Having grown up in the midwest not too far from there, having no 90 degree days yet for the entire summer is admitedly unusual. Here is a running window of the last 3 days of temperature data from Rockford. So far 84 degrees F has been the warmest since this report has been issued. – Anthony
NOUS43 KLOT 162218
PNSLOT
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL
517 PM CDT SAT AUG 16 2008
…ROCKFORD STILL WAITING FOR SUMMER…
ANY LECTURES ON GLOBAL WARMING IN ROCKFORD WILL GATHER LITTLE
ATTENDENCE THIS SUMMER. SO FAR…HIGH TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN CAPPED
FROM ENTERING THE 90S.
NONE OF THEM ARE IN SIGHT THROUGH NEXT WEEK EITHER. THE LONGEST THAT
ROCKFORD HAS EVER GONE WITHOUT A 90 DEGREE TEMPERATURE WAS AUGUST
15TH…OCCURRING IN THE YEAR 2000.
SINCE ROCKFORD FAILED TO REACH 90 DEGREES YESTERDAY…WE ARE ALREADY
EXPERIENCING A RECORD EVENT AND AWAITING THE NEW DATE OF RECORD.
ROCKFORD HAS NEVER GONE THROUGH A SUMMER WITHOUT A 90 DEGREE
TEMPERATURE. METEOROLOGICAL SUMMER ENDS THE LAST DAY OF THIS MONTH.
WITH THE DAYS SHORTENING BY SEVERAL MINUTES EACH DAY…IT IS NOT
PROMISING FOR ROCKFORD TO SEE A 90 DEGREE EVENT PAST THIS SUMMER.
SO IF NO 90 DEGREE TEMPERATURE IS RECORDED AT ROCKFORD IN THE NEXT
TWO WEEKS…ANOTHER RECORD WILL PROBABLY BE SET AS A YEAR WITHOUT A
NINETY.
$$
Source of statement here
Whilst we know volcanic eruptions affect the climate, is the reverse true? Can the climate affect volcanic eruptions?
A mud volcano on Manaung Island in Arakan State erupted on 7 August and destroyed a few acres of paddy farms, said an official from Manaung. The mouth of the volcano spewed molten material up to 150 feet into the sky, inundating several farms located nearby. According to a local source, 1.35 acres of paddy fields were damaged by the eruption.
The volcano erupted twice in one day, first at 7 am and again later in the evening. The mud volcano is situated near Zi Chaung Village in Manaung Township, and locals refer to it as “Ngar Byint”.
It was learned that the mud volcano typically erupts every rainy season.
http://www.narinjara.com/details.asp?id=1857
I’m aware mud volcanos are more akin to geysers than actual volcanos, but interesting nonetheless.
A little further south where I live can also support this with very few 90’s in central Illinois.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=ilx&storyid=17464&source=0
Interesting to note that Peoria’s records for fewest number of 90’s occurred just a few years ago in 2004! In that year, we had a very strange weather pattern for almost two months that kept us north of a jet stream that you never see in a summer.
I will say, though, that a large reason for this year’s lack of 90’s is because of the cool, wet spring we had. This has been one of the worst years for growing veggies in my backyard garden that I can ever remember. We did not see in a 90 until June, which usually happens by early May. All-in-all, this has been a much cooler summer that followed a cool spring. I am telling all who will listen that we will see an earlier transition to fall and a very likely bad winter in the midwest.
Yep, here in Rockford we have had it nice and mild! It’s been a little humid but other then that it has been beautiful — wet, most months hitting twice average rain (except this month so far) but beautiful.
Not a 90 on the forecast for the rest of the month either. There is still September but this is definitely an unusual year.
David
We’ve not even hit 30c (86F) yet in the UK his summer. We managed a consecutive string of over a week of 30c maxes in 2006.
Very wet as well as cool in the UK this summer.
Phillip B: My impression is that the sun as well affects volcanic, tectonic activity magnetic changes etc…
56 F at 7 AM in Boston. Low was 53. Four degrees less and we would have hit the 40’s in August. Whoo hoo!
A little further north and to the west here in Rochester, MN its the same way. Mid-80’s and humid at times but no 90’s yet. Last year by this time we had had a week or two of solid 90’s and pushing 100’s. Not that I mind the change! Bring on winter!
We’re having a typically and infamously crap as usual British Summer this year, although it has been slightly more windy than I recall.
Here in Milford Haven it has rained every day for the last week and max temps hover around 15-17C, (about 60-63f). No summer this year, just one long autumn.
I believe it is now beyond anecdotal. The weather stations in Madison & Milwaukee have had fewer 90F days in this decade than in any decade since the 1920’s (MSN) and 1900’s (MKE).
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=mkx&storyid=17039&source=0
meanwhile the Arctic is undergoing a ‘cooling’ event in the last week. The NOAA Arctic camera has not shown 0C or above in the last week http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/latest/noaa1.jpg (unfortunately there was a ‘snow event’ – why can’t we just say ‘it snowed’ anymore? – on Saturday and the camera has been somewhat obscured. It’s interesting to see the local temp difference inside the camera, tho there is no UHI in the Arctic. 🙂
By the way Anthony, the radio debate between Viscount Monkton and AGW Blogger Littlemore (link from Lubos Motl’s blog – hope that’s okay – http://motls.blogspot.com/2008/08/climate-debate-realist-monckton-beats.html ) is well worth listening. I listened while I was lifting weights yesterday and the stunning non-science coming from Littlemore was stunning. I think several people at the weight room now think I’m crazy because I kept blurting out “It IS NOT!”. Littlemore actually defends the ‘Hockeystick’ , makes the claim that the MWP is ‘made up’, that sea levels will rise if the Arctic melts (of course he avoided any mention of the Antarctic), and used the phrase ‘for the first time in recorded history’ about virtually everything. Monkton clearly was the winner, however, he is getting a bit upset about the ‘puppet of big oil’ accusations, or so it seems from the tape.
This anecdotal information along with countless others constitute “weather” and you have already indicated receiving criticism about using examples of cool weather as an offset to the grand theory of global warming.
I have tracked our local weather for some time. Here in southeastern Michigan, our cumulative average since the beginning of February has been about 2.4° below normal.
I have also tracked monthly record high temperatures for all states and there has been an absolute dirth of such records so far this century.
So, if weather over many months and extremes over many years are below “normal,” at what point does “weather” become climate change? My own feeling is that climate change cannot be ascertained in a matter of a few decades. There are too many variables and oscillations. It is too easy to become alarmist about a pending ice age, then pending global overheating, then another pending ice age.
These days, it is harder to distinguish climate science from political science than weather from climate.
Summer, what summer? Going camping tomorrow for (luckily just) two nights in Derbyshire – forecast max 16c, min 8c. Yum. In Sussex, where I live, we had a ground frost at the beginning of July. And rain, don’t talk to me about rain….
The Climate Change Project is having a global warming lecture on 9/9/08 in Peoria Heights, which is about 129 miles from Rockford. lol. Bring your parkas.
Some scientists believe that both solar maximum and solar minimum correlate to upticks of volcanic and seismic activity. The changes in magnetism on the sun, the argument goes, affect magnetic changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and in our planet’s largely iron molten core.
Given volcanos’ powerful influence on weather, the relative stability of conditions on Earth during the Holocene Optimum is all the more remarkable.
That is not to say that a super-eruption couldn’t put a damper on things.
Here in my little village of Vigo in NE Alabama we have only had 5 days in August of 90+ temps and the highest was 92.8. Not so unusual but below average for sure. Last year at this time in August we had had several days over 100 also not unusual but above normal. Last year we were in the throws of an extreme drought this year it is still drought conditions but not as extreme. I think that the ground moisture near the surface might have something to do with surface temperatures through evaporation of surface moisture. Just my 2 cents.
Bill Derryberry
The MRF is back to its Fall Signal again.
Please send some rain to Southern California.
Please.
On a good note, we’ve only had to use AC a couple of days this summer in San Diego. But the area is so dry that if and when the Santa Ana’s kick in, things could get dicey.
Wet and relatively cool summer here in Buffalo area. Have had no 90°F days yet this year and the hottest day this year was back on June 9 when the temp hit 89°F. It would have been hotter but for the winds off the then cool waters of Lake Erie. Only about a month left in the summer, so a 90°F day is still a possibility, but the odds are increasingly against it happening.
In Kansas City we have had a very mild summer with cooler than normal temperatures, relatively low humidity and sufficient rainfall. My yard is still green and needs to be mowed once a week. This has never happened before in my 50 years of direct experience.
Sounds like its been very cool everywhere this summer (including the SH). Do not worry though, I’m sure the NASA team will declare August 2008 to be within the top 5 hottest since the Jurassic.
[…] a beautiful, cool summer we’re having out here in Connecticut. I hear it’s the same elsewhere. In fact, we seem to be experiencing a bit of global cooling. Take a look at the Met Office […]
An anecdote is a data point. Gather up a large number of data points and one can make reasonable statements about condition and trend. Here in Santa Fe it is much cooler than it was last year at this time. Beginning as a 975mb low off Southeast Alaska, an unusually strong storm is hitting the Pacific Northwest. Such things are typically not seen until December. There is quite a bit of “anecdotal evidence” out there. The end-of-month RSS, GISS, UAH, and HadCRUT data reports will tell in the context of the broader condition and trend.