Globe cools slightly in December 2010: 11th - 17th warmest on record
December 2010 was the globe's 17th warmest December on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies rated December 2010 the 11th warmest December on record. December 2010 global ocean temperatures were the 10th warmest on record, and land temperatures were the 30th warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the 7th warmest on record, according to both 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. Still, December 2010 temperatures were warm enough to make 2010 tied with 2005 as Earth's warmest year in history, as I reported in yesterday's post.
For those interested, NCDC has a page of notable weather highlights from December 2010.
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for December 2010. Eastern Canada and Greenland were very warm, relative to average, and much of Siberia and Europe were abnormally cold. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
An average December for the U.S.
For the contiguous U.S., December was near-average in temperature, ranking as the 44th coldest December in the 116-year record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The year 2010 was the 23rd warmest on record. A strong "Arctic Oscillation" pattern allowed cold air to spill southward over the Southeast U.S., resulting in the coldest December on record in Florida and Georgia. Nine other states in the Southeast U.S. had top-ten coldest Decembers. Five states in the Southwest U.S. had top-ten warmest Decembers. A series of major snowstorms brought the 7th-largest December snow cover to the U.S. as a whole. December 2010 precipitation in the contiguous U.S. was also near average, ranking 54th driest in the 116-year record. Montana and Utah had their wettest Decembers on record, and six other states had top-ten wettest Decembers--Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Maine, and California. Six states had top-ten driest Decembers--Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, and Delaware.
La Niña in the "moderate" to "strong" category
The equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean is currently experiencing moderate to strong La Niña conditions. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the tropical Eastern Pacific in the area 5°N - 5°S, 120°W - 170°W, also called the "Niña 3.4 region", were 1.5°C below average as of January 10, according to NOAA. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology put this number at 1.45°C below average (as of January 9.) Moderate La Niña conditions are defined as occurring when this number is 1.0°C - 1.5°C below average. Temperatures colder than 1.5°C below average qualify as strong La Niña conditions. NOAA is maintaining its La Niña advisory, and expects La Niña conditions to last through through spring.
Both El Niño and La Niña events have major impacts on regional and global weather patterns. La Niña typically causes warm, dry winters over the southern portion of the U.S., with cooler and wetter than average conditions over the Pacific Northwest. The Ohio and Mississippi Valleys states typically have wetter winters than usual during La Niña events.
December 2010 Arctic sea ice extent lowest on record
Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent in December 2010 was the lowest in the 31-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Ice volume in December was also the lowest on record for this time of year, according to University of Washington Polar Ice Center. At the end of December, the eastern portion of Canada's Hudson Bay remained unfrozen, the first time in recorded history that Hudson Bay has not been completely frozen over at the end of the year. The unusual amount of open water led to temperatures that averaged 20°C (36°F) above normal over a region larger than Texas during the first ten days of January.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 — Blog Index
Once again you got it all wrong.
But that's to be expected from you.
Just to make sure you aren't confounded, its called a 'Truth' hunt.
You know...
the truth...
before it is altered and falsified and then disclaimed in order to magically render it 'true and accurate'.
You are bashing me on a personal level. Funny how you can bash anything we post yet we can't touch the IPCC since it is so big to fail. I find it hilarious though you like to attack my education yet we take a look at a sentence above bolded for my pleasure.
Right here...how have you been?
GOOD. Glad I can finally be away from you and your nonsensical judgement and your always bashing others. Until you post something that is sourced which you haven't done in a very long time but bash anybody who doesn't agree with you I'll unignore you too just email me when you actually do that. I'll wait years if I have to.
Hey! Been thinking about you...been getting some interesting weather up there, huh?
Yep...and more cold coming your way in the next few days, huh?
Play nice, kids!
ACIS
The Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) is a framework for managing realtime and historical climate data that allows for the dynamic creation of value-added climate products
idk why it bolded that.
But true dat.
Be very careful in how you get back in the swing of things.
I know several people who, in the last three months, have been stricken with something and relapsed several times before full recovery. Including one manager who ignored the signs and had to be hospitalized with pneumonia.
Jim Hensen (the Muppet master) died while working on a project at Disney World. He had been ill off again on again for about a month when he suddenly developed pneumonia and died shortly thereafter.
The thing to watch for is when you feel a recovery coming on and try to go back to things as normal and within a very short time you experience a relapse. It usually takes a third relapse before most people become concerned.
In other words, stay down for a couple of days after you feel a recovery coming on.
Most are taking about a month to get through it.
DO NOT SEND MONEY TO PAKISTAN PEOPLE!
that money will not reach the people it will go to fund extremists. Send supplies and supplies only
I do have an agenda: counteracting in my own small way the Big Energy-financed campaign of anti-science and obfuscation that's in full gear at the moment. Part of that agenda is calling out the propaganda websites and cable TV channels and publications that are complicit in that campaign. There is such a massive amount of misinformation and disinformation out there right now that I sometimes become weary of listening to the same tired non-scientific nonsense from the same contrarians over and over and over; my apologies if that weariness comes across at times as condescension or rudeness.
I am pleased when people do their own research. But you stated you were going in on the assumption that the temperature data was skewed. Not possibly wrong, not possibly off a bit, but skewed. Setting off on a quest for truth with that prejudice isn't going to help you find that truth; it'll only blind you to it.
Is this the best track data archive from last year?
Too bad you don't practice what you preach.
Oh well.
One report of wind damage, so far. I'd expect a few more to come in soon. Was a pretty good squall, here, northshore of Lake P.
Respectfully....I can assure you that any funds received by Portlight will go to established DPO's (Disabled Persons Organizations) with whom we have relationships and that those funds will be used to mitigate suffering of people with disabilities there. Sending supplies into Pakistan is a virtually insurmountable logistical challenge.
Viewing: 251 - 301
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 — Blog Index