539 new snowfall records were also set.
Since we are often treated to lists of record high temperatures when heat waves occur and they are improperly linked to global warming (like in Russia’s heat wave this summer), I thought it only fair that I show the number of record cold and snow records around the USA for the past week that aren’t linked to global warming.
Of course it wouldn’t be fair to show just the lows temperatures and snow, so here are the high temperature records for the USA in the past week.
And here’s just the lows:
The summary of new records of interest for the past week in the USA :
| Snowfall: | 539 |
| High Temperatures: | 18 |
| Low Temperatures: | 336 |
| Lowest Max Temperatures: | 278 |
Lows outnumbered highs by a factor of 19 (336/18=18.6 ~19). That’s quite the cold snap.*
The coldest?
Deadhorse, Alaska, on Sunday, 26 Dec 2010 at -40°F beating -38°F set in 1984
*Note: some people clicking on the interactive map will see different numbers, since that map will record new highs and lows as this post ages. The headline was originally based on 16 highs during the week (see the highs map for a ratio of 21 to 1) then by the time the post editing was completed and the post made, the number of highs was up to 18, giving an 18.6 to 1 (~19 to 1 in the title) ratio. Later in the day the number of record highs in the one week period increased as new weather occurred (on Dec 31) and reports came in. The numbers were accurate at the time the post started. Weather records, like weather itself are dynamic with the forward moving one week period the interactive map generator uses, so please don’t assume error if you click on the interactive map and the numbers don’t match now, or in the future. – Anthony
Peter 5.25am says Just be thankful it’s only minus 40F and not minus 40C 😉
I did enjoy that. The childish thing is not just getting the joke but being one of the insiders who spotted it! I feel both smug and cross for feeling smug!
Speaking of outliers:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/30/botched-environmental-forecasts/
Climate is like a moving train, it will not stop on a dime but will keep heading in the general direction of whatever drove it that way, long after the driving forces have switched. The Alarmists mistake this for climate disruption as proof of their one-track-minded theory. They’ll never get it right.
I call the stage we are in right now the ‘penalty ice box’. Even if the climate drivers were to shift warm tomorrow, it would be years before the climate reversed direction. Object in motion/stopping distance
Peter Miller says:
“December 31, 2010 at 7:28 am
You people are terrible – it’s time to think of the polar bears!
No one cares about these poor creatures, so get your wallets out now.”
I think its high time WUWT adopted two polar bears-we could call them Jim and Michael- and if we fitted a bearcam to them we could follow their exciting exploits, just as we do the summer sea ice pages.
tonyb
R. Shearer says:
“At least a portion of a 0.75C rise over the past 100 years is due to AGW.”
Yes, but it is a very small proportion: click.
It appears that most of the increase in CO2 is not from human emissions, but probably as a result of prior natural warming, since CO2 lags temperature.
PS: Kudos to Pamela Gray for admitting she had a fact wrong [I was under the same mistaken assumption]. CAGW believers tend to either keep silent, disappear for a few days, or change the subject when presented with contrary facts.
Thanks, Anonymous Howard, for adding to my geographical knowledge with that great photo.
John Day says:
December 31, 2010 at 5:15 am
Anthony, there are more thermometers in the Southeast than the West. So is it fair to base a claim on the number of records broken? Also, the Western thermometers were spread over a wider region than the SouthEast. (Just playing Devil’s Advocate here)
Sorry, you fail as an advocate of the Devil simply because you expect something to be “fair”. {grin}
I believe Anthony is pointing out, quite successfully in my opinion, that while these lows may or may not be significant, their lack of coverage in the main stream media at the same level it would be covered if they were high temps, is significant.
Just an observation.
“Global Climate Disruption” disrupted by Nature
” TFN Johnson says:
December 31, 2010 at 4:44 am
Why no mention that Arctic sea ice cover was clearly the lowest ever recorded thru December?”
The rate of accumulation is approximately the same as for every other year. The difference from year to year of when this amount has accumulated changes but the rates are pretty consistent. So here’s a question for you – why does it matter? Nobody knows what the level of accumulation should be on Dec. 31 of each year. All we have is a brief record which is hardly a representation of what is normal. Take this moment in the spotlight and assure us you know what the ice level should be on this day of this year and if it shouldn’t be what it is, present why. And don’t rely on using the 1979-present data average as that is simply too short to be representative of a norm.
BillD says, “In the US and Canada for many months, in fact the year overall, the ratio of record highs to lows was over 2:1.”
Can I ask you for a source? We have not broken a single record all year here in northern Alberta.
Denver got down to -3 deg F last night for a departure from normal of -9 deg F.
Although here in the suburbs north west of the metro area I recorded 1.3 deg F as the minimum.
For the month Denver is still listed as +4.9 deg F departure from normal, but that will likely change in the next few days (although we will be in a new month/year), as we are expected to dip into sub zero temps tonight.
These warm fall days in early December followed by cold snaps are not unusual. In fact the local weather forecasters talk about the “warm before the storm” as approaching cold fronts cause compressional heating just before they arrive.
For old timers who have lived through a few of our winters, a really warm day in December is mother natures way of saying check your antifreeze in the car, put the snow tires on, fill the gas tank and run to the grocery store, as it might be subzero tomorrow.
Add the effects of chinook down slope winds off the mountains and we can have 50 deg F temperature swings in a matter of hours if conditions are right.
In just a week we will be in the time period when some of our most severe cold can set in, as an example the records set in January of 1962 and 1963. It will be interesting to see if this January comes in the same way.
Larry
“Why no mention that Arctic sea ice cover was clearly the lowest ever recorded thru December?”
Probably because that “record” only goes back to 1979 so saying “lowest ever recorded” is rather meaningless as there is anecdotal evidence that sea ice was as low or lower in the 1920’s.
A look at the record temperatures where I live shows that we have not broken a warm temperature since 1981 or a cold temperature since 1950. We have come close to breaking both of these in the past 20 years. That said, I do not have much fear of breaking the 34.5 C extreme heat temperature of August 9, 1981. However, my feeling about exceeding the record cold of -52.2 C on January 2, 1950, is quite a different story. I don’t think people realise the dangers of extreme cold unless they have experienced it first hand.
Our record daily snowfall was established in 1957.
Extreme snow depth, 1982.
My favourite, the extreme wind chill record of -63, established in 1953.
The Kid From Bristol on December 31, 2010 at 3:19 am says:
“Other cities figured there’s no use beating a Deadhorse.”
LOL! Yes, no use being a sado-necro-bestialist!
🙂
Pamela Gray says:
December 31, 2010 at 8:08 am
“And I would add that poor Pamela Gray needs to go back to grade school Geography.”
========================================================
Indeed, it appears myself, too. All this time, I thought the U.S. had a large ocean separating us from Europe. Imagine my surprise when I find that the U.S. has been in Western Europe all this time.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-uk-may-be-cold-but-its-still-a-warm-world-says-met-office-chief-2165492.html#disqus_thread
“This is not a global event; it is very much confined to the UK and Western Europe…” sez Dr. Julia Slingo, head of the UK’s Met office.
This geological shift is confirmed by the world famous American scientist Jim Hansen. http://redgreenandblue.org/2010/12/12/yes-cold-weather-in-europe-still-means-global-warming/
Obviously, given the level of expertise these two brilliant examples of climatology have, I’ve no choice but to come to the conclusion my geography teachers weren’t aware of a continental shift back from whence we came.
Even imagined warming makes the headlines.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tea-off-Indias-farmers-say-apf-3453251374.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
Climate change is now affecting tea – for the worst, of course.
Just have to say, this summer noticed many wasps nests built low to the ground, in one location only one foot above.
When bringing in our heating wood, a bit late this year due to rain we noticed many earth worms frozen right on top of the (pea gravelled driveway) ground directly under the wood. Normally bring wood in after a hard freeze to keep the inside bug count down, didn’t work this year – still finding one or two on inside window sills every week.
The ribbons of migratory birds left about a month later than normal and in fact the herons were still around last week. Last big flocks of geese went – east in mid Dec.
I said, we’re going to have a milder winter, maybe lots of snow, but nothing like the last few years and so far I’ve been half right and I was only guessing. Only needed one plough out thus far… and that’s not normal, usually have had at least 4 or 5 by now. A walk in the nearby woods yesterday, noticed the ground is soggy underfoot, not firm and frozen and in spots, no snow. Smaller waterways have not frozen over yet either.
Right now I’ve watched the temps outside at night “rise” instead of plunging like normal, night after night, which is great for the wood consumption. At this rate we’ll have half our wood in for next winter.
Makes up for the awful harsh winters we’ve had of late and lousy damp cool summers.
Currently we’re sitting at +8.9 C with just clouded over skies. They predicted we’d be at +1c to +4c above today. Even burning the embers down in the stove this morning heated the house inside to, 27.5C, had to open a window and are planning a BBQ New Years Eve dinner tonight.
Don’t like to see folks suffer freezing cold weather where they normally are not accustomed to dealing with it… but I am liking this mild winter for us thus far, helps make up for the past couple of damp cool summers and very cold snowy winters.
And if it helps debunk the earth is getting too hot myth I’ll suffer mild winters gladly.
Happy New Year to all from a cozy warm house midway between Ottawa and Montreal.
Can someone remind me: what is this ” 1200 km ” figure that’s
been mentioned a couple of times ….. ?
Im puzzled by the claim of AGW proponents that global warming will produce more intense storms. A caveat of first year meteorology is that the intensity of mid latitude storms is controlled by the temperature contrast between cold arctic air and warmer southern air masses. If AGW theory is correct then arctic will warm preferentially and a warmer arctic should lead to a reduction of latitudinal temperature contrasts and dampened storm intensities. Ice core records show that during interglacials storms were less frequent and intense. .
Record highs in Southern Oregon? It has been snowing on and off in the valley where I live for the past few days and this morning the grass was covered in a thick frost. The mountains have been white with snow every time I’ve looked….
I don’t buy for one minute that we have “record highs” here.
Britain
“Official! December coldest for 120 years”
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/official-december-coldest-for-120-years-2173012.html
tonyb says:
December 31, 2010 at 9:09 am
“I think its high time WUWT adopted two polar bears-we could call them Jim and Michael- . . . ”
I think its high time WUWT adopted two polar bears-we couldfeed them Jim and Michael-
There. Fixed. — Just kidding! I love those guys; what would we do without them?
Happy New Year
TFN Johnson says:
December 31, 2010 at 4:44 am
Why no mention that Arctic sea ice cover was clearly the lowest ever recorded thru December?
=================================
Because that is not the subject of this thread, and, frankly, 31 years of “ever recorded” does not mean much at all.
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
OT, but I’ve always wondered why people say that (“both”). Could you ever have just ONE the same, and not the other?
“They are the same.”
Larry(Hotrod)
We in NE Oregon have a similar climate- more like the West Slope. Grand Junction
say, bit more desert and Mountain, than Denver, but, when those warm winds preceed
a front, my Granma called a warm windy day a “Weather Breeder.” meaning time to look out!”
Pamela Gray- those stories about Seneca back in the 30’s and 40’s were confirmed by my Uncle who was a Locomotive Engineer for the Mt. Emily Lumber Co. in Starkey maybe 60 miles north of Seneca.
He had tales that sounded like Alaska interior or the Yukon. Steam worked real well
during those times. They had a little GE-60 tonner diesel that wouldn’t fire up
at all-so it set until it thawed out… But the Lima Shays kept chugging away at -40F or
below….
Anonymous Howard says:
December 31, 2010 at 5:44 am
Both statistics are equally meaningful (and therefore equally meaningless).
======================================
Nice Newspeak, Anonymous Howard! I figured “your people” speak that language.
Also, the sloshing back of records of warm and cold all fall in a category which is called, and I know “your people” don’t have it in their vocabulary…
Its two words: na-tur-al var-i-bil-i-ty.
Also, this little bubble of warmth which caused those warm records last week in the west and is being scooted eastward today by that vigorous trough digging into the west (and unfortunately causing todays killer tornados), may just have been: the “January thaw” come early.
Indeed, looking at the latest ECMWF and GFS prognostications into the month of January, it looks like a lot of blue and purple for the USA.
The cards now hold some intense cold in the coming weeks as, as Bastardi and others at AW point out the 10mb forecast warming over the Arctic, which may put a squeeze down on the ole’ tropopause and really force some bitter bitter air down and out, flooding the continents in the temperate lats with some really bitter air.
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
You just don’t get it. Don’t you know that more cold is ‘consistent’ with warming?