I don’t know if any of you readers have ever experienced temperatures that are down to -50°F, but it is painful to endure.
From the NWS WFSO in Caribou, Maine, a report of a new statewide low record event. (h/t to Joe Bastardi via Jeff L). Unlike the WSFO in Chicago, which wants to throw out a statewide record low temperature because they don’t seem to trust the quality control on an AWOS station calibrated the day before in Rochelle, the WSFO in Caribou seems ready to consider the temperature recorded by a USGS gage. Ah, consistency.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
0955 AM EST FRI JAN 16 2009
**********POTENTIAL STATEWIDE RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE*************
AT 0730 AM EST THIS MORNING A USGS GAGE AT BIG BLACK RIVER RECORDED
A LOW TEMPERATURE OF -50F. THIS EXCEEDS THE CURRENT STATEWIDE
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF -48F SET ON JANUARY 19TH…1925 AT VAN
BUREN. THIS REPORT IS CONSIDERED UNOFFICIAL UNTIL A REVIEW OF THE
EQUIPMENT AND DATA BY THE STATE CLIMATE EXTREMES COMMITTEE AS TO
THE VALIDITY OF THIS REPORT. IF THE COMMITTEE ASCERTAINS THAT THIS
IS INDEED A VALID REPORT…A SEPARATE PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
WILL BE ISSUED AT THAT TIME.
$$
PJR
But wait, there’s more from the Caribou WSFO:
Low Temperatures Recorded 16 January, 2009
Here are the preliminary temperature reports from January 16, 2009.
- First is a map showing temperature reports across northern Maine.
- Second is a listing of temperature reports from locations across northern Maine.
Our appreciation is extended to highway departments, cooperative observers, SKYWARN spotters and the media for these reports.
A special thanks is extended to the general public for phoning in reports via our automated system. Your help is appreciated and aided us greatly in updating our products.
***********************MINIMUM TEMPERATURES***********************
LOCATION MIN TEMPS TIME/DATE COMMENTS
DEGREES OF
(F) MEASUREMENT
MAINE
...AROOSTOOK COUNTY...
BIG BLACK RIVER -50 831 AM 1/16 USGS BBRM1
NINEMILE BRIDGE -48 841 AM 1/16 USGS NINM1
ALLAGASH -47 722 AM 1/16 COOP ALGM1
DICKEY -45 833 AM 1/16 USGS DICM1
LILLE -45 717 AM 1/16 AR034
MASARDIS -45 840 AM 1/16 USGS MASM1
CLAYTON LAKE -44 832 AM 1/16 COOP CLTM1
GRAND ISLE -44 722 AM 1/16 SPOTTER
OXBOW -43 842 AM 1/16 COOP OXBM1
FORT KENT MILLS -41 853 AM 1/16 AR054
STOCKHOLM -41 717 AM 1/16 SPOTTER
VAN BUREN -41 845 AM 1/16 COOP VANM1
EAGLE LAKE -40 902 AM 1/16 COOP EGLM1
FORT KENT -40 851 AM 1/16 COOP FISM1
FOX BROOK -40 835 AM 1/16 COOP FOXM1
PRESQUE ISLE -39 758 AM 1/16 AWOS KPQI
LIMESTONE -38 917 AM 1/16 COOP LIZM1
CARIBOU WFO -37 718 AM 1/16 ASOS KCAR
MADAWASKA -37 832 AM 1/16 AR037
SHERMAN -37 902 AM 1/16 AR072
HOULTON -35 838 AM 1/16 ASOS KHUL
LIMESTONE -35 717 AM 1/16 AR035
FRENCHVILLE -30 835 AM 1/16 ASOS KFVE
ASHLAND -28 716 AM 1/16 SPOTTER
KNOWLES CORNER -18 839 AM 1/16 COOP KNCM1
...HANCOCK COUNTY...
WALTHAM -30 725 AM 1/16 SPOTTER
PENOBSCOT -20 717 AM 1/16 HA037
BAR HARBOR -15 831 AM 1/16 AWOS KBHB
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK -10 830 AM 1/16 COOP ANPM1
PROSPECT HARBOR -10 842 AM 1/16 COOP PPHM1
STONINGTON RAINWISE -5 844 AM 1/16 COOP STOM1
...PENOBSCOT COUNTY...
GRINDSTONE -38 837 AM 1/16 USGS GRNM1
SHIN POND -38 843 AM 1/16 USGS SBSM1
CORINNA -31 852 AM 1/16 COOP CORM1
OLD TOWN -30 841 AM 1/16 COOP OLDM1
MATTAWAMKEAG -29 840 AM 1/16 USGS MATM1
WEST ENFIELD -28 845 AM 1/16 USGS WENM1
BANGOR -24 831 AM 1/16 ASOS KBGR
MILLINOCKET -24 841 AM 1/16 ASOS KMLT
PATTEN -24 842 AM 1/16 COOP PATM1
SUNKHAZE N.W.R. -22 843 AM 1/16 COOP SHZM1
DIXMONT -12 833 AM 1/16 COOP DIXM1
...PISCATAQUIS COUNTY...
KOKADJO -39 839 AM 1/16 COOP KKJM1
ABBOT VILLAGE -37 811 AM 1/16 USGS ABTM1
BLANCHARD -35 831 AM 1/16 USGS BLAM1
GUILFORD -35 723 AM 1/16 COOP GULM1
RIPOGENUS DAM -35 843 AM 1/16 COOP RIPM1
SEBEC LAKE -32 838 AM 1/16 COOP GREM1
DOVER-FOXCROFT -31 852 AM 1/16 COOP DFXM1
MILO -24 851 AM 1/16 COOP MLDM1
GREENVILLE -21 837 AM 1/16 ASOS KGNR
...SOMERSET COUNTY...
SAINT AURELIE -44 844 AM 1/16 COOP STAM1
TURNER BROOK RAWS -38 845 AM 1/16 COOP TNBM1
...WASHINGTON COUNTY...
DANFORTH -35 833 AM 1/16 COOP DANM1
WESLEY -31 845 AM 1/16 USGS WSLM1
CHERRYFIELD -28 831 AM 1/16 USGS CFDM1
EPPING -26 835 AM 1/16 USGS EPPM1
MOOSEHORN N.W.R. -26 841 AM 1/16 COOP MWRM1
MACHIAS -25 840 AM 1/16 USGS MACM1
DENNYSVILLE -24 834 AM 1/16 USGS DVLM1
PRINCETON -22 842 AM 1/16 COOP PNNM1
WHITING -21 801 AM 1/16 WS038
GRAND LAKE STREAM -20 836 AM 1/16 COOP GLSM1
TOPSFIELD -20 852 AM 1/16 COOP TOPM1
WAITE -20 722 AM 1/16 WS034
EAST MACHIAS -18 852 AM 1/16 COOP ESTM1
JONESBORO -14 838 AM 1/16 COOP JONM1
JONESPORT RAINWISE -13 839 AM 1/16 COOP JPTM1
CUTLER RAINWISE -12 833 AM 1/16 COOP CUTM1
MILBRIDGE -12 723 AM 1/16 WS031
EASTPORT -9 834 AM 1/16 COOP EPOM1
$$
Portland hit -16°F, which is 28°F below normal for January 16th, and came close to the record for the date of -18°F in 1946.
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All the coldest stations are located in and around the upper reaches of the St. John river
which originates in Maine and flows N to form part of the international boundary with New Brunswick.
One thing I alway think of when I see these record lows along the Canadian border, is that it is even colder in Canada.
This says it all: click
Does the pain in Maine, lie mainly on the plain?
While Alaska has warmed up a bit in the past few days, it was bloody cold in December. A friend in Fairbanks sent this: (I suspect the folks in Maine can relate)
It’s winter here in Alaska
And the gentle breezes blow,
Seventy miles an hour,
At sixty five below.
Oh, how I love Alaska
When the snow’s up to your butt.
You take a breath of winter
And your nose then freezes shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful
so I guess I’ll hang around.
I could never leave Alaska
cause I’m frozen to the ground!
Bundle up, Kristen!
Jayzus. When it gets below +10 degrees Celsius, I start complaining!
It bothers me a little that governments, times being what they are, would go to so much trouble and expense to verify a record low temperature but it seems that record high temperatures are just taken at face value.
Im a skeptic, by all means. But, this seems like cherry picking to me, doesnt it?
Im up in Calgary, Alberta, and the forcast tomorrow is positive 14 Celsius, that breaks the record as well (If the the tempurature is true to its forcast)…. I fully support being a skeptic but we cant lower to the lever as the AGW crowd by cherry picking… Unless I missed the point by all means please tell me, but to me this looks somewhat selective.
REPLY: It is new about a statewide record weather event, one that only comes along in decades, I don’t know how it could be cherry picking since it is not being compared to anything. Illinois potentially set a new statewide kow record also, see previous post. – Anthony
Taylor, here in Calgary, midwinter warmth records can be smashed at ANY time, as soon as an intense chinook rolls in. It’s not uncommon for us to have a LOT of warmth during a La Nina… while everyone else is freezing, we’re basking in that warm flow. And remember this week when the +10 air was aloft and we were shivering in -12. All it takes is a slight change in wind for us to feel warm air that is ALREADY just above us. We’ve had +27C in February (1992), I recall videotaping a wedding that day.
Ultra-low OR ultra-high temperatures being thrown out because someone refuses to believe them is just stupid. Are the instruments there? Are they intended to record temperatures? Then what’s the problem?
crosspatch (20:13:52) :
Well, it is an all-time record low. There may also be this consideration: Record highs come with convective mixing, so a large area should have similar temperatures and stations can “vote” the outliers off the island. Low records tend to be associated with peak radiational cooling and micro-climate effects come in to play. So nearby stations away from valleys or other low areas may see much warmer temps instead of providing confirmation.
Taylor:
While Calgary may set a record high, Calgary is famous for its Chinooks raising the winter temperature from the usual deep freeze to balmy for a short time. I didn’t see any claims that these record lows disprove AGW. We do however take solace in the so called “Gore Effect” where pronouncements of impending doom are accompanied by cold and miserable weather.
If the instruments are wrong for the low temperatures, why would they believe the same thermometers when they show high temperatures? Oh, yeah, the low temperature don’t agree with their belief in AGW.
Just came over from Yahoo’s main page and a link to new creatures found off Australia. Of course, there was much damage from Global Warming!!! to be found there, too. They are going to kill us with 10 to 20 inches of Global Warming!!!
AMSR-E Satellite Arctic sea ice extent back to second highest ever. (Ok, AMSR-E is new, but still.)
http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm
Living in here in N MN, I’ve been slapped hard in the face by the brutal cold too many times to count. No need to go to the Arctic Circle when it comes to you. This was an impressive event, no doubt about that.
As a kid, I learned the hard way when it came to warming your hands. Never, ever, put your hands under warmer water to warm them when they are nearly frostbit. You want to talk about pain. And never stick your tongue to a metal pole. It will stick, and you will lose flesh trying to get it off. Trust me, I know. LOL
Maine is having a record Cold-Snap, and, Europe is having a record Winter, the coldest since 1946, with record snow packs at the Ski Resorts, and, a gathering death toll of people freezing to death in their own homes.
This is exacerbated by a Russian/Ukrainian squabble over the Price of Gas. The Russians have turned off the Tap because they don’t want to honor the Contract Prices, and, the Ukraine can’t pay the price they’re demanding.
Just an aside: If we are causing Global Warming, how did we melt the Ice Caps of Mars? How did we manage to install a second “Great Spot” on Jupiter, and, cause Saturn to have a Great Spot it never had before? How did we cause the great Storms roiling the atmoshpheres of Venus and the moon Titan? And, why have they suddenly returned to normal following the absence of Sunspots on the Sun? (16 days and counting, several weeks ago).
But we only have 4 years for Obama to save the world!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/18/jim-hansen-obama
Here in Edmonton, 300 km north of Calgary we are in the middle of our annual January thaw. Usually lasts about a week. Today our high was about 14°C above normal and was welcome relief from some very cold weather, we hit -37°C two weeks ago. My graphs for the last 3 years here show a flat temperature trend. If AGW is happening it certainly isn’t here.
Wait until they are “homogenized”. It will be pleasantly balmy and Maine residents can safely venture outside again.
Record cold is anecdotal; record heat is a clarion call to save the planet. And the temperature outside is {-pick a number-any number’ll do-and then it’ll get adjusted}.
Considering how close the cold spot is to Quebec, surely there must be some relevant temperature data from the Chaudière-Appalaches side of the border to verify the true temperature of the area?
I went for a beautiful 400km bike ride yesterday in glorious 25-30deg C weather here in Australia. Doing my bit to raise the CO2 levels to help out all the poor folk over in the States. Hope you appreciate my concern 🙂
I will say it again, a few cold days in the middle of January is certainly enough data to draw meaningful conclusions.
I have a message from the IPCC it reads as follows:”These record low temperatures accord perfectly with our predictions for global warming. They are weather events, unlike Hurricane Katrina and the melting of the summer ice in the Arctic which were clear indications that there is a global warming catastrophe hurtling towards us.”