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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Time to resurrect “The Cremation of Sam McGhee”?”
http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2640/?letter=C&spage=26
Smokey (19:40:19) :
This says it all: click
Nothing unusual. It is -2C in Hell right now
http://www.yr.no/place/Norway/Nord-Tr%C3%B8ndelag/Stj%C3%B8rdal/Hell/
G Alston (23:04:44) :
But we only have 4 years for Obama to save the world!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/18/jim-hansen-obama
Interestingly Hansen is demanding an in depth survey of the state of the ice caps. For the first time ever I think I agree with him, IF the survey was going to be transparent and unbiased. I think he may be disappointed with the likely results though. In the mean time the solution to global warming has been found. Paint everything white!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/4269109/Paint-cities-white-to-tackle-global-warming-scientist-says.html
Person of Choler (03:04:28) :
Time to resurrect “The Cremation of Sam McGhee”?”
http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2640/?letter=C&spage=26
Thanks for the link Person, its been many years since I shed some tears, laughing about Sam McGhee.
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.
There was no valid contract to be honored. The previous one just expired and the following one was made dubious by the Ukraine under the pretence that the persons that signed it were insufficiently entitled to do so (this is related to a power game between Tymoshenko and Yuschenko). Anyway, Europe is now much more eager to start building pipelines from Russia that do not cross the Ukraina.
Heals sanely – or they reign !
EW (04:17:53) :
“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.”
There was no valid contract to be honored. The previous one just expired and the following one was made dubious by the Ukraine under the pretence that the persons that signed it were insufficiently entitled to do so (this is related to a power game between Tymoshenko and Yuschenko). Anyway, Europe is now much more eager to start building pipelines from Russia that do not cross the Ukrania.
Add to this that the new contract offered, though not as cheap as previously is still at 1/4 the price the rest of us in Europe have to pay.
In Greece, Attica, we are having our Halcyon days, 10C low to 18C high. Legend has it that the Gods arranged this warm interval so that the Halcyon bird can make its nest close to the shores and breed. Gods were eco conscious, though this is a myth, the halcyon has its eggs in May as all similar sea birds. It is a beautiful bird by the way, like a kingfisher, orange of breast and bright blue green on top.
What I’m read is that it is flat out COLD. The US is cold. Europe is coldest in some time. Siberia is -65F, or colder. La Nina is beginning to form again. But when I go check out the daily AMSU temp graph here: http://discover.itsc.uah.edu/amsutemps/ I see that so far this January seems to be a good bit warmer than last January.
Where is the heat?
I live in one of those La Nina hot January places. We broke the records set in 1976-77 all week long, while 95% of the rest of the country shivered uncontrollably. That’s a 17 colder per 1 warmer ratio. It’s colder.
The high-pressure cell shoved the storms all the way up to Alaska from California instead of just up into British Columbia like the 1977 event did.
Nothing gets your attention on the Weather report like a front that stretches from 35N to 70N like a brick wall.
Interesting article in the Pravda.
If there are indeed lower frequency cycles, all we are measuring now might well be simply considered as noise in the longterm. No matter how much GHG contributes to global warming, it is just like throwing a stone into the swell of an ocean.
Maybe time to get out those knitting needles and to shear the sheep before they are gone.
oops, forgot the link: http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/106922-0/
Thanx for “The Cremation of Sam McGhee”. Here’s another of my favorite examples of alarmism: click
MattN (04:40:23) :
What I’m read is that it is flat out COLD. The US is cold. Europe is coldest in some time. Siberia is -65F, or colder. La Nina is beginning to form again. But when I go check out the daily AMSU temp graph here: http://discover.itsc.uah.edu/amsutemps/ I see that so far this January seems to be a good bit warmer than last January.
Where is the heat?
It is not heat, it is just less cold. Globally, last January was very cold, according to the global temperature metrics, and the current La Nina is not where we were (yet) a year ago, so we should expect January to track higher on the AMSU graph.
Warsong,
“…Just an aside: If we are causing Global Warming, how did we melt the Ice Caps of Mars?…”
That’s what piqued my curiosity a couple of years ago, back when I had little interest in the debate and just assumed that the UN and the IPCC were trying to do good science. The Mars thing got to me, so I went exploring to see what I could learn.
I’ve spent the two years since then re-arranging my entire worldview, utterly thunderstruck at the depth of the deception, the blatant manipulation of data, the cynicism of the politicians, and especially the fawning gullibility of the media who are supposed to be the public’s eyes and ears on what’s going on in the world.
Power-hungry politicians and even “rock-star” scientists I understand, I get why they twist things to maintain their status and/or keep the money and accolades flowing in.
What I’ve never gotten is the attitude of the media in all this. Journalists make names for themselves by exposing such shenanigans to the light, but only a few have dared to challenge this one.
Yeah, I been there…Arctic Warfare School. It’s hardly what I’d call fun, but with the right protective gear it can be tolerable.
Even so, it had it’s moments…learning how to ski, snowshoeing, survival training and such…then the other stuff. Snot-cicle contests, snowshoe races (ever try to run with them on…?), watching spit freeze before it hits the ground [snow…we never saw any dirt], and other fun activities.
Ah, those were the days…
Cherry picking all time record lows during record global warming?…..now that’s a funny statement. How can we set record lows during global warming? The warming is over people…..dah
I’ve been in Dawson City and Whitehourse Yukon during cold spells. You need to either keep you engine running or have a electric block heater. Your breathe will condense and fall as ice crystals. Your nostrils will freeze shut temporarily unless you cover your face. I will never go back there in the winter.
Meanwhile James Hansen is saying that Barak only has 4 years to ‘save the world’. Most remarkable statement by Hansen (at least according to that paragon of journalistic excellence, “The Guardian”) is that there is already too much ‘carbon’ – remarkable comment in and of itself, carbon, not CO2, (had no idea that carbon itself was a greenhouse issue) – in the atmosphere to prevent ‘runaway’ global warming. Though I note the Guardian was careful not to quote Hansen on this. If there is already too much ‘carbon’ to prevent runaway global warming, what exactly is Barak going to do to save us in a mere four years? Oh wait. Hansen thinks Obama should order a ‘probe’ of the state of the planets icecaps. Well, there you have it. We’re facing irreversible runaway global warming and Obama will save us by ordering a ‘probe’. Was the reporter channeling Douglas Adams when he wrote this ridiculous piece? Guardian gets it wrong in saying the US is the world’s largest ‘carbon emitter’ (carbon emitter?), that would be China.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/18/jim-hansen-obama
I’m surprised I didn’t hear anything about the next temperature on the list….
INEMILE BRIDGE -48 841 AM 1/16 USGS NINM1
If they invalidate the -50°F record low they still have to go check the Inemile Bridge site since that would TIE the state’s all0time record low…
Here in Saskatoon right now the snow is melting (we get a bit of the chinook effect they enjoy in Calgary). It’ll go back to some miserable temps here in February. Its the cycle of the seasons. I feel sorry for people in the US putting up with those miserable temperatures while we are dealing with warm breezes. NOT.
I do see some snarky comments about “a few cold days in the middle of January is certainly enough data to draw meaningful conclusions.” The person who said that misses the point of this conversation – nobody is drawing conclusions. Nobody is plotting a trend line for climate on the basis of one regional temperature on a few days in January. The conversation is about how these records are recorded, and a bit of a giggle about record low temperatures being achieved in the middle of “catastrophic global warming”. You have to admit, it’s kind of funny.
Here is the record low temperatures by State – some big numbers in there.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0113527.html
I’ve experienced -50F : only half of the vehicles with block heaters will start, maybe 10% of those without will start – you aren’t walking anywhere – even the dog won’t go out for a walk.
While Calgary might be warm now, a little to the east, in the Central part of Canada, they just went through one of the longest cold snaps on record – 35 days in a row of temps being mostly between -20C to -40C: but even there, I don’t think there were any -50F’s recorded.
Robert Bateman (04:41:15) :
In New England, especially 60 miles from the coast, it’s a weather map with a nor’easter “bombing out” and slowing down just to our south.
People are still searching the web for “Blizzard of ’78” pages every day.
Fortunately, we haven’t had a repeat with all the attributes (like mid-day
start) since, though some storms have come close.
Curiously, the Blue Hill Weather Observatory in Massachusetts has found that average wind speed was about 15-16 mph between 1880 and 1980, but then started a decline to a current average of 13 mph. There has also been a reduction in coastal flooding.
If this was an ALL-TIME record low for Maine (ditto Illinois), not just a record low for the day-of-the-year, then it is quite significant on its ownas being a bit of evidence tending to falsify the Global Warming thesis. Such stand-out anomalies shouldn’t be happening, or at least should be quite rare.
If an examination of the whole data set finds that the trend of record lows is increasing, while the trend of record highs is decreasing, that would indicate that Hansen’s increasing average temperature trend has been manufactured (Hansenized).
I am no weather expert, but follow the hype, and yes I am an evil skeptic destined to burn in hell according to the Suzukians.
BTW …. not read all posts here … maybe this was addressed … Regarding validity of the cold temps recorded in Maine it seems to me that it is easier to influence thermometers during a hot spell (i.e get a false record high) than it is to get a false record low assuming the actual thermometers are indeed accurate.
A hot temperature can be made hotter by being close to bldgs and pavement and influenced by wind … and apparently that happens more than the authorities care to admit…and reported here on WUWT. However, I can’t see how the immediate environment around a Stephenson screen can make it colder than reality. Get my point? A cold reading is true … and cold. A hot reading might not be so accurate and would tend to be overstated. Maybe not.
Clive
Alberta Canada .. where it is positively balmy as others have noted. 🙂
G Alston (23:04:44) :
“But we only have 4 years for Obama to save the world!”
Here’s an Obama Climate scenario :
a) Obama and Congress sign some drastic legislation such as Cap & Trade and the traders start trading like crazy, prices of everything start going back up in the middle of a recession which pushes the U.S into an extended depression.
b) In the mean time, say 1-2 years from now, the U.S Courts finally decide to hear a Presidential eligibility case and decide on the merits.
c) Their decision is that Obama is not eligible to be president because of the dual allegiance at birth and/or born in Kenya and/or still an Indonesian citizen) and is therefore a Constitutionally defined “Usurper”.
d) Because he is an Usurper he wouldn’t be Pres no matter who voted for and swore him in and he can’t even be impeached because that only applies to a valid President. The key issue here is that anything that an Usurper does would not be valid law, so that Cap & Trade legislation would be invalid.
e) This is followed by a flurry (blizzard?) of lawsuits against the traders and in order to keep the U.S. from going into a Super Depression, another Gov’t bailout is implemented to cover the Cap & Traders massive losses from their illegal trading.
Obviously this has a high Political threshold for Judges to overcome, but it is still intellectually interesting to consider such a scenario as the dual allegiance at birth issue is pretty clearly part of the definition of Natural Born Citizen”. Besides how much wackier is this then the Catastrophic Anthropogenic CO2 Induced Global Warming scenarios of Hanson and company?