It’s not like there haven’t been clues. Like for example as I pointed out the Arctic Oscillation has gone strongly negative.
The article says:
“The cold weather comes despite the Met Office’s long range forecast, published, in October, of a mild winter. That followed it’s earlier inaccurate prediction of a “barbecue summer”, which then saw heavy rainfall and the wettest July for almost 100 years.”
Excerpts:
Britain is bracing itself for one of the coldest winters for a century with temperatures hitting minus 16 degrees Celsius, forecasters have warned.
They predicted no let up in the freezing snap until at least mid-January, with snow, ice and severe frosts dominating.
And the likelihood is that the second half of the month will be even colder.
Weather patterns were more like those in the late 1970s, experts said, while Met Office figures released on Monday are expected to show that the country is experiencing the coldest winter for up to 25 years.
On New Year’s Day 10 extreme weather warnings were in place, with heavy snow expected in northern England and Scotland.
Despite New Year celebrations passing off mostly unaffected by the weather, drivers in parts of the country, particularly areas of Northumberland, Cumbria and the Scottish Highlands, were warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
The continued freezing temperatures did not signal bad news for everyone however. CairnGorm Mountain said it has had its best Christmas holiday season in 14 years.
With heavy snow in the area, the resort said that over a four-day period following Christmas Day it has had more than 8,000 skiers and snowboarders using its runs – including 800 on New Year’s Eve.
h/t to David Corcoran
I would rather roast than freeze. That being said, on to a more significant observation about the Met and various other “public service” government agencies.
Major weather (and climate) changes are potentially quite devastating in and of themselves and are made all the more so when government is inept (before, during or after the changes/events), or –much worse– totally incompetent. My greatest fears regarding destructive weather have nothing to do with the weather. It is the competence of the system ‘We The People’ have in place to handle such changes that most frightens me. Katrina was an eye opener. I fear it will not prove to have been an isolated case. When the Met or NOAA or DHS or any other government agency is ruled by a weirdo with an agenda, the public has much to fear.
PS: When ’We The People’ turn control of the government over to one party, we are to blame for everything, and deserve whatever we get.
I liked the way the article distinguished between “experts” and the met office.
I note the Met office has reviewed it’s prediction for a colder than average winter from 20% to 45%. I wonder if someone looked out of the office window. Deepest snow we have seen for many years in Snowdonia.
Bastardi threw down the gauntlet in front of the British public the other day, and the Met Office knelt rather than pick it up.
But the Telegraph has a bit of alarmism in another article
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/6917389/2020-vision-where-will-we-be-in-a-decades-time.html
“It will be the hottest decade ever as global warming continues, though individual years will vary. Renewables will boom, especially solar power, as new technologies and falling prices kick in. Nuclear power will make no real contribution; any new reactors will not come on stream before the end of the decade. Evidence that mobile phones endanger health will increase. Continued shrinkage of the Arctic ice-cap could provide the first climate “tipping point”.”
When someone says global warming will continue when it hasn’t continued for a decade and then says mobile phones endanger health when there is no evidence for it, you know the guy has to be fired from his position.
Following up on DMI polar temperature, I note that 2009’s x-axis appears to have been extended to 365 days. All previous years remain at 360 days for now.
Met is nothing more or less than a bad Monty Python script. Here in the states, the commercial weather forecasters that the commodity traders use predicted a very cold nasty winter in the NE at least. These guys got to get it right or they get fired. I think that as proper punishment Jones should be made to snow shovel most of London.
In Iowa, this was very nearly the year without a summer. Thirty years ago, I detassled corn in 100 degree heat. Last year, it rarely reached above 90. It sure saved on the air conditioning bills.
Right now we have an unusual amount of snow on the ground, and highs in the single digits. Iowa is the new Minnesota. Minnesota is the new Manitoba. I have been telling everyone I meet to expect a brutal winter. I did not want to be right, but so far, it is brutal.
God loves playing tricks on AGWers. At what they thought should be their moment of triumph, reality inconveniently intrudes.
By the way the sobbing sound you year from Australia is the fact that Australia is now getting significant rain. Barrie Harrop’s latest venture is going down the tubes like his photo kiosk chain.
Mayon Volcano may have calmed down but in the DRC “Nyamulagira volcano” is erupting ,(although wiki lists it as “Mount Nyamuragira”).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100102/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_volcano
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nyamulagira
BBC reports a Warwickshire community will have its electrical power turned off on schedule despite the freezing temperatures and resulting loss of heat and light for homes and businesses. Central Networks says the work schedule for trimming the trees to avoid damage to powerlines had been announced long ago and must be completed as scheduled while the birds were not nesting in them. Residents are seeking shelter….
Ah, but this is going to be a warmer-than-normal coldest winter in 100 years 🙂
Piers Corbyn of Weatheraction.com is saying UK and Ireland will be unusually cold for Jan and Feb.
http://www.weatheraction.com/displayarticle.asp?a=127&c=1
As for the Met Office prediction of a mild winter in the UK (on Nov 23rd), that was totally wrong. They are now saying there is a 45% chance it will be cold.
What the Met Office should do is buy a real prediction from Piers at weatheraction.
The funny thing is that earlier in December the BBC was at pains to tell us that the reason it was so cold was because it was winter…and its meant to be cold. Of course the reason the BBC was harping on in this manner was in defence of the debacle called Gropenhagen that was happening at the same time.
Mailman
I cant remember a winter like this where I live the year before last seemed bad, last year worse than that, and then this year the worst so far wonder what next winter will bring, but we still have to get the rest of this one out of the way.
If anyone regulary views the met office website they could be forgiven for thinking it was run by school children there warning system is a shambles. early today they warning us of 20cm of snow on tuesday now for my area no warning is out at all.
Jim,
I saw that too. I wonder if the NASA satallite temp data will go to a 30 yr basis as well.
Anthony,
(Off-topic)I was going to put this on the “Tips and Notes” page, but I’m not sure you’d see it. Plus others might be interested.
ICECAP is running an article by Tom Segalstad on the persistence of CO2 in the atmosphere that I found very interesting. It’s a guest editorial written to CO2 Science in August 2009, so maybe you’ve already run with it here, but in this post-Climategate environment maybe you’d want to run it again anyway.
I’d also appreciate your thoughts on it, as it appeared to me to be an effective critique of the IPCC process.
This is why copenhagen was the “last change to save the world” (i.e.: “to create a global governance system”). They knew it’s going to get awfully cold and no-one would want to make sacrifices to save themselves from global warming during the coldest period in decades.
Oh great now things are going to start getting warmer 🙁
G
See, Copenhagen is working already. lol
The current temperature in Norwich, UK (home of the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia) is 1 deg C or about 34 deg F according to the Weather Channel web here:
http://uk.weather.com/weather/today-Norwich-UKXX0103?fromSearch=true
Perhaps the independent investigators looking into the Climategate scandal at UEA will be motivated by the chilly weather to be a bit more skeptical about Phil Jones and his warmist team than they would be if it were a balmy winter instead.
Good news for us in the UK. Given their recent record, a cold weather forecast likely means It’ll be warm and I can get on the golf course again soon.
It’s time for the “sky-is-falling” crowd to dust off (or at least clear the snow off) their 1970 predictions that the world will end as a result of man-made cold. I would, however, advise them to keep the AGW documents available, because you never know what mother nature is going to do.
The whole “sky-is-falling” crowd can take solace in Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice”
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
The weather has some nerve! To be so cold — in spite of the Met’s predictions for a very mild winter! It is time for the Met Office to call in some big guns from the IPCC and the Royal Society to put the weather back in its place. Perhaps Phil Jones has some time on his hands to deal with this unruly weather?