No it’s not a time warp photo of Dicken’s time, it’s from the NASA MODIS satellite imager this week. This is like one of those “spot the cow in this photo” images, looking for the UK in a sea of white.
It must be having quite an impact in the UK. According to UK resident and WUWT commenter “borderer”:
Every single newspaper in the UK has published the following satellite image of the UK today – it shows the entire country in glowing white – snow and ice now appears the entire British Isles from John O’ Groats at the Northern tip of Scotland – to Landsend in Cornwall.
Despite this – and we are now in our 25th day of sub zero temperatures – the MET Office put up a spokesman on Newsnight last evening claiming that their forecast for a ‘very mild winter’ had ‘only been a probability!!
In other news, the Met Head gets paid extra even for botched forecasting. Remember the “BBQ summer” forecast?
“Mr. Hirst, you predicted a barbeque summer for 2009 – we don’t remember that – and a mild winter for this winter, which hasn’t happened. Why did you get a massive performance related bonus?“
h/t to Kate at SDA
Hot Air Windmill produces Electricity, Tanning, and “Carbon Chips”.
Patience Pending.
I’ve invented a “Hot Air Windmill” that politicians, bureaucrats, and warmists can wear like a hat. The propeller hangs in front of their face and is powered by that powerful air blast that comes out the mouth, as one sees in the Al Gore Ice Sculpture and from persons like Mr. Hirst.
This seemingly “endless power source” generates electricity that is then microwaved to the power grid.
Sadly, it’s not a 100% “green” process due to a byproduct of “brown waste” that comes out the bottom end. After a solar dehydration process however, the hot air byproduct would be pressed into “Carbon Chips” and could be valuable in carbon trading. Brown paper certificates could be issued for transactions while the actual “Chips” could be warehoused similar to gold in Ft. Knox.
An additional bonus is the second hand exposure to microwaves can give a great tan, year round for folks within a 10 meter radius.
Overall, it’s “Brown Gold” into Green. I can hear Sting singing “Fields of Gold” right now… the image is breathtaking, all those chips drying, but it’s probably just the smell… Carbon Trading really Stinks… politically, figuratively, and literally… really, really bad.
For a better life in the future on this planet, let’s vote out as many “warming calamitists” as soon as we can. AGW is really “tilting at windmills”… “hot air” windmills, that is. Enough!
ps:
(I had designed a windmill for both ends but the lower output was not reliable and was intermittent as source of hot air blasts and had an additional explosive gas risk for the generator brushes causing a “hot seat” situation. Oh well, back to the drawing board of fantasy…)
Met Office bonuses, etc: Well, at one time, civil (public) servants went about their unglamourous jobs for unglamourous salaries (but with job security and a reasonable pension) without fuss or particular flair.
It was actually a Tory government under Margaret Thatcher who decided that the civil (public) service should be more like “business” and so the culture of “performance bonuses” was born. It may have had some good effects in some areas, but by and large it is quite hard to measure performance where profit is not the main driving force of an enterprise. So now you get totally artificial performance targets and unrealistic and unjustifiable bonuses as a result.
Can we rewind 30 years and start again please?
What we seem to be seeing is a large redistribution of tropospheric heat energy with mid latitude regions cooling but equatorial regions remaining warm and high polar regions relatively warm.
In the process of that redistribution the air circulation patterns have shifted substantially equatorward but that in itself is merely an extension of the changes that should have been apparent to all observers of weather and climate since 2000.
Applying my general climate description I would say that the following is the likely explanation:
i) Generally a latitudinal shift in the air circulation patterns is ocean driven and since about 2000 the PDO has been trending to the negative phase so that gives a basic background cooling effect with an equatorward shift in all the air circulation systems.
ii) In contrast the Arctic Oscillation that controls the size and position of the northern polar high pressure systems (and the southern hemisphere equivalent) is driven by a combination of the speed of the hydrological cycle as dictated by the rate of ocean energy release and the speed at which the stratosphere can radiate energy to space which is driven by variations in the turbulence of the flow of energy from the sun. The SABER satellite results appear to show that the rate of loss of energy to space is greater when the sun is active and less when the sun is less active.
iii) At present the quiet sun is reducing the rate of energy loss to space and the stratosphere is warming. At the same time the 2009 El Nino has been pumping energy faster to the stratosphere. The combined effects have both been supplementing one another to increase the flows of energy up into and then downward out of the stratosphere to enhance the size of the polar high pressure cells and push them equatorward against the counter pressure from the El Nino.
iv) The result is cooling mid latitudes but warming equatorial and relatively warm (but still well below the freezing point of water) polar latitudes. That is a consequence of the negative Arctic Oscillation and the southern hemisphere equivalent allowing larger and more frequent exchanges of air between the polar and mid latitude regions.
If this situation were to last for long then the cooling mid latitude landmasses would reduce the temperature of the air flowing into the polar regions and allow faster cooling of the polar regions. Obviously the phenomenon is more pronounced in the northern hemisphere because of the greater land mass areas.
We will only get a weakening of the Arctic Oscillation and the southern hemisphere equivalent when the current El Nino fades and/or the sun starts awakening from the current solar minimum.
The extent to which the air circulation systems then move poleward again (if at all) will again depend upon a balance between the rate of energy release by the oceans and the level of solar activity.
It seems not to be the total solar irradiance (TSI) that matters but rather the level of solar turbulence that influences the rate at which the upper atmosphere can lose energy to space. Active sun counterintuitively results in more energy lost to space to more than offset any small increase in TSI.
This hypothesis can be readily tested by observations as the ENSO signal and the solar signal vary with time.
The average latitudinal position of the mid latitude jets and the strength of the Arctic Oscillation should be seen to respond as I have suggested.
Increased / decreased energy release by oceans sends air circulation systems poleward / equatorward.
Increased / decreased solar activity sends air circulation systems poleward / equatorward.
Regional climate depends on the position of a specific location in relation to the latitudinal position of the air circulation systems.
Global climate depends on net tropospheric temperature gain or loss from the solar / oceanic interaction.
Wow, How arrogant can anyone be!. Typical egg head caught out in a blatant lie!. Doesn’t even have the honesty to say “they made a mistake” Because they didn’t make a mistake they perpetrated a blatant LIE Global Warming!. Hey but its all right its not as though anyone will die because of the Met’s blatant political-science they wish to push!.
NewIceland ?
Yes, but it’s still pretty cold for the UK, even in winter!
An excellent point. Of course, had it not been for the AGW brain-washing of the last few decades, the current weather events would not be regarded as unusual events whatsoever for the northern hemisphere in January.
John R. Walker (12:35:39) :
Sitting here on the edge of Snowdonia in North Wales – the power is on but averaging around 160 Volts not 220-240V as it should be.[…]
Barry Foster (13:15:52) :
John R Walker. I’m no electrician, but isn’t it dangerous to get 160v when you should get 230v? I seem to remember that it can cause induction motors to catch fire. Is that correct, anyone?
Here in the USA it is common to see large commercial buildings with 480V 3-phase power, fed by a delta-wye transformer (delta-star). Since any leg of the three-phase to neutral is 277V you see 277V fluorescent building lighting used. Take the single-leg voltage, multiply by the square root of three (1.732), that gets you the voltage of the three phase system. Thus 277V single-phase yields 480V for the system. 120/240V single-phase is usually supplied by other transformers, going from the 480V between any two hot legs.
On the neighborhood level, one leg of the incoming high-voltage three phase is used to provide the single phase to individual houses, which may be split (center-tapped winding) for two hot legs and a neutral. To work backwards, with 160V incoming, times 1.732 yields 277V. It is expected in the UK to be 240V from hot to neutral, 480V between hots.
Without sitting down and doing annoying diagrams while I’m making supper, going by the numbers alone, it seems pretty clear there is a mis-wired transformer somewhere feeding the neighborhood high-voltage lines, likely at the step-down distribution station being fed by the really-high voltage transmission lines from the generation-level power grid. Actually there are probably three large single-phase transformers hooked together in the needed configurations, or at least they should be properly hooked up but are not.
And this is dangerous, as it is not at the voltages the transformers and other equipment wants. And induction motors may try to run at the lower voltage but will want more current, will yield more heat, besides other problems. This needs to be fixed, soon.
Interesting. Benson is my nearest observation station (according to bbc.co.uk/weather). One or two nights ago it showed -17°C.
(I wondered if that was actually a mistake, but maybe not).
As I type this it is -7°C.
It’s OK, part 2. The BBC has this report from yesterday. Slightly misleading headline, though.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8447262.stm
I look forward (with every expectation of disappointment) to similar cautioning comment next time it’s “the warmest/wettest xxx for xx years”.
I am so pleased to hear that it is warm in Canada. Thank you UK Met office.
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weathermaps/?ref=topnav_homepage_weathermaps
Now — what was that again? It is -13C outside today January 8 2010 18:37 local time. Normally at this time of year it is between -3 and + 3 depending on cold year / warm year. BRRRRHHHH!!!!
Just south of Lake Simcoe 100KM north of Toronto/Lake Ontario Shores.
Pass my regards to your forecasters. I am not saying they are lying — just that maybe they are not telling the truth.
Well the normally warmist Grauniad (sorry, that’s The Guardian, a UK newspaper, worthy, well intentioned and….annoying…) has an interesting story about snow, featuring (gasp!) The Little Ice Age:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/07/brief-history-snow-britain-charlie-english
Little Ice Age? In a warmist publication? Surely some mistake! But no, it’s all there, and stated as fact, not “the alleged Little Ice Age”.
However, don’t worry, the warmist flag is flown by one Deberah Orr in the same edition. I don’t know her, but she comes over as a “Glenda Slagg” figure (sorry, you need to have read “Private Eye” magazine to get that reference)…
This is the bit that got me (ah, this bit is not in the online version, so I will have to transcribe…apologies for any errors, mine:
[she is going on about tabloid headlines that say the current cold weather proves AGW is rubbish – she disagrees violently…]
So that’s all very scientific then, isn’t it!?
I would like to believe that this is some sort of self-parody, but I don’t think she is capable of such a thing. I think she actually believes this twaddle.
Email sent to SBS Television “the” Australian global warming channel,
snigger.
Hi,
Look, a big bouquet for the lack of reporting on the climategate emails, but a slam dunk brickbat for your reporting constantly, ad nauseum about the coolish northern hemisphere winter. Your reporting is lacking in balance and you are letting the AGW side down badly. You need to practice self censorship. I can hardly believe how SBS news readers, Janice Peterson in particular, can keep a straight face when delvering us snow and ice, night after night after night.
A frustrated SBS watcher.
“Mr. Hirst, you predicted a barbeque summer for 2009 – we don’t remember that – and a mild winter for this winter, which hasn’t happened. Why did you get a massive performance related bonus?”
Laughed out loud when I heard his response:
– –
0:22 “Well, let’s put my bonus to one side for the moment and let’s concentrate on the fine job that the Met Office have done in forecasting the current weather situation.” 0:32
– –
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8443687.stm
Retired Dave (08:29:13) :
‘Which is why a UK passport says Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the front.’
Actually they say ‘EUROPEAN UNION’ above ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’.
For some years, our wonderful old stiff-backed blue passports, of which we were proud, have been superseded by flimsy, purple booklets, worthy of a province of the EUSSR.
And since the Constitution was agreed by all, 27 is it now?, governments, but by the people of not a single nation except Ireland – who were, ironically also the only people to be given the chance to reject it, which they did – that is exactly what we have become; a province.
OK, it took me a while, but the evidence for MMGW is now overwhelming!
My question is, how do we persuade world governments that we need to rein in our CO2 emissions?
Would more generous funding to academia help or should our funding be better focussed on re-siting our weather monitoring stations to more urban areas?
How do we stop this selfish practise of Sodium Chloridation of the UK road network which directly threatens the survival of slugs and snails?
Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that the powers that be have, thanks to our excellent Met Office, have granted sanctuary for all the areas surrounding minor roads and pavements.
So you should Barry. Ask him a couple of questions about this quote from last year while you are at it:
“Despite the cold winter this year, the trend to milder and wetter winters is expected to continue, with snow and frost becoming less of a feature in the future. The famously cold winter of 1962/63 is now expected to occur about once every 1,000 years or more, compared with approximately every 100 to 200 years before 1850.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5034953/Snow-and-hail-to-end-spell-of-sunny-spring-weather.html
crosspatch (11:46:56) :
The “drought” is not due to lack of rainfall. It is due to judges sitting on benches ruling that water can not be stored or pumped from one location to another.
Ah, but they managed to pump a million acre feet from the Trinity Reservoir out of the basin into the Whiskeytown Reservoir, to send south to the Sacramento Valley. And they still complain about drought after stealing the Trinity Water.
TJA (13:37:00) :
“…and, as Kevin mentioned, Edmonton suffered thru -40C”
Good thing it wasn’t -40F 😉
LOL, good one TJA. 🙂
Here’s a link to a Cool Tools review of a cheap, lightweight, compact, efficient, low-impact wood- or alcohol (Sterno)-burning camp stove called the Littlbug. (No “e”.) have one and it’s very good:
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003640.php
I am an engineer with a very basic understanding of the laws of physics.
I am assured by both sides of this climate/CO2/Trade/Cap/Bung/Con/Mug/enough….. fiasco that some circa 10k years ago there was at least one mile of ice covering the part of the UK where I presently reside, which is right slap bang in the middle.
So, just for a minute look straight up above you and imagine ONE MILE OF SOLID ICE!
Take a while, let it sink in! ONE MILE OF SOLID, not your recently invented “rubbish ice” (much that I like that type in my g&t)) but big proper, beefy, strong, landscape forming ICE!
Now that ice above you has gone, melted and has gone to form what is now the wonderful, beautiful UK (without the present trash of politicians) that we are privileged to live in.
When somebody can fully explain the mechanics that shifted ONE MILE OF SOLID ICE from over my head I will pay attention!
And most importantly when they put forward the legislation that ensures that I will never ever have ONE MILE OF ICE over my head ever again I really will be impressed!
I am more and more convinced that we have amongst us a new species – homo superbus – Arrogant man – a species that professes to be able to control the temperature of this planet by legislation! WALOB! Brits will translate
M. Simon (09:26:47) :
I see Jesus in the photo. Funny thing is I’m Jewish.
So was Jesus. I’m Scots/German/Dutch, but I see Michael Jackson.
.
Remember, weather isn’t climate.
Barry Foster
Addition to my last on Peter Stott.
He explains how he knows his records are accurate here:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/science/explained/explained5.html
Not sure that they do any quality assurance on the supercomputer forecasting.
In the ‘odd results of weather category’, a rare, mainly North American event occurs in the UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/6950788/Snow-stories-rare-self-rolling-snow-balls-found-in-UK.html
Seems the UK doesn’t get these snow bales…
In the ‘it is even colder here category’, North Dakota was reporting -14F (-26C) without the wind at about 0400UTC.
Neil Crafter (13:52:03) :
I wonder when weather forecasters first started covering themselves by using percentages? As we know if you forecast there is a 30% chance of rain, and it doesn’t rain, then well it was in the 70% and the forecasters were right. If it does rain, well that was in the 30% and they are right also! They can never be wrong.
Here in the U.S., a forecast is for a specific area. A 30% chance of rain means that 30 percent of that forecast area WILL get rain.