Tag Archives: Christopher C. Burt

Dr. C. Burt on May Weather

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Topsy-Turvy Temperature Regime for U.S. this May

A strong surge of warm air is flowing into the central U.S. early this week dramatically rising temperatures from near record cold to near record heat at some locations. Meanwhile Alaska continues to be much colder than normal while Washington State much warmer than normal. Here is a brief review of the extremes.

The NWS office in Fairbanks, Alaska announced that the five week period of April 3 through May 7 was the coldest in station history (temperature records began in 1904) with an average of just 19.9°F (previous coldest such period was 20.6°F in 1924). As of today (May 13) the city has not seen an above normal daily temperature since April 2nd. A record daily low for May 13th was set with a 22° reading (old record 26° in 1938). Further north, temperatures fell below zero (-6°F at Killick Pass and -5°F at Antigun Pass) on May 13th as well. The 10° at Bettles beat its previous record low for the date by a full 10° (old record 20° in 2007) and is the coldest temperature ever recorded here so late in the season.

Meanwhile, Washington State enjoyed a record warm spell between May 5-11. In Seattle (at the Sea-Tac Airport site) the temperature rose from a daily record low of 37° on May 1st to record highs of 80° on May 5, 87° on May 6, and 80° on May 11. The 87° on May 6 was the warmest ever recorded so early in the season. Yakima, Washington saw an amazing string of six consecutive days above 90° from May 6-11. The average high for this period is 70°. Like Seattle, May 1st was a record or near-record cold morning in Yakima with a 26° reading just shy of the all-time May record of 25° (set on May 1, 1954). By May 10th the temperature peaked at 97°, the 3rd daily record high in a row (94° on May 8, 95° on May 9) and was also the warmest ever measured so early in the season. It was also the warmest temperature recorded anywhere in the U.S. for that day.

At this time a dramatic warm up is taking place in the central U.S. Chicago saw a low of 36° this morning (May 13) above its record for the date (30° in 1938) but by Tuesday it is expected to be as warm as 87°, a 51° rise in one day which, if it occurs, will be one the greatest one-day warm ups in the city’s history. The greatest was 58° from 0° on February 13, 1887 to 58° on February 14, 1887. Rockford, Illinois saw a near record low of 33° on May 13 (record is 32° set in 1938) and is expected to hit close to 90° on May 14 (record is 92° in 2007). The greatest one-day temperature rise in Rockford’s history was 63° (from 30° on April 9, 1930 to 93° on April 10, 1930). Bismarck, North Dakota measured 23° on May 12th (record for date was 20° in 1888) and reached a high of 91° on May 13 (tying record of 91° in 1932). Pierre, South Dakota saw a record daily low of 25° on May 12 which warmed up to 93° on May 13 (short of the record high of 99° set in 1941). The temperature rose 70° in Aberdeen, South Dakota from the low of May 12th (22°) to the high of May 13th (92°) and the story was just about the same in Huron where 26° on May 12 (1° short of the record 25° set in 1971) rose to 93° on May 13 (record 95° in 1894). Fargo, North Dakota which hadn’t seen its temperature rise above 50° all winter and spring until April 26th (the latest on record for such), spiked up to 93° on May 13th. It was just 24° the day before (May 12th).

Surface temperature map and wind flow for the Upper Midwest at 1 p.m. CST on May 13th. Note the almost 55° spread in temperatures from the Lake Superior area to the central Plains.

The warm surge will be much welcome for the folks in Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie measured 5.9” of snowfall on May 11-12, one of its greatest May snowfalls on record (the snowiest month of May was in 1927 when 7.9” accumulated). Gaylord, Michigan (in the north-central portion of the Lower Peninsula) had a high of just 35° on May 12th, the coldest daily high ever measured during the month of May. They also picked up 2.0” of snow.

Huge wet flakes of snow accumulate in Kalkaska, Michigan on May 12. This was one of the heaviest, latest snowfalls the area has ever seen. By Wednesday or Thursday the cold and snow should be just a memory as temperatures are expected to soar into the 70°s here. Photo by Sarah Robinson for The Weather Channel.

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=156

C. Burt on Recent Weather Extremes

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Snow in Mexico and Southwest Texas, Record Heat in Australia
Published: 8:49 PM GMT on January 04, 2013

Snow in Mexico and Southwest Texas, Record Heat in Australia

El Paso, Texas picked up 3.0” of snow (officially at the NWS office) on Thursday and Friday this week and heavy snow fell in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico about 200 miles south of El Paso. How unusual is this?

The answer is that it is not unusual to see snowfall in Chihuahua (or El Paso). The city of Chihuahua (pop. 840,000) rests at an altitude of 4,600’ (1,400 meters) and is one of Mexico’s coldest cities during the winter. About 2” of snow fell there on Thursday and the temperature fell to 32°F (0°C) during the duration of the snowfall between 2p.m.-6p.m. On average Chihuahua can expect one or two days of measureable snow every winter. It’s greatest snowfall on record is apparently 40 cm (about 16”) at some undisclosed date in the past.

A deep snow (about 6-8”) blanketed Chihuahua, Mexico on Christmas Eve, 2004. Such events are not as uncommon as one might suppose. Photographer unknown.

Mexico’s coldest temperature on record was also recorded in the Chihuahua State at the village of Valerio when a reading of -28.5°C (-19.3°F) was measured on January 30, 1949.

A map shows Mexico’s absolute minimum temperatures for the POR of 1941-1977 in C°. Note the large area of below zero F° (-18°C or lower) isotherms that reach far south of the border and into the Chihuahua region. The map has an apparent error so far as the -14°C isothermal line is concerned. Map from the Mexican Meteorlogical Department.

El Paso, Texas normally sees a few snowfalls every winter as well, even though it is a bit lower than Chihuahua at 3,700’ (1,140 m) but, of course, much further north. El Paso’s greatest snowfall on record was 22.4” on December 13-15, 1987 (about the same as Chicago’s record!) of which 16.8” fell in one 24-hour period. During the great cold wave of January 1962 the temperature fell to an all-time record low of -8°F (-22.2°C) on January 11th.

Some elevated suburbs of El Paso received as much as 8” from the recent storm. Ironically, the official 3” at the NWS office means that the city has now had three times more snowfall this season than Chicago, which continues its record-breaking streak of snowless weather.

Hot in Australia

All-time record highs were broken at several Australian sites in Western Australia. Red Rocks Point topped the list off with a 48.6°C (119.5°F) reading on January 3rd. Eucla, which sits right on the coast of the Great Australian Bight, measured a record 48.2°C (118.8°F). Perth had its hottest New Year’s Eve on record (and 3rd warmest December day) when the heat peaked at 42.1°C (107.8°F) on December 31st. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 45°C (113°F) today (January 4th) in portions of South Australia and New South Wales. Australia’s hottest temperature on record is 50.7°C (123.3°F) at Oodnadatta, South Australia on January 2, 1960.

Hobart, Tasmania broke its all-time heat record on Friday with a 41.8°C (107.2°F) reading. The previous record was 40.8°C (105.4°F) set in January 1976. The POR for this site in Hobart is 126 years old.

A wild fire swept through the town of Dunalley in southeast Tasmania briefly heating the weather site’s thermometer to 59.9°C (140°F) at one point Friday afternoon (at 4:22 p.m.). Winds were gusting to 82 km/h at the time.

KUDOS:Howard Rainford for Australian temperatures.

Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/article.html

Weather Historian C.C. Burt on July’s extreme Temps Worldwide

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Recap of record-breaking heat this past July in the U.S. + Asian heat record?
Published: 8:52 PM GMT on August 02, 2012

Recap of record-breaking heat this past July in the U.S. Possible new heat record for Asia observed

Although the final ranking of this past July will not be released by the NCDC until around August 7th, it would appear that the month will almost certainly rank in the top five warmest July’s on record since official records began in 1895 (and perhaps even in the top three). Here is a summary of some of the more notable records set so far this summer. In addition, I have included a brief message concerning a potential new heat record for the continent of Asia.

Although this map is specifically for July 5th, it represents the overall pattern that most of the country has been stuck with for almost the entire month of July 2012.

Warmest Single Month on Record (any month)

Preliminary data from the NCDC reports that 4,313 record daily highs, 293 monthly record highs, and 171 all-time record highs were observed this past July (among the approximately 5,500 various official weather sites across the nation). Many of these sites, however, have limited periods of record that do not extend back to the 1930s when the country’s greatest heat waves occurred.

The WU extremes U.S. database follows 298 significant sites in the country, all of which have long periods of record (almost all back to the 19th century) and represent a mosaic of evenly spaced geographic locations representing all the climate zones in the country. About 90% of the country’s population resides within a 50-mile radius of one of these sites. From this list the following cities recorded their single-warmest month on record:

The following cities from the WU extremes database have broken or tied their all-time absolute maximum temperatures on record (including this past June):

Comparing this July to July of 2011

Perhaps what is truly astonishing is that this July (2012) piggybacks upon the equally torrid summer (and July) of 2011. Although, back-to-back record-breaking hot summers are not unheard of (summers in the 1930s and 1950s come to mind) it is nevertheless disconcerting.

Here is a comparison of extremes reached in July 2012 versus July 2011. Also, to put this in context, is a comparison to July of 1936, still almost certainly the hottest July (and single month) in U.S. records. Again this list includes only the 298 cities in the WU database:

This table shows the number of cities (out of 298 in all) that recorded their respective single-warmest month on record and absolute maximum temperature on record for the June-July month timeframes in 2012, 2011, and 1936.

Honorable Mentions

Other major cities came VERY close to breaking their all-time warmest single month on record including Washington, D.C. (National Airport) with a July average of 84.0° just shy of the record 84.5° set last July (2011). The Dulles Airport location was also close with 80.6° vs. 81.0° in July 2011. Raleigh, North Carolina averaged 83.5°, shy of their record 84.1° set in August 2007. Chicago, Illinois official site at O’Hare Airport registered an average of 81.1° just short of the 81.3° record set in July 1995. However, the Chicago Midway Airport location, which is more representative of the city itself and also has a much longer period of record (POR) than O’Hare, smashed its all-time warmest month record with an average of 82.6° versus 81.3° in July 1955. Louisville, Kentucky experienced its warmest ever July with an average of 84.5°, but fell short of its single-hottest-month record of 85.0° set in August 2007. Madison, Wisconsin (home of my alma matter!) has just endured its 2nd hottest month on record with a 79.4° average, just short of the record 79.8° set way back in July 1901.

Of course, this is just a short list of the many amazing ‘heat feats’ this past July. I should also mention a couple of the many endurance records that have been set:

Fort Wayne, Indiana: 22 consecutive days above 90° ending on July 18 (old record was 14).

St. Louis, Missouri: 11 days above 105° (old record was 10 in 1934). Also, St. Louis tied its warmest night on record with a low of 86° on July 25th (also occurred on July 24, 1901).

New Asian Heat Record Set?

On a similar topic but different continent, I have late word in from temperature detective Maximiliano Herrera that on July 31st a temperature of 53.6°C (128.5°F) was measured at Sulaibya (Sulaibiya), Kuwait. This location is on the outskirts of Kuwait city and is a water treatment facility.

A Google map image of the location in Kuwait of Sulaibya. Google Earth image.

Although the Kuwaiti meteorological office must make a final determination towards the records validity, a local expert, Dr. Juergen Herrmann (Team Leader Meteorology Specialists, Stanley Consultants, Int’l based in Kuwait) has the following comments in response to a request from Max for additional details:

“We are aware of the new record temperatures. There is no reason why these should not be considered records. Everything is technically OK at the station. You may have detected that the same day we had quiet an amount of other stations in the “vicinity” also have high to record temperatures.

The microclimate at this agro-station is surrounded by high sand dunes and thus has very low wind speeds at 2m height [which] results in a local heat island. Therefore I would not consider this temperature representative for an area bigger than 0.5×0.5km. The next station to Sulaibiya which gives a proper picture for the surrounding area is Jahra – 40586 – and had maximum temperature at the same day of 51.8 deg C. To my best guess this verifies both stations are working properly. Especially as a number of other stations also had really high temperatures that day due to generally low wind speeds with nearly no dust reducing the incoming solar radiation.”

If verified, this would surpass the 53.5°C (128.3°F) measured at Moen Jo-Daro, Pakistan on May 26, 2010. The reading of 54°C (129.2°F) from Tirat Tsvi, Israel on June 22, 1942 remains under suspicion. The Israeli Met. Office pursued an investigation of the record this past year (prompted by an enquiry from the WMO and myself) and concluded it was valid. However, they have refused to make public the details leading to their conclusions, so until they do so the record remains suspect.

KUDOS: Maximiliano Herrera for uncovering yet another possible world record temperature.

Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/article.html