December 2009: 4th or 8th warmest December on record
The globe recorded its eighth warmest December since record keeping began in 1880, and 2009 tied with 2006 as the fifth warmest year on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies rated December 2009 as the 4th warmest December on record, and the year 2009 tied with 2007 as the second warmest year on record. NOAA rated December 2009 ocean temperatures as the 2nd warmest on record, next to 1997, and land temperatures as the 31st warmest on record. The anomalously cool conditions over much of northern Asian and North American land areas may be associated with the near record December snow cover extent over Northern Hemisphere land areas--2nd most on record, behind 1985. Snow cover records go back to 1967. The December global satellite-measured temperatures for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the 7th warmest on record, according to the University of Alabama Huntsville and RSS data sets.
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for December, 2009. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center.
One interesting note: the NASA global average temperature for 2009 was .57°C above average. NOAA's was .56°C above average. These temperatures were just .06°C below the all-time hottest year on record, 2005. The 11-year global sunspot cycle causes a variation of 0.1°C between the maximum and minimum of the solar cycle. We are currently at a deep minimum of the solar cycle, so we would have set a new global temperature record had we been at the maximum of the solar cycle. The other global temperature data set, the UK HadCRUT3 data, is not yet available for 2009. This data set is the one most often quoted by global warming skeptics, since it says that 1998 was the warmest year on record. However, HadCRUT3 fills in a huge area of missing data in the Arctic with the average temperature from the rest of the globe. This is bound to cause an underestimate of the global temperature, since the Arctic has warmed much more than the rest of the globe. The NASA and NOAA data sets fill in the missing data in the Arctic with data interpolated from the nearest stations in the Arctic, a procedure which is less likely to underestimate the global temperature.
December 2009: 14th coolest December on record for the U.S.
For the contiguous U.S., the average December temperature was 3.2°F below average, making it the 14th coolest December in the 115-year record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The U.S. has been on quite a roller coaster of temperatures over the past three months--the nation recorded its third coldest October on record, followed by its third warmest November, followed by its 14th coolest December. The coolest December weather was in the Central U.S., where Nebraska had its eighth coolest December; Texas, Nevada, and Wyoming their ninth; and Montana and Utah their tenth coolest.
December 2009 was the 11th wettest December in U.S. history. It was a record wet month for Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland; 2nd wettest month on record for New Jersey; and the third wettest month on record for South Dakota, North Carolina, and Alabama. The Northwest U.S. was dry, with Washington experiencing its 11th driest December on record.
The year 2009: 35th warmest for the U.S.
For the entire year of 2009, it was the 35th warmest year in the contiguous U.S during the 115-year record. The coolest state was Nebraska, which had its 19th coolest year on record, and the warmest state was California, with its 16th warmest year on record. The driest state was Arizona, where 2009 ranked as the 4th driest year on record, while the wettest states were Illinois, Alabama, and Arkansas, who all had their 2nd wettest year on record.
U.S. tornado deaths: 2nd lowest on record
The year 2009 was below average for number of tornadoes, with a final tally around 1120 expected, compared to the 3-year average of 1297, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The 21 tornado deaths in 2009 was the 2nd lowest death toll in the 60-year record. Only 1986, with its 15 tornado deaths, saw fewer fatalities. The 60-year average annual death toll is 84.
U.S. drought
At the end of December, 6% of the contiguous United States was in severe-to-exceptional drought, which is well below average. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows no areas in the highest classification of drought--exceptional drought, and U.S. drought extent is close to its lowest value for the past ten years. The second highest category of drought, extreme drought, covers only a small region of northeast Arizona, and this will shrink over the remainder of January as much-needed rain falls across Arizona. About 43 percent of the contiguous United States had moderately-to-extremely wet conditions at the end of December, according to the Palmer Index (a well-known index that measures both drought intensity and wet spell intensity). This footprint is significantly larger than the long-term average.
Average U.S. fire activity in 2009
Significant fire activity occurred early in 2009, but wetter conditions across many parts of the nation as the year progressed, coupled with effective fire management, helped to restrain fire activity by mid-year. Despite the largest fire in Los Angeles County's (California) recorded history (Station fire), by the end of August the nationwide acreage burned by wildfire was very near the 2000 - 2009 average, and thereafter declined below average. Based upon data provided by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), fire activity in 2009 ranked fifth highest (sixth lowest) out of the past decade in terms of number of fires, about 1 percent below the 2000 - 2008 average. Acres burned in 2009 were 14.5 percent below the 2000 - 2008 average, ranking seventh highest (fourth lowest) since 2000. Average fire size also ranked seventh highest out of the 2000 - 2009 period, at about 14 percent below average.
Strong El Niño conditions continue
Strong El Niño conditions continue over the tropical Eastern Pacific. Ocean temperatures in the area 5°N - 5°S, 120°W - 170°W, also called the "Niña 3.4 region", were at 1.6°C above average on January 10, just above the 1.5°C threshold for a strong El Niño, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The strength of El Niño has been roughly constant for the 9 weeks ending January 10. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is maintaining an El Niño Advisory. Most of the El Niño models forecast that El Niño has peaked and will gradually weaken. Most of the models predict that El Niño conditions will last into early summer, but cross the threshold into neutral territory by the height of hurricane season.
December sea ice extent in the Arctic 4th lowest on record
December 2009 Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent was the 4th lowest since satellite measurements began in 1979 and slightly below December 2008 levels, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Only 2005, 2006, and 2007 saw lower December arctic sea ice extent. The weather pattern over the Arctic in December 2009 featured a strongly negative Arctic Oscillation (AO). This pattern tends to slow the winds that typically flush large amounts of sea ice out of the Arctic between Greenland and Iceland. In this way, a negative AO could help retain some the second- and third-year ice through the winter, and potentially rebuild some of the older, multi-year ice that has been lost over the past few years. However, the AO has increased significantly in January, and it is unclear what the net effect of the AO on sea ice transported out of the Arctic this winter will be.
Next post
I'm at the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be making my next post from Atlanta on Tuesday.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Grothar! Can you WUMail me?
Haitians will need to leave Port au Price while it is cleared and rebuilt. I good plan would be to educate citizens while they wait in the refugee camps. That way when the Haitians move back into the city, they have recieved enough education to make a living!
Done.
I understand from your post that you must have a great deal of compassion for the people. But unless you have been there, that would not be an easy task. Under the best of circumstances the conditions are tenuous. The country has extremely limited resources. It would take displacing millions of people. They do not have cities like we do. The simply cannot drive mobile homes from another state as we can. Who would teach 2 million people? A plan very similar to the rebuilding of Europe and Japan after the World War II would have to be put in place. Even with that the parallel is not the same. Haiti is very small country with very few paved roads. I commend you though for your thougtfulness. No idea is a bad idea. I hope more people feel as you do and understand the enormity of the situation and come up with ideas together. Unfortunatly, there are no simple answers right now.
Yo, Flood, what are you writing "War & Peace" I don't have all night. Grothar needs to get to bed.
I emailed you...must be a slow pass through the server...
There is a segment of the population that has had only a basic education at best. The cultural aspects must be considered before anything happens. This is why past attempts have most likely failed.
58. KEEPEROFTHEGATE 6:00 AM GMT on January 17, 2010
of coarse this is by no means a lets forget who you are arrangement its only by there particapation and involvement in the rebuilting process that all things can be possible
time for floodman to go home...
G'night folks...
Don't get too comfy...We may very well revert back to that pattern by late Jan/early Feb...:)
Like most liars they are convinced that no one can figure out they are lying. they give themselves away by lying when it is obvious they cannot be telling the truth such as by claiming last months frigid temperatures when the entire U.S. except for Hawaii, Florida and portions of the Gulf and California coast were below freezing. Below freezing temperatures at times extended into the Gulf of Mexico.
China also experienced extreme cold. There is not way last December can rank among the warmest on record.
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Northern Territory
Darwin Regional Forecasting Centre
PRIORITY
Media: The Standard Emergency Warning Signal should NOT be used with this warning.
TROPICAL CYCLONE WATCH
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 6
Issued by the BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, DARWIN at 5:00 pm CST [5:30 pm EST] Sunday 17 January 2010
A Cyclone WATCH continues for a developing tropical low for coastal areas from Elcho Island to Cape Shield, including Nhulunbuy, in the NT, and Pormpuraaw to Thursday Island in Queensland.
At 3:30 pm CST [4:00 pm EST] a Tropical Low was estimated to be 115 kilometres northeast of Nhulunbuy and 490 kilometres west northwest of Weipa and moving east at 5 kilometres per hour.
Monsoon gales are expected to develop to the north of the tropical low, which may develop into a Tropical Cyclone later tomorrow. GALES are not expected in coastal areas within the next 24 hours.
If the system remains slow moving until late tomorrow, GALES could develop between Cape Shield and Elcho Island, including Nhulunbuy, on Monday evening.
It is likely that the system will begin to track steadily eastwards across the Gulf of Carpentaria towards Cape York, where GALES may develop late Monday or early Tuesday between Pormpuraaw and Thursday Island.
Details of Tropical Low at 3:30 pm CST [4:00 pm EST]:
.Centre located near...... 11.4 degrees South 137.5 degrees East
.Location accuracy........ within 55 kilometres
.Recent movement.......... towards the east at 5 kilometres per hour
.Wind gusts near centre... 85 kilometres per hour
.Severity category........ below cyclone intensity
.Central pressure......... 1002 hectoPascals
The next advice will be issued by 11:00 pm CST Sunday 17 January [11:30 pm EST Sunday 17 January].
This advice is available on telephone NT-1300 659 211 and QLD-1300 659 212
DARWIN Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre
If you're referring to the recent arctic blast, it didn't start until New Years Day in the SE USA...not in December.
Latest tech means biochar for agriculture. Which helps against erosion, lowers fertilizer need, enhance plant grows up to 1000% times (modified biochar in terms of terra preta), negative-carbon technique as biochar binds greenhouse gases for thousands of years. A by prodcut in the process is biogas/fuels.
Movie Wiki CNN Anderson Cooper
DENYING THE SCIENCE
Ever since global warming emerged on the international agenda, ExxonMobil has actively tried to defeat and derail efforts to address the problem. The company's legacy of denying the science and urgency of global warming is unparalleled - even as other oil companies acknowledged the problem. In 2006, the Washington Post deemed ExxonMobil the "the highest-profile corporate skeptic about global warming."
FUNDING THE DENIAL INDUSTRY
A leaked industry memo dating back to 1998 also reveals that ExxonMobil has been involved in a coordinated effort to confuse the public around global warming science; just like the tobacco industry did around smoking. To this day, ExxonMobil is the only oil giant known to be directly funneling millions of dollars to groups that deny the science on global warming
http://www.exxposeexxon.com/facts/globalwarming.html
C.I.A. Is Sharing Data With Climate Scientists
Geographic coordinates:57.671S, 65.909W
Magnitude:6.3 Mw
Depth: 10 km
Universal Time (UTC):17 Jan 2010 12:00:02
Time near the Epicenter: 17 Jan 2010 08:00:02 Location with respect to nearby cities:
352 km (219 miles) SSE (156 degrees) of Ushuaia, Argentina
594 km (369 miles) SSE (150 degrees) of Punta Arenas, Chile
841 km (523 miles) SW (215 degrees) of STANLEY, Falkland Islands
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 7
Issued by the BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, DARWIN
at 10:28 pm CST [10:58 pm EST] Sunday 17 January 2010
A Cyclone WATCH continues for a developing tropical low for coastal areas from
Pormpuraaw to Thursday Island in Queensland.
The Cyclone WATCH from Elcho Island to Cape Shield, including Nhulunbuy, has
been cancelled.
At 9:30 pm CST [10:00 pm EST] a Tropical Low was estimated to be
380 kilometres west northwest of Weipa and
215 kilometres east northeast of Nhulunbuy and
moving east at 9 kilometres per hour.
Monsoon gales are expected to develop to the north of the tropical low, which
may develop into a Tropical Cyclone early on Tuesday morning. GALES are not
expected in coastal areas within the next 24 hours.
GALES are no longer expected to develop between Cape Shield and Elcho Island,
including Nhulunbuy.
The low is expected to continue to track steadily eastwards across the Gulf of
Carpentaria towards Cape York Peninsula, where GALES may develop early on
Tuesday morning between Pormpuraaw and Thursday Island.
Details of Tropical Low at 9:30 pm CST [10:00 pm EST]:
.Centre located near...... 11.4 degrees South 138.6 degrees East
.Location accuracy........ within 55 kilometres
.Recent movement.......... towards the east at 9 kilometres per hour
.Wind gusts near centre... 85 kilometres per hour
.Severity category........ below cyclone intensity
.Central pressure......... 1002 hectoPascals
The next advice will be issued by 5:00 am CST Monday 18 January [5:30 am EST
Monday 18 January].
Appears that NAO / AO are preparing to take another dive into a Negative phase in the near future... possibly in 1 1/2 weeks to 2 weeks. We'll see how the SE CONUS cools down compared to our record breaking cold spell earlier this month.
I Agree but, can you please tell us how you really think now.......LOL
Yup, sounds like a Jersey boy to me. LOL
Unfortunately, there have been Billions of dollars in "aid" poured into Haiti in the last 15 years or so.
There is a general misconception that the current administration is woeful and corrupt. It is not very good, that is true.
The aid that is funneled to Haiti seems not to have made any difference to the Haitians at all, from what I can see.
It is true that some 70% of all "aid to Haiti" is swallowed up in "Administration Costs". These costs include Wages, Salaries, Travel, Transportation (new Toyota SUV's are the thing), and living expenses for thousands of - UN personnel,( there were 100-plus UN staff in the building that collapsed), a Batallion of Brazilian Army, swarms of "Development Advisors" etc etc etc. None of these people work in Haiti for free you know.
I have heard that "we" have planted millions of trees in Haiti. Bravo!! Where???
In my view, the Haitian people are still being raped by the "civilised world" at every opportunity.
How else does one explain NO concrete improvement in the lives of the Haitian people after so many years of aid, help, and good advice?
I know that some years ago, Haiti was granted a large sum of money from the World Bank. One of the conditions of this "loan" was that the Haitian people stop planting rice (a staple), and buy rice from the US. This was a World Bank Condition.
This destroyed the last of the Haitian agricultural endeavour, and returned much of the "loan" to the "developed" world.
I truly hope that this Disaster will be the turning point, and that Meaningfull attempts will be made to help these people this time.
P.S,. our attempt to 're-introduce democracy to Haiti' is a doomed excersise. They have NEVER had Democracy. The entire concept is an alien one to a Haitian.
It would be better to start with Village elections of Community Leaders, and grow the idea from there. In the hope that 15 years down the road, a Government could be elected by the people, with some understanding of what it all means.
It would be better to start with Village elections of Community Leaders, and grow the idea from there. In the hope that 15 years down the road, a Government could be elected by the people, with some understanding of what it all means.
COuld we please cease with the incredibly idiotic statements?
Link 1
Link 2
(CNN) -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide
The former Haitian president, exiled in South Africa since 2004, said Friday that he is ready to return to his native country. The Telegraph reports that Aristide called reporters to a hotel near Johannesburg's international airport and said, "As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time to join the people of Haiti, to share in their suffering, help rebuild the country, moving from misery to poverty with dignity."
Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected leader, was installed by a multinational force led by U.S. soldiers in 1994. But by 2004, the former Roman Catholic parish priest was accused of corruption. U.S. Marines came to the country to maintain order, and South Africa offered him safe haven.
Haiti's current president, Rene Preval, was a long-time associate of Aristide, who appointed him prime minister and minister of defense in 1991.
your previous post was spot on...Haiti must be rebuilt from the bottom up...as many grpoups have been attempting...not by forcing democracy down their throats from the top down...you may be ugly...but you're not an idiot...
Web definitions
In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set ...
Sounds familiar :)
"Haiti is a member of the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom), but was suspended from the organs of the organisation after Aristide’s departure in 2005. Caricom had taken a position that Aristide left Haiti under suspicious circumstances after he claimed he was taken out of his country by US forces. Caricom had also demanded a United Nations investigation into his departure and had refused to recognise the US-appointed administration led by Gerard Lartotue.
Caricom Heads of Government, including Prime Minister Patrick Manning, decided to welcome Haiti back into full participation in the regional body in July 2006 after the country’s existing President Rene Preval won democratically held elections earlier that year. Preval is facing severe challenges, including maintenance of law and order in the wake of the earthquake on Tuesday.
Getting into Haiti is also proving difficult. In a release issued yesterday, the privately owned cellular company Digicel expressed its ’grave concern that flights carrying the necessary experts and equipment’ to assist in its round-the-clock work to restore vital communications in Haiti ’are not able to land at Haiti’s international airport’."
Rogue Wave
On July 3 1992, a 27 mile long Rogue wave hit the Volusia County beaches. The wave's range was from Ormond Beach in the north, to New Smyrna Beach on the south. The crest was 9 feet high and centered at Daytona Beach. Sailboats crashed ashore onto cars and many people suffered cuts and bruises from glass and debris. Two people required hospitalization and 200 vehicles were damaged. 75 injuries were reported. The prevailing theory is that an underwater landslide caused the rogue wave, although others have theorized that it was the result of a squall line.[13][14]
In answer to a previous question. Yes, it can happen.
Good points, particularily on the improvement in governance in recent years.
Article in today's paper on past aid to Haiti:
Link
Okay, this is getting ridiculous.
agreed
According to the AGW crowd by 2020 I will be beach front property. In 2000 it was supposed to happen by 2010 - as in today
Source?
I'm tired of the BS
Agreed.
Glad you are still there! LOL It is interesting, though. I am posting another link, don't know if it is the same one you did or not, but there are two dart buoys blinking, one is the Pacific and one in the Gulf. Just thought you might be interested. Stay dry!!
Link
Interesting article. The comments are interesting too.
I said this the other day...how long will it be before complaints start to come in about the USA not being able to afford to help Haiti with millions and billions that we, as a country, don't have?
Being there's a Democrat in charge, most of the complaints will come from the Republican side.
I wish you all knew how stupid you sound to the rest of us, then maybe you would go to your pseudo-science-political blogs and shout amongst yourselves.
if you click the graph you can go to the current one (you'll need java), the trend has continued through the 15th..
Hate to call this January warmest in recent records by the 15th, but it is sitting so far above normal that very little persistence & it's a easy bet.
For us to be this warm during a solar minimum, just wait til the heat from this El Ni%uFFFDo fully transitions to the atmosphere. We are in for a record hot year.
TampaSpin~ I don't understand your complaint about the presentation. These are a simple statistical reports on the past month's conditions, these numbers become available on the 15th of each month (though not final). Dr Masters makes it much more understandable than say...GISS & it's table of numbers.
Remind me to stay on your good side! LOL
Maybe some college kids picked it up for some fun. You know how they are. LOL If it were an accurate reading we would not be corresponding at the moment. I looked into it further with other readings and cannot find the source of the anomaly.
Nice......Who is being Stupid Chicklit...don't look in the mirror please! You might not like who your looking at either!
From Dr. Master's Blog:
"The other global temperature data set, the UK HadCRUT3 data, is not yet available for 2009. This data set is the one most often quoted by global warming skeptics, since it says that 1998 was the warmest year on record. However, HadCRUT3 fills in a huge area of missing data in the Arctic with the average temperature from the rest of the globe. This is bound to cause an underestimate of the global temperature, since the Arctic has warmed much more than the rest of the globe. The NASA and NOAA data sets fill in the missing data in the Arctic with data interpolated from the nearest stations in the Arctic, a procedure which is less likely to underestimate the global temperature."
And justify that...this would be at least semi-rational, albeit fake and skewed.
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