GREG LACOUR, The Charolotte Observer
This morning was downright cool in the Charlotte region — cool enough to break a record that had stood for more than a century.The temperature at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport was 56 at about 5:30 a.m., breaking the July 2 record of 58, set in 1885. The normal low for this time of year is 70.
It’ll warm up quickly today, though. Temperatures today are expected to peak at 90 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. But it’ll still feel pleasant because of humidity levels between 20 and 25 percent, said NWS meteorologist Doug Outlaw.
Conditions will be cool again overnight, with the low descending to 59, one degree warmer than the record for July 3, set in 1932. And the Fourth of July is expected to be warm and dry, with a high of 92 and “a very, very minimal chance” of rain, Outlaw said.
Forecasters don’t expect any rain until Saturday afternoon, when they call for a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms.
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Purely anecdotal (and thus unscientific) from the UK – ground frosts overnight in Scotland. Dewy cars every morning in the south-east where I live caused by overnight lows of 5C or so. Interestingly, daytime highs seem about normal for Britain i.e not very, prone to rain (it IS Wimbledon week).
Not showing up much in the Hadley CET data though….
OK, not as long a record as Charlotte, but Johnson City, TN also set a record low of 55 degrees, beating the 1990 previous low of 56. Talk about anecdotal- look at the hurricanes, forest fires, flooding, or diaper rashes being caused by AGW.
Back to being 15 degrees cooler here than last year. By my records heat waves (hotter than last year) are transient but cool periods (cooler than last year) are longer according to the weather station data in Enterprise. So the trend continues. We have breezy, cloudy weather today with sprinkles and showers. Usually, July 4th has always been a scorcher, since the 80’s. Ozone map shows a relatively weak layer from the midwest/Rockies to the West Coast. It’s a bit thicker going East to the East Coast. I wonder if cosmic rays, which are up a bit, are seeding water vapor here.
Just spent more time at the Enterprise weather station website and have this to report:
Record Low Temperature: year set 2008
Record Low Wind Chill Temp: year set 2008
Coldest Night on Record: year set 2008
Coldest Day on Record: year set 2004
Pamela Gray: “Did I fricken say it would be forever lost? Gawd I hate it when people assume. Makes an ass outa me and you. ”
You said “And we are losing ozone (remember, cosmic rays eat up ozone). ”
Unless cosmic rays are going to crap ozone back out, it would be safe to assume that whatever ozone you say is “eaten up” will be lost forever. Perhaps you assumed everyone would know that ozone is also constantly being created. Gawd I hate it when people assume. 🙂
Jeez,
Thanks for your comment, which prompted me to delve into this a bit further.
It seems that measurements of the salt content of sea ice vary widely, depending on ice age, thickness, the salinity of the underlying sea and other factors but that, as one might expect, first year sea ice retains most brine inclusions. So the sea ice may not be exactly “freshwater ice”.
The above comes from a preprint of the paper by Noerdlinger and Brower which Skippy linked. Interestingly Skippy’s NSIDC link was dated 24 August 2005 whereas the N &B paper was published in June 2007 and their preprint references papers from 2006. Just a typo by NSIDC I guess!
N&B also note that their argument has not been considered in the mainstream
science before and that it has faced “some resistance”.
As you say the effect of their argument is not particularly significant, especially as the the majority of the 4cm rise come from the melting of Antarctic ice shelfs. Indeed, a later Aug 2007 paper by Jenkins & Holland (GRL Vol 34), which references N&B ( N& B also acknowledge J & H in their paper) estimates that the effect of total Arctic sea ice melt on sea level rises would be 2.1 – 3.1 mm!
So aren’t we back where we started? Arctic sea ice melt will not affect sea level in any meaningful way. (But, hey, scientists can join theologians on arguing how many…. can fit on the head of a …)
And I will admit to a second (brine inclusions) error. Precision is important. How important the discrepancy is to the overall picture, as noted, is separate matter.
If ozone were a constant and therefor could be disregarded as an influential factor, there would be no ozonewatch web sites. It varies. Lots. Did you see 2007’s ozone hole over the Antarctic? My that was a big one. Not a record, but big anyway. Nature appears to have replaced what was lost though. It is my understanding that the old ozone didn’t come back to life, it was destroyed. New ozone was created.
I like studying things that change. It makes me curious as to why they change. Check the ozone over the western US. Getting thin. Earlier this year, it was mostly green colored (meaning there was more ozone). Now its yellow (meaning there is less ozone). Does that not make your curious side itch to find out why? It does mine.
Final discussion point: UV B light from the Sun creates this ozone. What if a significant decrease in UV B light from the Sun occurs? Might that change the amount of ozone being created? What if at the same time, cosmic rays hit the thinner ozone layer? It seems these two things might be a factor based on ozone measurements at the poles as well as globally. I am not saying this to prove a point. I am discussing this to open up a conversation about ozone and whether or not it is a factor in global climate.
Lets not split the dog hair over “lost” versus “forever lost”. That detracts from the discussion. Tell me what you know about ozone and how it varies. Tell me what you think the climate influences are related to thicker or thinner ozone. Stuff like that.
Finally, I think most people who post on this blog are aware of the basics of ozone. I like to assume that people are pretty darn smart. Otherwise we end up talking down to each other.
Jeez,
Thank you for you kind and patient reply. I have, since discovering WUWT, come to rely on this blog for straight talk on climate. I may not understand everything written here (my field is Political Science) but I am learning.
The impetus for my query began as an innocent conversation with someone who was…shall we say…enthusiastic about anthropogenically-caused climate change. He spoke at length about the melting sea ice and the implications for coastal cities throughout the world. I posed that same question to him, essentially, if the sea ice had suffered extensive melting already, then why wasn’t NYC underwater?
In response, he changed the subject with a rapidity that, if it had been a tennis match, I certainly would have dislocated my entire cervical vertibrae.
Thank you again, and to Mr. Watts as well, for this wonderfully informative…and fair and balanced…resource.
Sincerely,
Ralph Couey
It is easy to get confused as so many people who know nothing of what they speak spout so many opinions and conflate unrelated issues.
Whatever side you are on here is the perspective on ice.
Sea ice is argued as an indicator of climate change, not sea level issues.
Glacial ice, either in Antarctica or Greenland can have a large affect on sea levels.
Ocean temperatures can have a smaller, but measureable affect on sea levels.
well it all true , but how can we teach people so that they understand and be aware of their own actions toward terrable climate changes ,so they collectively consciousely and actively do something about keeping our eco system clean and safe for our own sake.
Gotta chime in and concur. It is abnormally cool here in Arkansas. It has been in the lower 60’s at night (with a few exceptions of nights leading up to rain storms). I agree about the low humidity, too. It’s been very pleasant 90’s during the day, due to low humidity. You can stand in the shade and get instant relief; the air feels cool when it blows against your sweat. Trust me, folks, this is absolutely abnormal for this time of year.
Here’s a telltale sign: I’ve been turning off my AC at night and opening the windows. It’s cooler outside than inside, even if I run the AC nonstop. Standing in front of a window, it feels as cool (or cooler) as the air coming from the AC vent. (Very scientific of me, isn’t it? 62 degree air is quite cool. I be smart. I orta git me one of them there college educations like folks are always talking about.) I got chilly several times last night (July 15) with only two windows open in the entire house! Both windows in my bedroom were closed! This is Summer in the South? I’d best cut a little more wood to lay up for the coming winter…
GREG,
FYI – This month, July 2008 had the coolest average low temperature for Corpus Christi, Texas. One morning it was 71 degrees, unheard of for July. The Gulf has been relatively cool as well…Milankovitch cycle?