428 TSNO
- PAOR: Northway, Northway Airport, AK, United States [-40.°C, -40.0°F]
PAOR 261553Z 00000KT 5SM BR BCFG BKN011 BKN065 M40/ A2991 RMK AO2 SLP256 T1400
- PARC: Arctic Village, Arctic Village Airport, United States [-41°C, -41.8°F]
PARC 261916Z AUTO 00000KT 2SM CLR M41/ A3003 RMK AO1
- PATA: Tanana, Calhoun Memorial Airport, AK, United States [-41.°C, -41.8°F]
PATA 261752Z 00000KT 10SM CLR M41/ A3015 RMK AO2 SLP225 T1411 11400 21417 53007
- PFYU: Fort Yukon, Fort Yukon Airport, AK, United States [-43°C, -45.4°F]
PFYU 261739Z 00000KT 3SM BR FEW002 SCT006 M43/ A3026
0 stations reporting temperature 55°C or warmer
0 stations reporting temperature 50°C to 54°C
0 stations reporting temperature 45°C to 49°C
3 stations reporting temperature 40°C to 44°C
- SARL: Paso De Los Libres Aerodrome, Argentina [40°C, 104.0°F]
SARL 261800Z 32010KT 9999 SCT030 FEW045CB 40/22 Q1007
- SBSM: Santa Maria Aero-Porto, Brazil [40°C, 104.0°F]
SBSM 261900Z 19006KT 9999 FEW040 40/14 Q1007
- SUSO: Salto, Uruguay [40°C, 104.0°F]
SUSO 261900Z 01010KT 9999 SCT030 40/18 Q1005
The warm is turning . . . .
Oops – Fahrenheit vs. Celcius confusion. The Eagle airport temps are degrees F.
That’s Incredible!
(Now, who do we know that has a super-suit?)
Sometimes you can’t make things up. While reading this post about record low temperatures my placed advertisement was for Maker’s Mark Bourbon.
With that in mind a toast to our host.
I like to check out the webcam at Nenana, Alaska which will soon show the tripod on the ice for the “Nenana Ice Classic” but today is at -45F with a light, freezing fog! Yesterday’s “high” at -37F was 42F below average so the ice should be good and thick this year so hopefully the breakup will exceed last year’s record.
Forgot the website link: http://www.borealisbroadband.net/vid-nenanamega.htm
Dang nabit, I’m doing MY part, burning as much fossil fuel as I can. People need to get off their butts and take a more environmentally concious role in keeping the world warm!
“a spread of over 100ºC”
This fact alone makes a farce of the sensitivity of the earth’s biosphere for temperature rises as claimed by the environmentalists and it shows how moronic the spending of billions of dollars to curb a non existing increase in average temperatures to prevent a imaginary Thermogeddon really is….
-50 F is brutally cold. Can someone tell me how such temperatures are possible on a “warming” planet??? /sarc
At Eagle Airport:
They are looking for a heat wave all the way up to -46 today. That ought to help.
Oh, “frozone” isn’t a retro look at those blaxploitation films like Blacula. Nevermind.
Don’t think it was a record. For this to happen this early in the season is not a good sign, as we normally get our worst cold in Jan – Feb. But it has happened before. Winter 2011 was pretty cold very early in the interior:
https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/9192
Winter of 1989 was terrible. High pressure built to the point where pilots could not adjust their altimeters and air traffic was shut down in parts of the state for a while. I got to see the cold on the Front Range of Colorado, when the cold air from AK oozed down the front range. It was warmer in the mountains than on the plains. Cheers –
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/recalling-frigid-1989-alaska-winter
Frozone was WAY cooler than the Silver Surfer! (silver surfer always looked like some second place Oscar Trophy)
http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/incredibles/frozone.jpg
http://marvel.wikia.com/Annihilation_Silver_Surfer_Vol_1_4?file=Annihilation_Silver_Surfer_Vol_1_4.jpg
@ Richard Carroll
At -40°, both Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same. So they are very close in this table. It’s not a mistake.
Eagle Alaska is located on the Yukon river in I guess you would call it East Central Alaska right up against the border with the Canadian Yukon territory. I think even Sgt. Preston of the Canadian Mounted Police would be keeping his butt inside today. Yes I know I’m dating myself to the prehistoric times when the only TVs folks had were black & white.
Mark Bofill says: @ December 26, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Dang nabit, I’m doing MY part, burning as much fossil fuel as I can. People need to get off their butts and take a more environmentally concious role in keeping the world warm!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Not to mention making the trees happy.
MAKE A TREE HAPPY – BURN COAL!
Carbon starvation in glacial trees…
wws says:
December 26, 2013 at 12:48 pm
“Frozone was WAY cooler than the Silver Surfer! (silver surfer always looked like some second place Oscar Trophy)”
Wrong comparison. Frozone is a rip-off of Mr. Freeze, immortalized by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Freeze
RAH says:
December 26, 2013 at 1:04 pm
Eagle Alaska is located on the Yukon river in I guess you would call it East Central Alaska right up against the border with the Canadian Yukon territory. I think even Sgt. Preston of the Canadian Mounted Police would be keeping his butt inside today. Yes I know I’m dating myself to the prehistoric times when the only TVs folks had were black & white.
___________________
You’re a regular Yukon King.
Alan Robertson, I immediately thought about this guy: http://froknowsphoto.com/about/
The Fro Knows!
Minus 50 might be cold, but without global warming it would be a bone chilling -50.7
They don’t call this month Decem Brrrr! for nothing.
And that huge blob of cold air is about to slide southeastward into the CONUS
Alan Robertson says: You’re a regular Yukon King.
___________________________________________
Actually your closer than you might have imagined. I was in the 10th SFG . back when their AO was Europe. Spent 8 1/2 years on Alpine and extreme cold weather teams. But the only time I went to Alaska was to Burrow during the winter of 1981-82 to test a version of the cold weather clothing package that the Army still uses today. 10th Grp. did a lot of testing of equipment for Natick Labs since they were a short distance away from Ft. Devens, MA where the group HQ and 2nd and 3rd Bn. were back then. So though I have not ever stepped foot in the Yukon I have spent more than my fair share of time living and operating outside in some very snowy and very cold places.
[Barrow? Mod]
“Wrong comparison. Frozone is a rip-off of Mr. Freeze, immortalized by Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Wrong. Frozone was a rip-off of Iceman from Marvel’s X-Men. Iceman would slide around on ice in the comics, but it was most evident in the TV cartoon “Spider-Man and his amazing friends” (1981-1986).
Anyway, these temps aren’t very meaningful w/o context. Which are records? How many new records (both hi and lo)? How long have records been kept in those regions?
DrTorch says:
December 26, 2013 at 1:48 pm
“Wrong. Frozone was a rip-off of Iceman from Marvel’s X-Men.”
I stand corrected.
=======================================================================
What’s a tree-hugger to do? 😎
wind is causing trouble!
25 Dec: UK Daily Mail: Tamara Cohen: £30million for wind turbines that don’t work when it’s windy: Cost is £25million higher than last year and paid for by household bills
National Grid is unable to cope with extra power produced
At the start of September, around 40 wind farm firms were paid £2.4million
Another windy weekend in August saw £3.1million handed over
Wind farms have been paid a record £30million this year to stand idle in bad weather…
John Constable, of the Renewable Energy Foundation charity, which compiled the figures from official data, said: ‘The scale and pricing of wind power constraints in 2013 clearly shows that the full system cost of wind power is much higher than government is willing to admit.
‘Unfortunately, there are no cheap solutions, and, ironically, paying wind farms not to produce energy may actually be cheaper than building more grid.
‘At some point government will have to face the fact that wind power is simply too expensive to provide more than a minor share of UK electricity.’…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529297/Title-goes-here.html
——————————————————————————–
Gunga Din says: What’s a tree-hugger to do? 😎
_______________________________________________
I’m a tree hugger. I hug the parts of trees that I have been bringing in to burn in the fireplace. The dismembered pieces I cut up and in some cases split after having the trees in my yard trimmed last fall. So glad I don’t live in San Francisco there big brother has made it a crime, at the times of their choosing, for a guy to have a fire in his fireplace.
Thanks Anthony, I think.
And this is only the first week of winter!
RAH says:
December 26, 2013 at 1:45 pm
“10th Grp. did a lot of testing of equipment for Natick Labs since they were a short distance away from Ft. Devens, MA where the group HQ and 2nd and 3rd Bn. were back then.”
____________________
“It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.“- comedian Steven Wright
I was an instructor for a time at the A.I. school @ Devens a decade or so prior to your visit. I had a couple of friends in the 10th Group and 1 fellow spent a lot of time assisting at Natick labs. We had good times riding motorcycles and x-c skiing around New England and fraternizing with the Yankee women. Oh my, my. Oh hell yes.
Man, there were some real characters around in those days.
Late one Saturday night, right after payday, somebody knocked over the PX. They tunneled under one of those giant Massachusetts snow drifts against one side of the building and placed a shape charge neatly against the vault wall and no one heard a thing or knew who did it… well, officially, anyhow. Which Gr. was just covered up with ornery yardbirds who had knowledge of and access to… ?
By the way- the outfit I was in- we called the boys in SF “bait”, since the Army had the tendency to send ’em way out there past Ft. Apache and see if they’d draw a crowd.
Meanwhile in Western Australia, we are having a surprisingly mild post Christmas period.
RAH says:
December 26, 2013 at 1:04 pm
..” Yes I know I’m dating myself to the prehistoric times when the only TVs folks had were black & white.”
Some of us on here go way back when..! B & W. ..9 inch screen! Damn great magnifying glass in front of it and BBC closed down (with the National Anthem) every night at 10:00 p.m.! (No 24 hour clock in those days!)
Ain’t nostalgia grand?
Absolutely cool !
Good luck to you all.
RAH says: @ December 26, 2013 at 2:17 pm
I’m a tree hugger. I hug the parts of trees that I have been bringing in to burn in the fireplace….
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
We heated with wood when we lived in Leominster MA. I am sure you know where that is.
(We lost a lot of our trees to Ash Decline)
Alan Robertson says: By the way- the outfit I was in- we called the boys in SF “bait”, since the Army had the tendency to send ‘em way out there past Ft. Apache and see if they’d draw a crowd.
_____________________________________________________
Well mine was a a post Vietnam Army though I served with quite a few Vietnam vets. In the event of WW III staring with the Soviets coming through the Fulda Gap I don’t think many of us would have survived based on the objectives we were given and the missions we planned to meet those objectives. Survival is kinda questionable when the fly boys tell you it’s 50-50 if they can even get you in 500 miles behind the FEBA. Ironic thing is that though I spent my time on those Alpine and cold weather teams training for WW III, when it came to real world missions my lot was to go to places like Lebanon, Liberia, and Nigeria and work in hot third world enviroments. .
RAH says:
December 26, 2013 at 2:51 pm
“In the event of WW III staring with the Soviets coming through the Fulda Gap I don’t think many of us would have survived based on the objectives we were given and the missions we planned to meet those objectives”
______________________________
The 10th Grp. was definitely Euro- focused as you described and all the guys I knew were also trying to study a Euro language, like Polish or German or… Sometimes, they had interesting missions to places like Panama.
@ Gail Combs
Wasn’t there a billboard around Leominster that declared it to be “Plastic Capital of the US” or “Plastic City, USA”, or some such, due to local industry?
It was kind of a joke among GIs, because in the vernacular of our age group, “plastic” was not something you wanted to be.
At Eagle AK it looks like the record low for today (26 Dec) is -56 F set back in 1961. The -50 F reported today for 4 hours at Eagle AK has come within 6 degrees of that daily record and is a whopping 34 degrees below normal for 26 December. The temperature has since risen to -49 F this afternoon. The record low temperature for the month of December is -69 F recorded on 29 Dec 1961. It has been even colder in January with -71 F on 19 January 1952 being the all-time lowest temperature recorded at Eagle AK.
It’s reports like these that make me ever so happy to live in Phoenix. (71F today)
Alan Robertson says: The 10th Grp. was definitely Euro- focused as you described and all the guys I knew were also trying to study a Euro language, like Polish or German or… Sometimes, they had interesting missions to places like Panama.
___________________________________________
No longer. Now their AO is the sub Sahara Africa up through the horn of Africa and into part of the ME . There is not an SF group targeted at Europe any longer.
10th group came from the original Army SF unit which was formed as a company at Flint Kasserne, Bad Tolz in Bavaria from a bunch of communist hating displaced persons from mostly Eastern Europe. I LOVED my three year tour at Bad Tolz. The Kassern is now gone except the main gate. It was built as an SS officers training school and served as Patton’s initial HQ during the post WW II occupation. Several different American divisions had their HQ there in the years after WW II. Such a shame to destroy such history. But it is history that most Germans would rather forget I believe and when the US troops left they didn’t waste too much time before tearing down the quadrangle.
The National Weather Service in Fairbanks reports a temperature of -58 F this morning (26 Dec 2013) at Chicken AK:
CHICKEN………………………………..58 BELOW
TOK……………………………………….52 BELOW
DONNELLY……………………………..50 BELOW
EAGLE…………………………………..50 BELOW
See! Extreme weather. You were warned.
Time for the US to go metric 🙂
This is not meant as a gotcha question, honest. Does anyone know of any reason why sea ice extent in the arctic is taking a downturn given these temperatures? Has there been any large storms breaking up the ice?
Alan Robertson says: December 26, 2013 at 3:03 pm
@ Gail Combs
Wasn’t there a billboard around Leominster that declared it to be “Plastic Capital of the US” or “Plastic City, USA”, or some such, due to local industry?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, I was a chemist in one of those plastic factories. :>)
@Peter:
Hot Gulf water. 18 year lag for Pacific to drift up to Alaska. Wind from warm Russia. In about 2015 to 2016 Pacific cold is at Artic entry. Gulf stream is slowing. Russia will cool. First antarctic went to excess. After a lag Arctic will follow. This is just the start of the coldening. It gets steadily worse to about 2050…
peter says: @ December 26, 2013 at 3:55 pm
This is not meant as a gotcha question, honest. Does anyone know of any reason why sea ice extent in the arctic is taking a downturn given these temperatures? Has there been any large storms breaking up the ice?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Magnifying (2X) this plot seems to show the ice leveled off and then increased:
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/plots/icecover/icecover_current_new.png
from: http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icecover.uk.php
So is record cold temperatures simply “weather”, or an effect actually caused by Global Warming, or both? What’s the excuse this time?
JB says:
December 26, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Time for the US to go metric 🙂
Why?
The metric system is based on an irrational unit, so starting with the old saw that “English” units are based on different sized feet, etc., is a non-starter.
And, any idiot can multiply and divide by 10, it isn’t a unique feature of metric.
Speaking of low temperatures, I did a stint in northern Ontario, Canada, in the early 80’s. During one particularly chilly stretch in, if I recollect accurately, January of 1982, we dropped to -62C. Not for long mind you, but long enough.
That’s just shy of 80 below F. Brisk.
Boy, talk about flashbacks! I lived in Leominster in a Motel 6 for 3 months while trying to find housing. In the ’90s, Ft. Devon was looking very forlorn, with a fraction of the former “occupation forces” still working there. Loved going to Sterling for a cheap lobster dinner…
The rest of the world doesn’t do Fahrenheit anymore (although his workshop was in Amsterdam).
Technically speaking, is it cherrypicking when you pick our a single day when cold records are outstripping hot records, when you could instead use decades of hot records outstripping cold records by a significant margin?
climateace says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:47 pm
“Technically speaking, is it cherrypicking when you pick our a single day when cold records are outstripping hot records,”
No. Technically speaking, it is PAYBACK.
These cold temperatures are an example of weather. If we had record breaking warm temperatures for this time of the year, this would be an example of global warming, and weather would have nothing to do with it. Surely you must know the difference. (/sarc)
LKMiller says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:23 pm
“The metric system is based on an irrational unit,”
The meter was originally conceived to be a 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and the pole. That’s very rational. And probably VERY old.
Understanding cold in Celsius and Fahrenheit:
0 C = 32 F
– 17 C = 0 F
– 40 C = – 40 F
Wouldn’t a 100 C spread be -60 C to 40 C?
REPLY: yes, and that was a typo, now fixed to show F rather than C Thanks for pointing it out – Anthony
JimS says:
December 26, 2013 at 5:05 pm
“Understanding cold in Celsius and Fahrenheit:”
Also, you can go to google and simply enter “40 degree Celsius in Fahrenheit” and google will convert it. Wolfram alpha will probably convert it and write a dissertation about it but I haven’t tried.
DirkH says: @ December 26, 2013 at 4:53 pm
…..No. Technically speaking, it is PAYBACK.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ROTFLMAO, I am just glad I don’t have to shovel it any more since I had the good sense to move south.
Max™ says: @ December 26, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Wouldn’t a 100 C spread be -60 C to 40 C?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It is forecast to be 43C in Alice Springs on Sunday according to one forecast and 40C according to another.. link
Upon reading the update,,,,,,,,
I declare a “Gore Effect” moment in time.
“Oh the Pain!”
Insert video clip here 👀
“Extreme negative temperatures out-number extreme positive temperatures on the planet today, with a spread of over 100ºC”
Current data from the CoolWx site linked above:
Maximum:Past 24 Hours: 42°C (107.6°F) [YPLM:Learmonth Airport, Australia]Minimum:Past 24 Hours: -46°C (-50.8°F) [PFYU:Fort Yukon, Fort Yukon Airport, AK, United States]
Pardon my pendantry, but 42°C – (-46°C) = a mere 88°C
“REPLY: yes, and that was a typo, now fixed to show F rather than C Thanks for pointing it out – Anthony”
Well, in that case, how ’bout a spread of more than 150°F!!!
People, people, get a hold of yourselves.
Cold weather events are simply that, just weather. Such cold events have no bearing on Climate.
On the other hand hot weather events, forest fires, heatwaves, droughts are clear evidence that the earth is warming.
You will hear about them in your favorite media outlet this coming summer.
“These are the climate rules and you should follow them – thank you”.
By order the Anthropogenic Global Warming Consensus Team.
Gilbert Dupuis says: December 26, 2013 at 12:51 pm
@ Richard Carroll
At -40°, both Celsius and Fahrenheit are the same.
AND
When you walk on it, the snow squeaks at a really high pitch
AND
The boogers freeze in your nose.
Until about a decade ago, the Fairbanks, AK area always got to about minus 50 each winter. Then there were some warm AK winters; the WSJ had an article about how farmers who raised cattle near Fairbanks (crazy, but apparently true) had to feed their cattle (indoors for the winter, obviously) considerably less hay one winter, because the temps just didn’t get down to near where they were supposed to go, and the cattle didn’t need the extra calories to beat the cold. One winter a decade ago or so, people in Anchorage were on the golf course at the end of February, and there was so little snow that they couldn’t mush dogs at that time.
So perhaps AK is reverting back to where it was 15 years or more ago?
Meanwhile the lamestream media is reporting that Southern California experienced a NEAR record high Christmas Day. One report stated that it was “baking “. Baking in the 80’s ? Oh Noes!
Will NOAA acknowledge any cold records? Or will they say record unconfirmed as our equipment is not accurate below -40?Chicken Alaska last year.
What is the accurate range of the electronic temperature sensing equipment?
I looked up the Environment Canada recommended sensor, range 40 C in the spec.
No response from EC, as to how and when the station is calibrated from winter 0 to-60C to summer 0 to 40C.
So as a serious question how does the electronic system stay accurate from -50 to 40C ranges?
Do the compensation circuits work properly below -30?
And is NOAA and EC equipment as installed up to the task?
I think the reason I never graduated from being an ignorant skeptic is because, unlike Al Gore and the gang, I have not yet learned how to believe “six impossible things before breakfast.” Perhaps with help, I can start with one impossible thing and work my way up.
Let’s start with this one. Can anyone explain to me how the Arctic could be experiencing unprecedented warming, at a rate 8 times that of the rest of this burning planet, and yet be able to cool down neighboring land masses to such low temperatures this early in the winter season? The Arctic must be a massive area if it can do that at the same time that it is struggling to produce a thin layer of brittle, first-year ice that will all be melted by summer.
Is this where believing the impossible comes in? CO2 molecules must be magical creatures that have evolved enough intelligence to selectively produce extreme weather without the need to warm the planet first. Maybe I just need to keep repeating the line, ‘cold temperatures are produced by “weather”; warm temperatures are produced by “climate.”‘ I might even begin to believe it before breakfast. However, once I get some food in me and my head clears, I will probably go back to being the same hopeless case I was before.
We are suffering severe gales here in NE England, I gather thanks to your extremely cold weather which has caused the Jet Stream to move directly above us with its speed up to 300mph, 6 Celsius at the moment with SW winds gusting up to 80mph. Fun, fun, fun!!
john robertson says:
December 26, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Will NOAA acknowledge any cold records? Or will they say record unconfirmed as our equipment is not accurate below -40?Chicken Alaska last year.
________________________________________________
NOAA will tow the party line ALWAYS! Check out their latest assessment of the Arctic. http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20131212_arcticreportcard.html
So according to NOAA a year with Arctic warming and below normal sea ice reinforces the long term trend and has implications for the climate while a year of cooling with a near record growth in Arctic sea ice is just weather that does not effect the long term trend and has no implications for the climate.
Can’t help but notice though that the Polar Bear wasn’t mentioned. That bodes well I believe.
Here in Estonia it is unseasonally about 5C not even going negative overnight.
Usually when I visit my wife’s family here for Xmas it is -5C to -15C, with several feet of snow, but this year there is no ice or snow at all. Apparently quite unusual weather but not completely unprecedented.
I suspect it is the same across Scandinavia, and Finland too.
So DirkH using your two hands show me a meter in front of you on the ground.
Now, show me a yard on the ground in front of you
DirkH says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:55 pm
LKMiller says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:23 pm
“The metric system is based on an irrational unit,”
The meter was originally conceived to be a 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and the pole. That’s very rational. And probably VERY old.
***********
However, from a rational conception sprang an irrational unit.
“…To establish a universally accepted foundation for the definition of the metre, more accurate measurements of this meridian would have to be made. The French Academy of Sciences commissioned an expedition led by Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain, lasting from 1792 to 1799, which measured the distance between a belfry in Dunkerque and Montjuïc castle in Barcelona to estimate the length of the meridian arc through Dunkerque. This portion of the meridian, assumed to be the same length as the Paris meridian, was to serve as the basis for the length of the half meridian connecting the North Pole with the Equator.
The exact shape of the Earth is not a simple mathematical shape (sphere or oblate spheroid) at the level of precision required for defining a standard of length. The irregular and particular shape of the Earth (smoothed to sea level) is called a geoid, which means “Earth-shaped”. Despite this fact, and based on provisional results from the expedition, France adopted the metre as its official unit of length in 1793. Although it was later determined that the first prototype metre bar was short by a fifth of a millimetre because of miscalculation of the flattening of the Earth, this length became the standard…”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
DirkH says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:55 pm
The meter was originally conceived to be a 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and the pole. That’s very rational. And probably VERY old.
===============
Had they used a distance measured along the equator, such as the nautical mile, then distance and time would be directly related for navigation purposes. As it is. when you get a metric chart, the units are all but hopeless for navigation. You end up having to use the latitude scale, while converts degrees, minutes, seconds directly into nautical miles.
anything lower than -40°C/°F is freaking cold.
-51°F = -46.1°C
The arctic air (high pressure systems) seam to be off and running this year.
Gonna be a fun one in the Great White North
BTW a unit °F is 5/9 a unit °C
so there’s 180°F between freezing and boiling water in Fahrenheit
and
100°C between freezing and boiling water in Celsius
a spread of 100° is much larger in Celsius.
1 gallon US = 3.78 liters
4″ = 101.6 mm ≈ 10 cm ≈ .1 m
1m = 100 cm = 1000mm = 39.37″ ≈ 1yard+
1 km = .62 mile >>> 100 kph = 62 mph
1 lb = 454g
2.2 lb = 1 kg
1 cup ≈ 240 ml
In Canada those of us old enough 40+ are pretty much versed in both systems and we use simple approximations.
We still use in foot for construction ie 2×4 2×6 4×8 sheets of plywood etc
we still weigh ourselves in lbs
we talk kilometers and miles interchangeably because all the rural areas are laid out in miles.
we still play foot ball in yards
knowing both systems makes it very easy to communicate with people world wide
AND -40 IS -40 lol
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DirkH says:
December 26, 2013 at 4:55 pm
The meter was originally conceived to be a 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and the pole. That’s very rational. And probably VERY old.
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Old? It’s meaningless. Earth is an oblate spheriod not a sphere. The 1/10000000 distance is only through the prime meridian. It was invented back in the era of general napoleon, a science groupie. Now the meter is no longer defined in terms of the Earth but it does depend on the speed of light and atomic spectra wavelength. As it turns out, measurement standards need two things. Repeatability is the ability to duplicate measurement standards and precludes variations or changes. The second is convenience or ease of use. Once those exist, it doesn’t really matter much what it is.
Inches, feet, yards, miles are more difficult to work with than the meter and a common set of prefixes such as centi, deci, milli, and kilo. Once you get the foot length away from the actual heel to toe length of the current thug in power, it can do a fair job of length measurement along with the non factors of 10 between the other distance measurements.
Like most socialistic libs, the inventors of the metric system were far from being as smart as they thought themselves to be. Fortunately, only a fraction of the metric system was ever implemented.
We were never subjected to the 10 day week or the 10 hour day and 10 hour night. We still have the 360 degree circle rather than the 400 degree grad units (for the most part). Turns out that the 360 degree circle is a very good approximation of the Earth’s orbit in terms of days – approximately 1 degree per day.
One could argue that keeping our current, mostly English based units, is probably healthier than migrating to the metric system. Using non multiples of 10 and having to convert units undoubtedly exercises the brain and makes people have to think a little bit about what they are doing.
Just another example of extreme global warming….places will get colder as a result of man burning all those dirty fuels. 😉
Actually the English system of measurements derived from the day to day activities on the farm.
I bushel of wheat = 60 pounds which is approximately what 1 person can lift and carry comfortably.
An acre? It what what person could plow in one day.
Unfortunately, since the French looked down upon and did not like English they had to contrive what can be considered a substandard system of weights less their superior culture be over run and over whelmed by the crude Brits.
Why the Brits gave up he pint is beyond me.
climateace says: December 26, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Technically speaking, is it cherrypicking when you pick our a single day when cold records are outstripping hot records, when you could instead use decades of hot records outstripping cold records by a significant margin?
No it’s not cherry picking since your fantasy of decades of warm records outstripping cold records doesn’t exist for the past eight decades.
unfortunately the cold and cooling is bad news for mankind, a warming world was a desirable thing.
cba says: “Inches, feet, yards, miles are more difficult to work with than the meter and a common set of prefixes such as centi, deci, milli, and kilo”.
Like a lot of people in their fifties I use a mixture of metric and imperial, the metric system is more logical, but the imperial is easier to visualise. An inch is derived from the length of the thumb from its tip to the first joint, a foot from the length of a male foot or the length of the wrist to the elbow. Here in the UK we have to buy fuel in litres not gallons so calculating mpg only became easy when cars were fitted with computers.
Oh and Box of Rocks, we still buy beer in pints or 1/2 pints, but wine and spirits in 750ml or 1 litre bottles. I can visualise a pint better than I can a litre.
The other problem with the metric system is that 10 is only divisible by 5 and 2. 12 (inches in a foot) is divisible by 2, 3 ,4 and 6. 16 ounces in a pound is divisible by 2, 4, and 8. A yard (36 inches) is divisible by 2, 3,4,6,9 and 18.
Each system has its advantages and disadvantages
“Why the Brits gave up he pint is beyond me.”
If they gave it up for something larger, it makes perfect sense to me. I like Beer.
The following are record cold temperatures for Alaska.
Coldest temperatures recorded in Alaska
Place °F °C Day
Prospect Creek Camp -80 -62.2 January 23, 1971
Manley Hot Springs -77 -60.6 January 5, 1997
Tanana -76 -60.0 January 27, 1989
Allakaket -75 -59.4 January 24, 1971
McGrath -75 -59.4 January 27, 1989
Ambler West -74 -58.9 January 26, 1989
Chandalar Lake -74 -58.9 January 29, 1999
Coldfoot Camp -74 -58.9 January 22, 1971
Manley Hot Springs -73 -58.3 January 2, 1989
Aniak -72 -57.8 January 27, 1989
Chicken -72 -57.8 December 31, 1999
Clearwater -72 -57.8 January 6, 1975
Northway -72 -57.8 January 20, 1952
Eagle -71 -57.2 January 19, 1952
Farewell Lake -71 -57.2 January 28, 1989
Northway -71 -57.2 January 5, 1965
Tok -71 -57.2 January 5, 1965
Allakaket -70 -56.7 February 25, 1954
January 23, 1971
Bettles Airport -70 -56.7 January 4, 1975
Dietrich Camp -70 -56.7 January 23, 1971
Eagle -70 -56.7 January 5 & 6, 1975
Galena -70 -56.7 January 27, 1989
Tanacross -70 -56.7 December 13, 1956
Tok -70 -56.7 December 13, 1964
“Why the Brits gave up the pint is beyond me.”
They didn’t. Someone has been telling porkies. They also use miles, yards, feet, inches and acres. And pounds, ounces, tonnes and to confuse things, metric tonnes. The imperial measures for everyday use are alive and kicking.
However, for engineering purposes the metric system is used.
There are peculiarities, though. If you need a new carpet you can get it in widths of 2, 3 or 4 meter, but you buy it per foot length.
I love this country!
Get a life folks, minus 51 F isn’t anything to write about. I have seen lots of minus 60 F and some in the minus 70 F range in Alaska. And the folks at the South Pole routinely see much lower.
Apropos of nothing in particular here, I’m glad to be able to read WUWT for the first time in nearly a week. The Toronto ice storm left me without power for days, and without phone and hence Internet until today. After living in Toronto for over 25 years, I am experiencing my first real Canadian winter here. Snow on the ground for part of November and all of December. Much colder than ‘usual’ here but I understand that there used to be real winters here back in the 1960s and 1970s. We live in interesting times.
Google is my friend, the specified sensor for Environment Canada is YSI 44034, with an impressive range and accuracy.
Next, what is status of weather station? After the 2011 response to the Pembenia Institutes 2008 FOI , what is the true state of temperature recording systems within E.C’s network.
I am extremely cynical of my government agency as history has a way of vanishing in their records.
Rewriting the past seems to be part of “Environment Canada’s Science”.As does swilling the CAGW cool aid, to the tune of billions of tax dollars wasted.
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And past records can be changed to produce new “records”. They have been for where I live.
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😎 I hear what you’re saying. But we need to remember two things:
What’s “normal” for where people live and what part of that “normal” people have actually experienced.
The weather runs in cycles. When the cycle is long enough they call it “climate”.
We’ve been on the up-slope of the cycle. Most in their lifetime have experienced “warming’.
It seems we’ve passed the top on the climate roller coaster in most peoples experience.
Some are still selling tickets to the “The World’s Highest”.
‘Gunga Din says:
December 27, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Steve Keohane says:
December 27, 2013 at 8:24 am
climateace says: December 26, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Technically speaking, is it cherrypicking when you pick our a single day when cold records are outstripping hot records, when you could instead use decades of hot records outstripping cold records by a significant margin?
No it’s not cherry picking since your fantasy of decades of warm records outstripping cold records doesn’t exist for the past eight decades.
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And past records can be changed to produce new “records”. They have been for where I live.’
Talk about ignoring the statistics if you don’t like them. Anyway, since everyone on this string appears to support cherrypicking on hot v cold records, Australia has just had its….
Nah. Just joking.
climateace says:December 28, 2013 at 12:02 am
“Talk about ignoring the statistics if you don’t like them.” nice projection
Main GHG is declining: http://i48.tinypic.com/2qlfnzn.jpg
The past is rewritten: http://i42.tinypic.com/vpx303.jpg
1998 IPCC said we were warmer in MWP: http://i39.tinypic.com/bgemm9.jpg
Oops that was 1990 IPCC said we were warmer in MWP.
May as well throw in 10-8K years of cooling: http://i49.tinypic.com/oji4b7.jpg
ferdberple says:
“As it is. when you get a metric chart, the units are all but hopeless for navigation”
Really … have you ever heard of UTM grid? It’s metric!
Galane says: @ December 29, 2013 at 1:03 am
Is there somewhere that has collected ….
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Try IceAgeNow
For example: More Than Two Thirds Of The US Below Normal Temperature In 2013
They gather news of cold events from around the world that you will not see in the MSM.