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For example, in America’s heartland (thanks to Joe D’Aleo at ICECAP): Cedar Rapids and the surrounding Midwest has been consistently colder than normal since December. In Cedar Rapids, December averaged 3.0 F below normal, January 1.9 F below normal, February a whopping 8.3 F below normal, March 4.9 F below normal and so far in April 4.4 degrees below normal.
KCRG-TV also has a story about temperatures being unsuitable for gardening there in Cedar Rapids.
Similar here in the UK now. After a mild winter, ‘spring’ has been cold, with no sign of warmth on the way. On the 6th of April, much of the country was snow covered, 4 inches here in Oxford and 8 in some places. Night frosts and snow in the north are predicted for 10 more days at least.
Tell me about it! On Saturday it was 75 here in Seattle. The next day it’s in the 50s.
This is obviously either incorrect temperature measurement or noise in the data.
It couldn’t possible be because of the quiet sun. No, the sun can’t cause temperature changes.
As an aside I found a really good article on the total effects of solar fluctuations on our planet’s temperature.
http://icecap.us/images/uploads/Solar_Changes_and_the_Climate.pdf
The graphs on page 4, 8 and 11 all stood out to me.
Yes, “verrry interresting” weather the last few days (apologies to Arte Johnson).
Last Tuesday it was 53 in Aloha, Saturday was 81, and yesterday I drove into a whiteout on the Sylvan Hill (which is less than 1000′).
The overnight low here was 31. As I write, it’s only 35. The predicted high is 52, which puts us right back where we were last weeek.
Locally, we have recently had a chill that hasn’t been seen in over half a century. And the local environmental studies guru is blaming it on global warming! I grant, I would be the first, last month’s weather is not proof of anything. But proof of global warming?
Frost/freeze warnings all over North Carolina tonight.
I’m in northeastern Indiana, not that far from Cedar Rapids — maybe 300 miles. It dropped down to 28 here last night. A pair of Bluebirds finished their first next in one of my nesting boxes almost 2 weeks ago, but have yet to lay the first egg. I’m sure Mother Nature is telling them it’s too cold. The ice on my pond is normally off by around the first week of March. This year it was March 25th before we had open water, and we’ve even had some refreezing around the edge since then.
If I may use a line out of the alarmist’s playbook:
While a single weather anamoly has no significance regarding overall climate trends, their increasing frequncy is a powerful sign pointing squarely to global cooling.
Stephen Fox,
I didn’t hear any reports about this in the media.
We had frost and freezing temps in Fayetteville, AR the last 3 days. My neighbors are covering vegetation with bedsheets. It’s ridiculous.
How do you interpret a mean for this data? (global average temps)
http://climate.uah.edu/
GISS calculates it as +0.67C
I think it is self explanatory
Re This post. From COLA europe, russia cold as well. A boost for the Skeptic camp due to large numebrs of highly educated people living in these areas. Surely they must be asking themselves.. what is happening?
As we are heading into a southern hemisphere autumn and winter, will the entire world be cold at the same time?
That would prove global warming to be true once and for all!
Three cheers for the church of the holy warmer!
Talking about rain/snow mix on Sat. in the BC lower mainland. Traffic chopper was at 2000 ft. this morning and it was snowing. Definitely not common. Anybody wanna make a bet we DON’T beat the North Pole Arctic minimum sea ice record this year? Bet you the min. was last year and the cycle is entering the growth phase.
You know when it’s 45 deg F in SF at 1300 Zulu, that inland it is far colder. At my place, about that time, it was 42 (near 1000 ft above MSL, about 8 miles from the ocean). Reckon it must have gotten below freezing in the usual places – sheltered, inland valley locations.
Temperature around Nanaimo, Vancouver Island finally rose over ten celsius (low 50’s Fahrenheit) in the last few days. Great weekend, buds breaking and all that, now it’s cooled off a couple of degrees to just under ten (Just under 50). According to the local forecast, that’s how it’s going to stay for a week or two, with maximum temperatures marginally either side of ten Celsius. Friends who have lived here for thirty years are complaining about what a cold start to the year it is.
It has been a snowy, colder then normal April. I live on the outskirts of Plamer (nearer Hatcher Pass) and would like to note it has been snowing each day, and we have had about a cumulative total of about a foot of snow since this past Saturday. At the lower elevations, it does melt mostly away. Last year we had patches of snow remaining on the high mountains in out area throughout the summer. First time in 6-7 years. It would be curious to see if more snow will remain on the mountains this year.
A couple of days ago it snowed in Allardt Tennessee. Just enough to be unusual. In Memphis there was frost about this morning. It has been much colder than usual for the past several weeks. A very slow start to Spring with much appreciated break in the cloud cover today.
The south-west of England (normally mild at this time of year) has been very cold in April. Unusual and damaging frosts and northerly winds.
On the Mississippi Coast, the local hourly news on the radio is reporting that our seasonal temps are 11 degrees below normal.
Roger Pielke Sr. has a post up that has implications for CRF/Cloud effects. Increased cloud nucleation particles decrease percipitation, this could dampen atmospheric cooling during high CRF periods.
Inferrences from the post make clear: 1) The more immediate CRF/Cloud effects should be primarily limited to regions of the ocean that are relatively free of cloud nucleation particles [areas near land are already nearly saturated with particles]. 2) If the effect is strong enough, it should temporarily dampen any cooling effects of CRF on the atmosphere due to decreased efficiency of the water cycle.
Record cold here this morning in Austin (34 F). Broke the record low set last year (37 F).
Mike from Canmore , the ice is back and has grown compared to the last 2-3 years. Considering the solar minimum, dropping global air and sea temperatures only a strong local warm weather pushing up over arctic can make a new record low sea ice minimum.
Btw, the sea ice minimum 2007 was not a genaral decrease of sea ice. Almost all of the ice that disappeared was on the side towards Alaska and east Russia.
For a climate alarmist strong local weather anomalies is a proof of anthropogen global warming.
The weather in the UK at present reminds me of the cold mid 1970s when I was a teenager.
The temperature crept up in the late 1980s, and I’ve got my own diarys going back to this period and did comment on the weather. 1989 was a good year with me driving a speed boat down Southampton Water in Tshirts and Shorts at the end on March89 in the warm– unheard of for the time. We were out on the same stretch of water last weekend in a cabin cruiser and stayed in the cabin most of the time because it was cold with hail showers.
It seems to me as a laymen, who has taken an interest in the weather since the 1970s , that the sun has a big roll to play in this. IF the rest of the year is cool with solar activity at a minimum you have to start thinking the temp is more solar than CO2 driven
Tom Skilling, chief meterologist on WGN, stated yesterday that in Chicago we are a month longer between 70 degree days than average.
Last year here in Wales (UK) we had a heatwave in April, unbelievably warm. This year we are having a cold wave.
But this is weather, not climate (and I’m a skeptic) so we should’nt read too much into it.
I drill water wells for a living and franky …my ass is cold!
I’m a few hours north of Cedar Rapids and we are expecting, over the next several days, our first stretch of above normal temps since last Nov. The foot of snow we received Friday should be gone thereafter.
Know what ya mean Ray. My wife is a Witch!
Now Anthony, I’ll expect similar posts when the world undergoes unusual warm spells, lest it seem like we are trying to imply something about the climate based on the weather.
REPLY: Note the tag, “weather”. Sure, if there’s a record or unique warm event. I’ll mention that.
And since you are passing out expectations I’ll reciprocate by saying I’ll expect you to actually ask me a question or two before you write articles about me.
Yup, below normal temperatures here in Northeast Florida as well.
I hope this doesn’t mean a rebound to warmer than normal temperatures for the summer.
My father was blackcurrent farmer’s, in the 70s and 80s until teh early 90s we always feared frosts in April which would wipe away the harvest (Which seemed to happed quite regularly). This danger of frost went on until the end of April and even sometimes into early May. We had a warm period in the 90s and early 00s (by which time my parents had retired). It looks like it is normal again.
BTW Do we have to rely on weather conditions in our atmosphere to measure heat ariving fom the sun? Can you not point some instrument at the sun and measure its radiance directly?
This year we had daffodils flowering in December, in the 70s I lived in London and it was always my hope to see daffodils in the gardens in London before the end of Feb.
I sure hope this cold weather is not going to deepen further, there are already enough food shortages in the world
“Button to chin, till May be in,
Cast not a clout till May be out”
Some interesting folk proverbs about weather being cold in April and May here
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html
As Anthony has classified this, it is just a weather event not a climate event. The central west coast of Florida is “scheduled” to be back in the 80’s by week’s end. As I have mentioned before, I do not understand why weather events that fall well within the normal range get so much attention (both ways); why we insist on using “average temperatures” when clearly there is no real average; why AGWers insist they “know” what the correct temperature the Earth is supposed to be and (finally) why anyone with an ounce of grey matter between their ears would believe that a trace gas would be the main cause of warming while disregarding everything else.
Here in Boston, some spring flowers that normally popped up in our garden well before now are only just now sprouting up. Everyone in the neighborhood is commenting on this. They don’t follow the Gore-bull Whore-ming issue. They’re just observing. Interesting.
As I have been writing for a while, go long on food …
==============================================
Frost Advisory
URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
209 PM PDT TUE APR 15 2008
CAZ506-507-160330-
/O.NEW.KMTR.FR.Y.0001.080416T0700Z-080416T1500Z/NORTH BAY INTERIOR VALLEYS-NORTH BAY MOUNTAINS-
209 PM PDT TUE APR 15 2008
…FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 8 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY..
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS ISSUED
A FROST ADVISORY FOR NORTH BAY INTERIOR VALLEYS AND MOUNTAIN
LOCATIONS…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 8 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY.
THE COMBINATION OF CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW FOR NEAR FREEZING TEMPERATURES IN INTERIOR PORTIONS OF NAPA AND SONOMA COUNTIES AND THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN NAPA COUNTY. FROST WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE COLD OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES.
A FROST ADVISORY MEANS THAT AFFECTED AREAS CAN EXPECT AT LEAST TWO HOURS OF TEMPERATURES BETWEEN 29 AND 35 DEGREES…WITH POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO CROPS AND TENDER VEGETATION. MEASURES SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT SENSITIVE CROPS AND VULNERABLE ANIMALS SHOULD BE KEPT INDOORS IN A BARN OR SIMILAR STRUCTURE.
Here in Vigo
Low this morning 30 with clear skies and calm winds. (frost)
High today 62
Yesterday low 34 with scattered light sleet.
high 49 The scattered sleet persisted most of the day off and on.
Forecast for tomorrow low 32 high 63 with bright sunshine.
Yep it has been a little cool the last week or two local forecasters say about 11f below normal for the date.
I do hope we are not entering a true solar minimum.
Bill Derryberry
I live 12 miles from Cedar Rapids in Norway, IA, and can tell you that this has been a hard winter. My grass has not greened, the trees have not budded, and I am still wearing a heavy coat in the morning since it is regularly in the 20’s every day as I walk out the door. And no I do not attribute it to global warming or cooling, just to variation.
What is hurting the alarmists is not the low temperatures, or the harsh winter, but the ascription of every hot episode, drought, or other “heat associated” effect over the past few years to global warming. The average citizen does not understand the difference between climate and weather. However, they have been conditioned to blame weather episodes on the climate because the linking of the heat related episodes to AGW. So when you have a La Nina period and it gets colder the AGW advocates have a significant problem explaining it away. While they expect politicians to talk out of both sides of their faces, most expect better from scientists. Thus, the populace is left with a difficult assessment.
One, the AGW supporter is lying like a politician.
Two, ignore the scientist and conclude the the earth is cooling.
Three, believe the AGW scientist and still worry about the earth.
Four, find the information independently to make up their own mind.
Five, go back to watching Dancing With The Stars and forget about it.
Unfortunately most will choose a variant of number five. The bad part about this situation is that the screaming of the AGW alarmist group especially last year made this issue even more difficult for them in 2008. The level of rhetoric last year was the highest I had ever seen it. It was as if the AGW’s knew it was their last chance before it was getting colder and quenching the opportunity to advance the cause.
It makes you wonder doesn’t it?
Anthony Isgar:
The “Icecap” article chart looking at low clouds and the inverse relationship with solar irradiance looks almost exactly like the inverse relationship with cosmic rays reaching planet earth. The chart is here:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/COSMIC_RAYS/cosmic.html
It is during solar minimums that the sun’s output can be really felt here on earth because strong solar activity prevents cosmic rays from escaping the magnetic field generated by the sun during its peak. During minimums cosmic rays can help low clouds to develop.
hmmmmmmm
here in Sydney Australia – no summer, warm start to Autumn – now winter temps
Re: cosmic radiation vs. sunspots, the latest radiation count for Climax, CO is 18 months old, 10/06. It would be interesting to see that brought to present with the current low sunspot activity.
Pierre
we had the snow pics in all the papers, as always when it snows here. Sleety showers in April are pretty normal, but serious snowfall is rare though not unknown in the north of the UK. This far south and at low levels is definitely very uncommon. Even London had an inch or two.
Obviously as others have pointed out, it’s weather, not climate, but it will be fascinating to see how this all pans out in the next few years.
I believe that what people don’t appreciate about a cooling climate is that it takes only a single cold night to completely wipe out a crop. A night a few degrees above average doesn’t hurt a bit.
Here in southern coastal NH we’re finally geting warm weather after a late winter early spring over 1 deg C below normal.
We thank thee algore for thy warmth and beseech thee not to abandon us again.
In Denmark we did not experience winter until march, but since then weather has been constantly quite cold. Not spectacular, but every day is a new chilly spring day. Normaly in april, we have at least some of the days nice and warm. But so far not.
Its very interesting to read about the weather around the world right now. I hope to see more, also from Australia and indeed ASIA that was so warm this march. Does anyone know what the situation is in Asia right now?
K.R: Frank Lansner
Cross patch, so true. And as these troughs work their way around the globe, it is death by a 1000 small cuts. Add to that the idiotic use of food for fuel. Add to that the idiotic notion that unwinding the US dollar is a good thing because it helps achieve the “Flat World” that Thomas L. Friedman pines for. This is looking really bad. There is an old reggae song in me ‘ead … “Earth Crisis … “
Sorry to say but it will turn cold again after this warm patch. We may get frosts strong enough to damage crops as late as early May.
The whole year will be cooler than many expect. Cold even. Next year looks no better. 2010 may be a little warmer.
There are, in the record, periods of extremes that are very close together.
I would love someone(being rubbish with numbers myself) to produce a year on year – based on HAD/CRU – temp set that starts in(for example) Nov rather than Jan – we would see a much different picture of the historically “relevant” years I would hazard to guess. Both coldest(ish) and hottest(ish) 😉
Stephen Fox,
Yes it will. I’m curious whether this is simply La Nina related, and will pass by and return to warming. or if it’s truly the start of a Gore Minimum.
I think we’ll find this out in a couple of years.
The snow is a godsend isn’t it? Enjoy this period of peace and quiet as the warmists have all shut up for the time being.
That was good! “The Gore Minimum” ! I will start to use that labelling on the coming cold period, its nice…
People. Please.
The last thing he needs is immortalizing guys. Someone who predicted the coming downturn would be far more appropriate.
Landscheidt or Charvatova actually did some science and deserve it. AlGorithm Al did some sleight of hand to “earn” 100 million dollars in 8 years, a dynamite peace prize and an award from fantasy land for his sci-fi horror movie. His pontificating and connections will kill millions through bio-fuel folly and driving policy in the opposite direction to the natural cyclical progression we are witnessing. You may not debate him, or his “settled science” and he intercuts atomic explosions with ice shelves calving. He is revered by the masses whilst luminous scientists are cut down daily in the media.
The Swiss establishment that honored Benito Mussolini are just about to do the same to Al – we are through the looking glass.
Julian from UK touched on something that I have not seen. Is there a average for UV energy from the sun that is responsible for at least half of the heating on earth?
Also, if the sun is not an important driver in climate, then why are there seasons? The earth is only tilted a tiny bit away during winter… (not counting orbit elongations). What is the delta in UV energy hitting the surface between summer and winter?
Phillip in England:
“The south-west of England (normally mild at this time of year) has been very cold in April. Unusual and damaging frosts and northerly winds.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7352006.stm
[South Yorkshire is pretty well north, up by Manchester and Liverpool.]
At Ladybower, west of Sheffield, about 10cm (3.9in) of snow fell overnight resulting in a heavy covering on open land and untreated roads.
Further north on the edge of the Pennine hills at Penistone, near Barnsley, about 7cm (2.7in) fell.
“The temperatures aren’t too bad, its just that there is quite a lot of cold and snow and sleet on the roads and it is slippery.”
not too bad temps == lot of cold? Must be the stiff British upper lip. That or frostbite. 🙂
Randy:
“Julian from UK touched on something that I have not seen. Is there a average for UV energy from the sun that is responsible for at least half of the heating on earth?”
No, solar output tails off pretty quickly, and the shortwave UV gets absorbed high in the atmosphere so it’s hard to work that heat down.
“Also, if the sun is not an important driver in climate, then why are there seasons? The earth is only tilted a tiny bit away during winter… ”
The change in tilt is huge, and is most effective outside of the tropics. Here in New Hampshire, the sun’s noontime altitude is 23.3 degrees in the winter solstice and 70.1 at the summer solstice. Heating per unit area varies with the sine of that angle so we get 40% efficiency in winter, and 94% in summer. And that’s without taking the greater atmospheric distance the sunlight travels. Sunlit length goes from 9 hours to 15. I don’t have the total daily insolation handy, sorry.
http://wermenh.com/sun.html has some pretty raw data.
“What is the delta in UV energy hitting the surface between summer and winter?”
Very little, that’s why we don’t tan during the winter. Poke around the web and look for a graph showing UV atmospheric absorption, I remember seeing one in Sky & Telescope, skin care site or Wikipedia ought to be good sources. Report back.
http://www.accuweather.com/watches-warnings.asp?partner=forecastfox&zipcode=97301&county=ORc047&zone=ORz007&metric=0
I’m glad I haven’t planted any vegetables yet. I usually start mid-March.
Governor “Sleepy” Ted Kulongoski (D-Unions) is throwing huge subsidies and fuel mandates at ethanol and biodiesel. Nothing for biomass fuels, though; that would encourage forest thinning….
UNSEASONABLY COLD WEATHER WITH VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS AND NEAR
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES IN STORE FOR SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND
NORTHWEST OREGON THIS WEEKEND…
SNOW LEVELS WILL APPROACH VALUES MORE IN KEEPING WITH
MID WINTER THAN EARLY SPRING.
Good heavens!!! I just read the warning for Northeast Oregon!!!! Holllllyyyy crap!!!! The coldest part of the weather system is right where I spend my weekends trying to pull blood out of a ranch turnip. And I JUST changed my studs out for my regular tires. Good thing I have a jeep. I’m gonna have to start burning the house board by board just to stay warm!
This might warm your night:
http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/Cosmic_rays_and_climate.htm
Last sunday here in Arkansas Believe it was 4-12-08. I was doing my rounds working in the early afternoon, and it actually spit a few flakes of snow. Nothing major, but enough that you noticed it was snowing. I couldnt believe it. April, in arkansas, and it was spitting snow.
Loved this article. It talked about the possibility of pauses in ocean decadal oscillations along with solar activity. Best explanation yet about the ocean’s affect on temperature/CO2, and leaves open the possibility that changes in the sun or aspects of our orbit around it may cause ocean pauses that end up changing temperature up or down in sometimes abrupt ways.
Might the ocean be pausing in its function of heat conveyance? Leaving some of us in the bitter cold? Might the pause in the sun be just coincidence or tied to this possible ocean pause?
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12457&tid=282&cid=18371
An interesting article about cosmic ray penetration through the atmosphere. There is a mention about solar cycle length being unusually short during the global warming period (along with a cheeky comment of “too bad for the environmentalists” who think we are causing global warming). Cosmic ray penetration is in reverse relationship with active periods and follows cycle length as well. The logical reverse of the short cycle speculation causing warming trends would be that longer cycles, ie longer maximums and longer minimums, and longer cyclic cosmic ray reflextion and penetration, may harald decreasing global temps.
http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/421/ziegler.html
LOVED this article! Especially after some of the heavier reading I’ve been doing! Cheeky comments throughout! Yet filled with DATA!
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html