Climate: U.S. temps below average in March

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Coolest March readings since 1966, but drought eases in some areas

Maps compiled by NOAA show the contrast between temperatures in March 2012 and March 2013.

Maps compiled by NOAA show the contrast between temperatures in March 2012 and March 2013.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — With an average temperature that was .9 degrees below the 20th century average, the contiguous 48 U.S. states recorded the coldest March readings since 2002, when the monthly average was a whopping 2.2 degrees below average.

The monthly readings mark a huge contrast from one year ago, when the U.S. recorded its warmest-ever March, according to the National Climatic Data Center, which released the monthly State of the Climate report today (April 15). (more…)

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January brings record warmth to southern hemisphere

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Global land and sea surface temps tied with 1995 as ninth-warmest

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January 2013 marks the 335th month with global temps above average.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Southern hemisphere land areas reported their warmest January readings on record, including Australia, where January 2013 was the hottest month ever recorded, according to NOAA climate scientists, who released the global state of the climate report this week. A slide show from the presentation is online here.

The Southern Hemisphere was record warm over land for the second month in a row. Record high monthly temperatures were observed over northeastern Brazil, much of southern Africa, and northern and central Australia. No land areas in the Southern Hemisphere were cooler than average.

While some northern hemisphere land areas reported below-average temperatures for the month, global land and sea surface temperature averaged out to tie with 1995 as the ninth-warmest on record, at .97 degrees above the 20th century average of 53.6 degrees. Even with cooler than average readings in some parts of the northern hemisphere, the average temperature was still 1.48 degrees above average, the 21st-warmest January on record.

(more…)

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Climate: September 2012 ties 2005 as warmest ever

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

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2012 likely to be warmest La Niña year on record

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — You know something is up when the incessant shrieks from global warming deniers get louder than ever. Last week’s refrain was, “global warming ended 16 years ago,” based on  incomplete and cherry picked data from the UK.

Instead, the official numbers just released by the National Climatic Data Center show that Sept. 2012 tied 2005 for the warmest global September on record since 2005, despite the fact that the U.S. (only a small percentage of the globe) didn’t come close to setting a record average high temperature. Read the full report here. (more…)

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Global warming: May the second-warmest on record; 2012 now tracking toward warmest year ever in contiguous U.S.

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Almost every state reported above-average temperatures in May 2012.

March-May seasonal reading 5 degrees above long-term average

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — May temperatures across the U.S. were 3.3 degrees above the long-term average, making it the second-warmest May on record for the country, according to the monthly state of the climate report from the National Climatic Data Center.

The March to May spring season (5 degrees above average), and the year-to-date are both the warmest on record. (more…)

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April 2012 the 5th-warmest on record for Planet Earth

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Northern hemisphere snow cover well below average for the month

Red indicates above-average temperatures in this global map of April 2012 temperature anomalies. IMAGE COURTESY NOAA/NCDC.

Northern hemisphere snow cover extent has been trending below normal in April.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Very warm land-surface temperatures around the world helped propel April 2012 into the top five warmest Aprils on record for the planet, marking the largest departure from 20th century averages since Nov. 2010, at the beginning of a two-year La Niña episode.

The combined global average land and sea surface temperature for the month was 57.87 degrees, more than one degree above the long-term norm, according the National Climatic Data Center monthly summary. It was the 36th April in a row with above-average readings. The last time April temps were below average was in 1976.

Despite the remnant effects of a fading La Niña, the global average sea surface temperature was .68 degrees above the 20th century average, the 11-warmest on record. (more…)

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Climate: March 2012 the 16th-warmest on record

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

North America and northwestern Europe locations set high temperature records, with colder-than-average readings in Australia and much of Russia

NOAA's March map shows warm and cold anomalies on land masses and over the oceans.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —A record heat wave in the eastern and central U.S. helped push March 2012 into the top 20 hottest years on record for planet Earth, with an average global temperature that was .83 degrees above the 20th century average. The last time global March temperatures were below average was in 1976; the last month on record with below average temps was February 1985, according to the monthly update from the National Climatic Data Center.

Overall, March 2012 was the 16th-warmest March on record, but the coolest since 1999. Global temperatures were marked by extreme warmth and cold across most land masses, especially in the northern hemisphere’s mid- and high latitudes, with warmer-than-average readings across most of Canada, the contiguous United States, Mexico, Argentina, Europe, and parts of northern and central Russia. (more…)

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Climate: January sizzles; U.S. temps 4th-warmest ever

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

U.S. Snow-cover extent the third-lowest on record

Every state but Washington reported above- to well-above average temps during January 2012.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a moderate La Niña in the Pacific, January temperatures across the U.S. climbed to near-record levels for the month, according to the National Climatic Data Center monthly stats released today.

The average temperature, compiled from hundreds of weather stations across the country, was 5.5 degrees above the 1901-2000 average, making it the fourth-warmest January on record.

The warm readings were also reflected by the lack of snow cover across the country, reported as the third-lowest in the 46-year satellite record. Warmth — along with unusual weather events including spring-like tornadoes — were widespread across the country, as nine states reported top-ten January temperatures. (more…)

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Global warming: October 2011 the 10th-warmest on record

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Northern hemisphere snow cover, Arctic sea ice extent well below average for the month

Year-to-date temperatures have been above average across most of the planet. GRAPHIC COURTESY NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Planet Earth stayed warm in October, with combined average land and ocean-surface temperatures coming in at 1.04 degrees above the 20th century average, a reading that made it the 10th-warmest October on record, and the second-warmest for land surface temperatures alone, according to the global summary issued this week by the National Climatic Data Center.

On the whole, October 2011 was much warmer than normal compared with previous Octobers. On average, land areas across the Northern Hemisphere — where the majority of the Earth’s land mass is located — were the warmest on record for the month, at 2.32 degrees above the 20th century average.

Despite early snowfall in some parts of the Rockies and in the Northeast, northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during October was below average, ranking as the 15th smallest October snow cover extent in the 44-year period of record. The North America and Eurasian land areas both had below-average snow cover during the month.

And while global warming deniers were busy trumpeting Arctic sea ice growth, the fact is that the average Arctic sea ice extent in October was 23.5 percent below average for the month, ranking as the second smallest October extent since satellite records began in 1979. The extent was 2.19 million square kilometers (846,000 square miles) below average and 330,000 square kilometers (127,000 square miles) above the record low October extent set in 2007. (more…)

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Climate: October temps above average again

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Early season snowstorms aren’t a sign of global-warming slowdown

Average October temps across the country were nearly a full degree above average, but cooler than normal readings prevailed in Summit County.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a record-setting Nor’easter — and to the likely frustration of cherry-picking global warming skeptics, who claim that global warming has stopped — October was another warm month across the United States, with the average at 0.9 degrees above the 1901-2000 average.

Eighteen states reported monthly temperatures readings above their long-term averages, while 11 states reported readings below the monthly average. In the Pacific Northwest , in the central and southern plains, and parts of the Midwest reported near average temperatures for October. Most of the states with below average readings were in the Southeast, which was the coolest region for the month, according to the monthly report from the National Climatic Data Center. (more…)

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Sept. 2011 the 8th-warmest on record for the globe

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Nearly all land areas showed above-average readings

Global land surface temperatures were once again well above average in Sept. 2011.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite a strengthening La Niña and a continuing cold phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, global temperatures stayed well above average in September, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

In its monthly report, the center said the combined global land and sea surface temperature was 59.95 degrees, the eighth-warmest on record at almost 1 degree above the 20the century average.

Land temperatures alone were 1.57 degrees above average, the fourth-warmest on record, while the average global sea surface temperature was 0.72 degrees above average.

For the year-to-date, the global land surface temperature was 1.44 degrees above average, making 2011 the fourth-warmest year on record.

From the report:

Europe, northern and western Africa, western Russia, the western and northeastern United States, Canada, and Mexico observed the warmest anomalies, while it was cooler than average across much of eastern Asia, and parts of the central United States.

Europe, northern and western Africa, western Russia, the western and northeastern United States, Canada, and Mexico observed the warmest anomalies, while it was cooler than average across much of eastern Asia, and parts of the central United States.

Compiled from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for September 2011, published online October 2011, retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/.

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