Thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers, we continue to complete surveys of the 1221 USHCN climate stations in the USA. Last week thanks to a business trip, I was able to complete the final two stations in Nevada: Wells, and Austin.
You can see all the Nevada USHCN station surveys here in my online database. Note that in the map above, Wendover is in UTAH, not Nevada. Some interesting things to note about Nevada USHCN stations that I learned:
- With the exception of ASOS stations at airports, most USHCN stations are within a half mile or less (in some cases like Mina, less than 100 yards) from major highways and Interstates.
- Even the most remote stations, such as Austin, are within a few feet of a building. All stations in Nevada are very near some type of human influence.
- With the exception of some Stevenson Screens/mercury thermometers used as a backup all USHCN stations in Nevada have primary instruments converted either to MMTS or ASOS systems.
- As you can see in the map above, there is a vast area not covered by USHCN stations.
- Boulder City and Wells have closed in the last five years, but I surveyed them anyway to find out where the sensors had been placed.
- The Nevada Department of Transportation has an extensive network of automated weather stations with better coverage than USHCN, but most of the data is short term and in all cases, measured within 50-100 feet of the roadway.
Nevada was one of the toughest states to complete, due to it’s size and the remoteness of some stations such as Austin, which is an old mining town along the “loneliest road in the USA”, US 50.
Volunteer Russ Steele surveyed a good number of stations last summer, Craig Limesand got Golconda, Chip Edin did Battle Mountain, and I surveyed the remainder.
Despite such tedious trips, there are personal rewards to this work. For example I shot some great photos on the way to Austin. This is US50 in central Nevada looking east:
Click for larger image
And this superb sunset on the return trip after surveying Wells. I took this photo from the side of Interstate 80 just west of Lovelock:
Click for a larger image
Here is one of the Nevada DOT stations near Austin, on the mountain summit east of town within 25 feet of US 50. It was covered in rime ice and the anemometer and wind vane were frozen in place:
Austin Summit 7,484 feet- click for larger image
So even with the tedium of driving, there is always something new and interesting to find.
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Anyway the “auditor” can be audited? Is there a place where these reports can be reviewed on-line combined with more than just 1 picture? E.g. one where one can see the station with road in background? Do the stations have on line maintenance record by the owners? How do the data vary from the RSS/UAH records?
It is distressing to see what is about to unfold, however with a good end in sight.
The AGW crowd is now in charge. This means:
1) No new coal burning plants.
2) No nukes.
3) Embracing of non workable alternatives.
4) Inevitable results of brown outs, increasing energy costs, slower economic growth, higher unemployment, etc.
5) Continued discrediting of AGW models. China and India will continue to pump carbon into the atmosphere and the models of AGW will continue to fail.
6) Public becomes aware of consequences of following policies of environmentalists.
Believe it or not, this implementation of AGW polices will be the Vietnam of the environmental movement. It will have all the characteristics we saw with the Vietnam war. False model for basis of policies (remember the old domino theory of SE Asia?). Ineffective tools, alternative energy sources do not work (more on that later), just as carpet bombing, agent Orange, etc., etc. did not work in Vietnam. Misleading propaganda from MSM. We can see that at work already as reporters have become advocates of AGW. Suppression of news sources contradicting the official story.
Am reading the book Terrestrial Energy by William Tucker. A must read for anyone interested in the economics of alternative energy. I disagree with the author on his take on greenhouse gases, but this is an excellent source of information on the alternatives we have as a society.
I will quote parts of the book from time to time, but he does a kill piece on biofuels, wind farms, solar and so forth. He is a strong advocate for nuclear energy, which does make sense no matter what your views are on AGW.
http://www.terrestrialenergy.org/
The bright side of all this: the policies of AGW will be thoroughly discredited in the next 4 to 8 years. It will be the energy policies of Jimmy Carter all over again, perhaps worse. But, people will be thoroughly sick of any discussions about wind power, solar power, or any of the other unworkable alternatives to oil, coal, or nuclear. Just as the end of Carter’s policy on freezing gasoline prices led to a rapid recovery, so will the end of the upcoming policies lead to a rapid recovery of energy production.
Anthony’s work here is part of the discrediting process. People are going to ask why we went with AGW policies. We were misled by faulty measurements will be part of the answer. A large part of the faulty measuring is simple neglect of our field instrumentation.
@Flanagan:
IF the earth is warming b/c of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, then the remote locations (away from human activity) will show increases in temperature.
IF these remote locations do not show increase in temperature, then warming is localized and a result of concrete/asphalt/buildings etc.
I am neither a geologist nor an atmospheric scientist, but I do know that reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will not affect the heat from an asphalt road.
Lucy
Got down 46F last night in Tampa, FL This global warming stuff is really amazing.
Jack Simmons,
I think you are correct. I believe America must try this alternate energy route, before the people realize that they have been terribly misled. Your comments give some reason for optimism in the long term.
Mike Bryant
Temperatures will drop to around 39 degrees Tuesday night, with a daytime high on Wednesday of 64.
Apparently weight training does not develop the brain.
California ordered to prepare for sea-level rise
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday ordered preparations for rising sea levels from global warming, a startling prospect for the most populous U.S. state with a Pacific Ocean coastline stretching more than 800 miles (1,290 km).
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKTRE4AE0YC20081115?rpc=401&
Ed Scott:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger explains his position: click
The best leading indicator of sea level rise, is the fact that Al Gore bought an ocean front condo in San Francisco.
From this, I would deduce that there will not be a short or medium term, catastrophic rise.
There is also a Wendover, Nevada. (Actually West Wendover.) Lots of casinos. http://www.westwendovercity.com/
Not sure how to get this to Anthony but I saw this and wanted to send it to you for disemination.
Anti-Gore needs help.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2008/1115/1226408678797.html
OT but important.
Since I work for the government and know what unfathomable damage the EPA can inflict if CO2 is classed as a pollutant ( Director Bremby of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has already denied a new coal power plant in Holcomb based on CO2 as a pollutant), I have wanted to comment on the ANPR to EPA but felt somewhat intimidated by the Physics. If any of you feel the same way, perhaps this could be the avenue to vent your disapproval. Available at this website,
http://sepp.org/Archive/weekwas/2008/Nov_15_2008.htm
is the following statement:
EPA has issued an ANPR (Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), detailing how they would control CO2 as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act (see Item #1). Comments are due by Nov 28. Anyone can submit his/her own comments or join a generic Comment. Contact Marlo Lewis at mlewis@cei.org.
Or, alternatively, perhaps some of the more mathematically inclined on this blog could put together a copilation of statement’s similar to George Smith’s, etc. and I’ll sign one from the WUWT blog. I’d also send it to all my federal and state legislators. I’m intelligent enough to comprehend the majority of what is being discussed on this blog, but would rather it be summarized by folks with more expertise.
Great survey of the USHCN! Typical of stations that are found next to hot air situations.
Termperatures, DAAA! Temperatures!
If CO2, man-induced and the huge amounts resting in the upper troposhere, why aren’t the temperatures higher than they are? Answer: Science 101, “what goes up comes down.” Oxygen molecules are heavier than carbon, two oxygen more than carbon, thus a decent back to Earth erntering the carbon cycle.
Something that James Hansen refuses to accept, NASA satellite Aura found that water vapors dominated the lower troposphere and had a profound affect on any CO2 in the atmosphere. Thus, the cyclical temperatures. This December, NASA is launching a new satellite to measure water vapors in the upper troposphere and will measure CO2 at that level.
The heavy broadband of water vapors have a profound effect on CO2 forcings. With this fact, the NASA upper troposphere survey should indicate the lack of concentration of CO2.
So even on the UFO highway, land of a lonely Spaghetti Western mournful aire, most stations are corrupted. Must be a similar situation for Arctic land based stations. Maybe not a road problem, but a structure problem.
Anthony,
1) Thanks again for the hard work.
2) I still have shots from NAS Brunswick, UMass Lowell and Southern New
Hampshire weather stations for you.
3) There are rapid changes in the Photovoltaic market in progress. Due
to fast expansion of production and a sharp drop off in demand of silicon,
the price of raw material for PV arrays is crashing. Also the nanotech
approach is working: prototypes for the military are at 28% efficiency
today. Finally, cheap internet-enabled micro inverters are coming on
line fast. I have a few up and running. Every one of them has a
built-in thermometer that can be reached from any internet connection
on earth. We will have a few million new on-line temperature probes
running within 5 years.
Off topic “THE TRUTH ABOUT POLAR BEARS” starting today for a week of reports on Britains Independent Television News
http://www.itv.com/News/newsspecial/Thetruthaboutpolarbears/de fault.html
G Alston,
Interesting link. His comments about AGW confirm what many in these sceptic forums have been claiming for years. Yet another bullet through the heart of consensus. Hope to hear more about it.
Aside:
The equatorial Pacific really seems to be undergoing a cooling. Compare
September chart 2008:
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/data/anomnight.9.11.2008.gif
to November chart 2008:
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climo&hot.html
I looked into those Nevada roadside weather stations a couple of years back. The data from them are available online by the way. Their main purpose seems to be more to do with determining road conditions, mainly icing in winter, than anything else. They are operated by the transportation dept which is why they are located so close to the road. I believe they have to be sited within the right of way or easement allowed to the transportation department else they would have to puchase/lease property on which to site the things. They aren’t designed for climate survey.
The weather in Nevada can be quite variable, particularly in winter. It can be 70 degrees in Reno while people are putting on snow chains 50 miles North on 447 headed toward Susanville. I think the idea is to be able to get an idea of where road conditions are bad or likely to turn bad so that appropriate mitigation (sand/salt trucks, change chain up signage, etc) measures can be taken promptly by the transportation department.
OT, but interesting:
A new Irish film claims that climate change guru Al Gore is an alarmist and that those who think they are saving the planet are only hurting the poor
IF THE ADVANCE publicity is anything to go by, Not Evil Just Wrong will do for Al Gore what Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 did for George W Bush.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2008/1115/1226408678797.html
McElhinney and McAleer have raised almost $1 million (€799,000) but need a total of $4.5m (€3.6m) to allow for a full cinema release. They say they were acutely disappointed at being turned down for funding by the Irish Film Board, especially its conclusion that it was “repetitive and creatively thin”.
Instead, they have gone onto the internet hoping to solicit donations in the style of Barack Obama. The finished product will be around 90 minutes long. Both film-makers rebut the Film Board’s criticism by pointing out that a near-complete version of the film has been chosen in the audience category at the Amsterdam Film Festival later this month.
……
Do McElhinney and McAleer themselves reject climate change, reject the need to cut down on our dependency on oil? “The idea that CO2 causes climate change or causes global warming – let’s keep it clear – is not settled,” says McElhinney. “The idea of dramatically altering the way we live would be a mistake until more information has been gathered.” Both believe that there is no panic, and that the world has 300 years (until coal is exhausted) to come up with alternative sources of energy.
The web page for “not evil but wrong”
http://noteviljustwrong.com/
OT:
Congratulations Anthony, just heard Brit on Fox News mention Watts Up With That regarding “the warmest Oct. on record”.
M White (12:27:13) :
Off topic “THE TRUTH ABOUT POLAR BEARS” starting today for a week of reports on Britains Independent Television News
http://www.itv.com/News/newsspecial/Thetruthaboutpolarbears/de fault.html
Link is broken, has to have “fault.html” added at end.
This is probably a repeat of their other “scientific” expeditions.
Sekerob,
Click the icon at the top of the page just below the title. The one that goes to http://www.surfacestations.org. Explore to your heart’s content.
When you get to the gallery on Austin, NV, you will note that the USHCN site is located in the midst of the town of Austin. The roadside weather station shown is one maintained by Nevada DOT, as mentioned by Anthony in the post. Granted I’m working from the position of not seeing the world from your perspective, but what inference layer are you referring to? The inference perhaps that you are focusing on a NDOT road weather information system (RWIS) station that is not in the USHCN? Or the inference that it constitutes something “new and interesting”? I’m curious what it is that, from my perspective, is getting your knickers in a knot.
Novoburgo (16:44:45) :
Just a typo – there shouldn’t have been a space in “de fault”. Fixed above and here.