January global temperatures 11th - 17th warmest on record
January 2011 was the globe's 17th warmest January on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies rated January the 11th warmest on record. January 2011 global ocean temperatures were the 11th warmest on record, and land temperatures were the 29th warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were average,the 16th or 17th coolest in the 34-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH). The global cool-down from November, which was the warmest November on record for the globe, was due in large part to the on-going moderate strength La Niña episode in the Eastern Pacific. The large amount of cold water that upwells to the surface during a La Niña typically causes a substantial cool-down in global temperatures. Notably, the January 2011 global ocean temperature was the warmest on record among all Januaries when La Niña was present. The ten warmest Januaries occurred during either El Niño or neutral conditions.
FIgure 1. Departure of temperature from average for January 2011. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
The coldest places on the globe in January, relative to average, were Mongolia, Southern Siberia, and China. China recorded its coldest January since 1977, and second coldest January since national records began in 1961. Record or near-record warm conditions were experienced in Northeast Canada, Western Greenland and Northern Siberia.
A cold and dry January for the U.S.
For the contiguous U.S., January temperatures were the 37th coldest in the 116-year record, and it was the coldest January since 1994, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Despite the heavy snows in the Northeast U.S., January was the 9th driest January since 1895. This was largely due to the fact that the Desert Southwest was very dry, with New Mexico recording its driest January, and Arizona and Nevada their second driest.
Sea ice extent in the Arctic lowest on record during January
January 2011 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent was the lowest on record in January, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This was the second consecutive month of record low extent. Satellite records extend back to 1979. The area of missing ice was about twice the size of Texas, or 60% the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Ice was notably absent in Northeast Canada and Western Greenland, and Hudson Bay did not freeze over until mid-January, more than a month later than usual. This was the latest freeze-up on record, and led to record warmth over much of Northeast Canada. Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island had its warmest January on record, 1.1°C above the previous record set in 1985. Weather records for the station go back to 1942.
An incredible 110° temperature swing in 1 week in Oklahoma
The temperature in Bartlesville, Oklahoma shot up to a record 82°F yesterday, just seven days after the city hit -28°F on February 10. This 110°F temperature change has to be one of the greatest 1-week temperature swings in U.S. history. The -31°F that was recorded in nearby Nowata last week has now been certified by the National Weather Service as the new official all-time coldest temperature ever recorded in Oklahoma. What's more, the 27 inches of snow that fell on Spavinaw, Oklahoma during the February 8 - 9 snowstorm set a new official state 24-hour snowfall record. The previous record was 26", set on March 28, 2009, in Woodward and Freedom.
A 100+ degree temperature change in just six days is a phenomenally rare event. I checked the records for over twenty major cities in the Midwest in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana, and could not find any examples of a 100-degree temperature swing in so short a period of time. The closest I came was a 108° swing in temperature in fourteen days at Valentine, Nebraska, from -27°F on March 11, 1998 to 82°F on March 25, 1998. Valentine also had a 105°F temperature swing in fifteen days from November 29, 1901 (71°F) to December 14, 1901 (-34°F.) Our weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, lists the world record for fastest 24-hour change in temperature as the 103°F warm-up from -54° to 49° that occurred on January 14 - 15, 1972, during a chinook wind in Lowe, Montana. This week's remarkable roller coaster ride of temperatures in Oklahoma is truly a remarkable event that has few parallels in recorded history.
Tropical Cyclone Carlos' deluge abates
Darwin, Australia suffered its greatest 24-hour rainfall in its history on Wednesday, when a deluge of 13.4 inches (339.4 mm) hit the city when Tropical Cyclone Carlos formed virtually on top of city and remained nearly stationary. Carlos has now dissipated, and brought only an additional 1.50" (38 mm) of rain yesterday to Darwin. Over the past four days, Carlos has dumped a remarkable 26.87" (682.6 mm) of rain on Darwin (population 125,000), capital of Australia's Northern Territory. Australia's west coast is also watching Tropical Cyclone Dianne, which is expected to remain well offshore as it moves southwards, parallel to the coast.
Figure 2. Solar flare of February 15, 2011, as captured by the SOHO and SDO spacecraft. Image credit: NASA.
Space weather: biggest solar flare in 4 years
The strongest solar flare in more than four years erupted on the sun at 0156 UTC on Tuesday, when giant sunspot 1158 unleashed an X2-class eruption. X-class flares are the strongest type of x-ray flare, and this week's flare is the first X-class flare of the new 11-year sunspot cycle 24, which began in 2009 - 2010. The flare was accompanied by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which means that a portion of the sun's atmosphere was ripped away and thrown into space. High-energy particles from the CME arrived at Earth at 01 UTC this morning, and sky watchers at high northern latitudes may be able to see auroras over the coming few nights. Consult NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center or spaceweather.com for updates.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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That deserves a big LOL
I disagree with almost everything you say in most posts... but though I disagree with this one, it is for a different reason.
The only profession that won't be replaced is prostitute. Chemistry, engineering, computers and medicene are some of the easiest to replace.
I can go online right now and make as good a diagnosis as my GP about 50% of the time. Human doctors are really hit and miss. The reason I can't make do any better is lack of access to testing and familiarity with tests. Surgeons are already being assisted through MRI images projected onto the patient and robot surgeons.
Engineering is also easy to replace for the most part. Same with chemists. Most of their work will be done virtually.
Computers are interesting but I think the new paradigms in data methods will finally lead to self designing programs.
I just wish Bush and Cheney hadn't destoyed America before we finally achieved some sort of technological equilibrium with the environment:
"As part of the "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan," bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al Qaeda about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001, an amount that he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States.
"Every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said. "As for the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars.
The total U.S. national debt is more than $7 trillion. The U.S. federal deficit was $413 billion in 2004, according to the Treasury Department.
"It is true that this shows that al Qaeda has gained, but on the other hand it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something that anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced.
"And it all shows that the real loser is you," he said. "It is the American people and their economy."
As for President Bush's Iraq policy, Bin Laden said, "the darkness of black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America."
Don't do it Patrap! LOL
January 3rd, 2011 @ 1:07pm
By Becky Bruce
SALT LAKE CITY -- What do judges, travel agents, CEOs and chemists have in common? Number crunchers have put them all on a kind of endangered species list.
CBS MoneyWatch analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and identified the top 10 vanishing jobs in America. They are:
* Judges
* Fashion designers
* Insurance underwriters
* Travel agents
* Newspaper reporters
* Broadcast announcers
* Plant managers
* Chemists
* Economists
* CEOs
Even though his job is one of those on the list, Zions Bank Economist Jeff Thredgold takes it in stride.
"To the extent that we lose jobs in certain sectors, we add jobs in new sectors," Thredgold said. "The value of a college education continues to rise versus a high school education."
The MoneyWatch analysis came up with a variety of reasons for the demise of each job. For example, the decline of judging as a career is blamed largely on budget cuts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted there would be 700 fewer jobs for judges by 2018 than there were in 2008. The site said technology has spelled doom in other sectors - such as insurance underwriting, where software programs mean one underwriter can now do the work of three hired in the past.
Thredgold said manufacturing and construction jobs are also falling victim to efficiency: We can do more with fewer people.
"There are millions fewer construction workers in the U.S. economy today than there were five years ago. We know all of those jobs are not going to come back," Thredgold said.
He said what is happening now isn't terribly unlike the Industrial Revolution, which shifted the American economy from farms to cities.
"It's more now from industry to service," Thredgold explained. "Many suggest that 90 to 95 percent of the jobs that we add to the U.S. economy in the next 15 years will be in the providing of services versus the manufacturing of goods."
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
On 08.19.09, In Featured, Industry News, by Lee Graham
Republished With Permission from GetDegrees.com
We know where the jobs are now… but where will they be ten years from now? Twenty? Some job descriptions will always be in need, but many others are evolving to fit the ever-changing course of technology and science. When the future of employment comes, will you be ready? Read on for some ideas of what to expect:
HEALTH CARE
1. Medical Roboticist
New technology is doing amazing things for medical patients these days, especially in the world of robotics. We aren’t quite at a Six-Million Dollar Man level yet – but we’re getting awfully close. From physical therapy exoskeletons to new and improved forms of prosthetic attachments, science-minded individuals will be needed to help develop medical technology that is better, stronger, and faster than it ever was before.
2. Genetic Counselor
As genetics continues to be fine-tuned, doctors will be able to run tests to predict all manner of markers and conditions. Genetic counselors have the job of helping families make decisions about their future children in regards to available genetic technologies. At the present, according to MSNBC, “about 2,000 counselors are recognized by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.” As technology improves and becomes more widespread, expect the need for counselors to grow right along with it.
3. Respiratory Therapist
The atmosphere isn’t what it used to be. Between congested highways, the pollutants of industry, and just plain old stress doing a number on our bodies, respiratory problems like asthma are rapidly on the rise. Under these conditions, it comes as no surprise that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting an extremely good job outlook for respiratory therapists. Practitioners and technicians from varying levels of training will be needed increasingly to help future generations breathe well against all odds.
4. Bioinformatician
Whenever new terrain is charted, maps must be drafted to document and understand the new discoveries. Not only is this true in geography, but in biology as well. As genomic and molecular research continues to intensify over the years, the science community will need plenty of young bioinformatics majors to map, analyze, create 3-D models of and compare DNA and protein structures – hopefully resulting in better understanding and treatment of genetics in the future.
5. Stem Cell Researcher
Stem cell research has been a controversial topic since the day it started gaining plausible ground, entrenched in a war of progress and ethics. Still, science finds a way. Already, researchers may have found an alternative to embryonic stem cells that may put the ethical battle to rest. If this is the case, more researchers than ever will be needed to develop cures for diseases, genetic enhancements, and whatever other secrets these cells may hold.
6. Custom Implant Organ Designer
It wasn’t so long ago when organ transplants were the stuff of science-fiction novels. Now human ears are growing on mice for science, mouse brain cells are growing within robots for art, and the next wave of scientists are using gel-suspended cell cultures to draw custom-made organs for implants from scratch. When it comes to biomedical engineering, the sky is the limit, and young ingenious scientists are needed all the time to keep on searching for the next big breakthrough.
And so on..... Link
Happy Saturday to you.. yes, is it just me or is this place really getting quiet.. I mean this blog of Dr Master's is over 24 hrs old and we are only on comment #212...barely flipped over the 200 mark..
anyway, any of you out there lurking.. just stopping by to say HI!
The Goddard data goes back to 1880. Would it make you feel better, then, if Dr. Masters were to retitle the blog entry January global temperatures 119th coolest on record? (The 34-year record to which he referred was UAH's Remote Sensing Systems satellite.)
Ah, denialism. It's almost entertaining. But only almost... ;-)
Right. Please see comment #214.
I've seen the term "passive-aggressive" used once before on another blog in this manner, and I have to object. "Passive-aggressive" has a well defined meaning which does not apply in this case.
Merriam-Webster:
being, marked by, or displaying behavior characterized by the expression of negative feelings, resentment, and aggression in an unassertive passive way
I would not characterize the following as passive.
You can't post data like that.. especially if its accurate... it takes the wind out of Climate Change, when you show its happened before. Mind you.. you are using a longer time period....
It strikes me more as bullying. It starts with an attempt to crudely control others' behavior, i.e., "You can't post data like that" followed by an illogical train of thought. (The whole point of AGW is that something that has happened before--increase in CO2--with observed consequences is now happening in a shorter period of time due to man's actions.)
Actually, you seem to do more or less the same thing, but I think you are using parody.
You can't post passive aggressive broad-stroked generalizations like that ...
Instead of "passive aggressive broad-stroked generalizations like that", perhaps you could say:
"You can't post refudiations like that, especially when wildly inaccurate."
Refudiations would be inaccurate statements, not necessarily wildly inaccurate, so the added phrase "especially ..." could be justified.
edit: maybe a better definition of "refudiate" would be to bully with inaccurate and/or illogical arguments or generalizations.
I truly understand..and agree..
I rarely come here except when we have tropical systems to watch but every now and then I try to pop in and say hello..
but it really is slow! LOL
Possibly. Or maybe it was the nasty, negative, illogical, and scientifically unsound arguing from some. Or it might just be that it's been nice and warm for much of the country the past week or so, and people have been outside enjoying it after several weeks of nastiness.
And how do you know that? You act as though you are him and you know his intentions. As far as I know you can't read others peoples brains, and you arent dr masters.
So why don't you stop pretending to be.
Or maybe it's due to the fact that this blog is primarily a "tropical weather" blog, so when we are not in hurricane season for the north Atlantic, it would make sense that there would be minimal activity.
Additionally the global warming arguments are pretty nasty. One side presents data, and the other side denies most everything presented, while never actually proving the greenhouse gas theory wrong, or never actually proving that the earth isn't warming. Creating a spiral down of flaming and hatred.
Aberdeen, SD
Sioux Falls, SD
Twin Cities, MN
La Crosse, WI
Milwaukee, WI
Know your probably gone by now...but..hello back to ya ! So glad you had such a wonderful day. Been good day for us, also. Great weather everywhere....well almost...:)
Some still without power across the state as strong winds rip through region
Janet Walsh February 19, 2011 04:50 PM
By Matt Byrne, Globe Correspondent
After a morning of gusty winds that left more than 15,000 without power throughout the state, crews worked this afternoon to address lingering service interruptions that still affect at least 3,700 customers as of 4 p.m., according to utility companies.
National Grid, whose service interruptions peaked at more than 13,000 customers before noon today, had whittled the list to about 2,100 households still affected by the wind-driven outages.
NSTAR’s service troubles, which peaked at 4,000 outages statewide, had reduced the number to about 1,600, said Mary Ellen Molloy, an NSTAR spokeswoman. As of 4 p.m., the largest outage was listed in the Huntington Avenue area of Boston where about 600 customers lost power, Mollow said, but could not offer a more specific location.
"Yesterday was gorgeous. [Today] I went outside and was like, 'oh my gosh,'" said Molloy in a phone interview. "Restorations will be constantly ongoing as our crews continue to work."
Throughout the day extra crews worked to repair the scattered problems, according to utility representatives.
This morning, pockets of interruptions flared in the Spencer and Leicester area where about 1,900 were without power before noon, according to the National Grid website; about 1,300 customers south of Pembroke lost power briefly this morning about 9:10 before it was restored by about 10:30 a.m., according to National Grid’s website.
The National Weather Service called a wind advisory for Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and southwest New Hampshire until 2 a.m. Sunday. Gusts from the northwest in Greater Boston are expected to reach 38 miles per hour, according to the service. Temperatures will hit 37 today, before dropping to about 30 degrees Sunday ahead of a light snowstorm Sunday night into Monday. Snow is expected to begin falling after about 9 p.m. Sunday and continue through about noon Monday, according to National Weather Service forecast.
"With the wind chill it will feel a lot colder than that," said Alan Dunham, a meteorologist at the weather service's Taunton station, and estimated about 2 to 4 inches of accumulation Monday.
"Compared to some of the storms we’ve had this year, it’s not that bad," he said. "On the downside, it’s coming during the morning commute, but on the upside it is a holiday, so there will be a little less traffic."
Debbie Drew, spokeswoman for National Grid, said outages are expected to be ongoing as gusty conditions persist.
"We certainly are out there working to get everybody back as quickly as possible, but the winds are expected to continue throughout the night," Drew said. "When we restore one set of customers, because of the wind and tree damage, we tend to lose another set of customers."
Drew said most outages were centered in Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Worcester counties.
Meanwhile flights from Logan International Airport to Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport and New York City were delayed each at least an hour because of the wind in the New York area, according to the Federal Aviation Administration website. Travelers bound for Newark experienced a similar wait time earlier today before conditions lifted and the delay was downgraded to about 30 minutes this afternoon.
In Woburn, at least one building took a beating, Officials said, when a 20-by-70-foot sheet of rubber roofing material was lifted from an aging Post Office on Abbott Street, said Woburn Police Lieutenant David Murray in a phone interview.
"Insulation and a lot of debris blew off it," Murray said.
Woburn Police officers on scene closed nearby Federal Street for safety reasons, he said, although no one was injured. A Post Office supervisor estimated that the debris came loose about 7 a.m., when the location was still closed, so no customers or employees were inside, he said.
In Saugus, a three-story construction scaffolding collapsed at a Red Roof Inn on the Newburyport Turnpike, a hotel employee said today.
No one was hurt and no damage was caused to the building, said the employee, who did not give his name because he said company policy does not allow him to speak to the media.
Couldn't have ask for better weather...sunny, 78, no mosquitoes yet.....been this way all week...and hopefully most of next week. Soon be gardening time in the ole south.......:}
Does anyone remember why the US halted the Supersonic Transport program in the 1960's? The environmentalists said it would introduce too much sulphur dioxide into the upper atmosphere. A couple of years ago I was reading Scientific American, and they were saying if we could find a way to introduce a large amount of sulphur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, it would shade the planet enough to offset global warming. Ah....am I missing something?
---Boeing 747 International pilot. (Fuel burn average 1 US Gallon of kerosene per second, 25,000 lbs. an hour)
The SST/Concorde was Limited to NYC for Sound reasons as the Sonic Boom was not allowed over US Soils or Europe for that matter,,only over Trans Atlantic Cruise did the Concorde SST do Mach 1 plus.
Any 747 left seater or crew, or Big Hauler knows that.
Epic.
Yawn...yet another the earth can take it post.
Gee, the earth has been around for 4.5 billion years, do you really think it can't handle some warming?
Of course it can. It's the "living stuff" which can't. And, as far as we know, there are no other planets out there with significant, or intelligent life forms (not saying that there aren't).
So we should make our best efforts to preserve it.
And I LOL hard at your sulfur dioxide idea. Maybe you forgot that it posses a serious issue to human health.
You know, flying a big jet is just a job, it's not glamorous, it's not exciting. It is, however, what I happen to do. So, whatever.
I remember the environmentalists blasting the Boeing 2707 program, you probably weren't born yet?
>>>By this point, the opposition to the project was becoming increasingly vocal. Environmentalists were the most influential group, voicing concerns about possible depletion of the ozone layer due to the high altitude flights, and about noise at airports and from sonic booms.[5]
The latter became the most significant rallying point, especially after the publication of the anti-SST paperback, "SST and Sonic Boom Handbook" edited by William Shurcliff, which claimed that a single flight would "leave a 'bang-zone' 50 miles wide by 2,000 miles long" along with a host of problems that would cause. In tests in 1965 with the XB-70 near Oklahoma City, the path had a maximum width of 16 miles, but still resulted in 9,594 complaints of damage to buildings, 4,629 formal damage claims, and 229 claims for a total of $12,845.32, mostly for broken glass and cracked plaster.[6] As the opposition widened, the claimed negative effects became ever odder, including upsetting people who do delicate work (e.g. brain surgeons), harming persons with nervous ailments,[5] and even inducing miscarriages.
Other concerns were also added to the list, although the evidence for them was essentially non-existent. One was that the water vapor released by the engines into the stratosphere would envelop the earth in a "global gloom". Presidential Adviser Russell Train warned that a fleet of 500 SSTs flying at 65,000 ft. for a period of years could raise stratospheric water content by as much as 50% to 100%. According to Train, this could lead to greater ground-level heat and hamper the formation of ozone.[5] Later, an additional threat to the ozone was found in the exhaust's nitrogen oxides, a threat that was later validated by MIT.[7]
The cause was picked up by the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation and the Wilderness Society.[8] Supersonic flight over land in the United States was eventually banned, and several states added additional restrictions or banned the Concorde outright.<<<
Epic
Saw the same at MSY..
Note the Service Vehicles
Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde :
"On 10 April 2003, Air France and British Airways simultaneously announced that they would retire Concorde later that year.[128][129] They cited low passenger numbers following 25 July 2000 crash, economic effects and the slump in air travel following 11 September 2001, and rising maintenance costs"
Concord finally went out because there wasn't enough demand for it. It was extremely expensive, and in the eyes of many passengers, just not worth it.
So why you keep bringing it up? Doesn't make sense to me.
I guess some of the "many" here interpreted your "Yawn....all these veiled 'data' alluding to 'climate change' is growing tiresome" comment as something other than the polite and inquisitive conversation starter you obviously intended.
At 500' you can see the 'Kaagbaan' R06 and P30 for Schiphol Staff (on the right side).
During rollout, check out the jet blast of thrust reverser ENG4!
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