La Niña fades to neutral; April the globe's 4th - 7th warmest on record
April 2011 was the globe's 7th warmest April on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies rated April the 4th warmest on record, tied with April 2005. April 2011 global ocean temperatures were the 11th warmest on record, and land temperatures were the 6th warmest on record. The UK had its hottest April on record, with rainfall only 21% of average. Huge fires burned through Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland, fanned by strong spring winds.
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for April, 2011. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
La Niña fades to neutral
The La Niña that began in June 2010 is now transitioning to neutral conditions, according to the Climate Prediction Center. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the equatorial Pacific off the coast of South America are now just 0.4°C below average, the first time since June 2010 that these temperatures have not been 0.5°C or more cooler than average, the threshold for a La Niña. However, it is possible that these water could cool a bit again over the next few weeks, so NOAA has not yet declared an official end to this La Niña episode. Equatorial SSTs were 0.5°C below average in the central Pacific, and average to above-average temperatures have emerged in the eastern Pacific. While this signals the end to La Niña, the CPC cautions that the atmosphere is still behaving like La Niña is continuing. An animation of SSTs since February shows the weakening La Niña nicely. Springtime is the most common time for a La Niña event to end; since 1950, half of all La Niñas ended in March, April, or May.
Arctic sea ice 5th lowest on record
Arctic sea ice declined slowly through most of April, and had the 5th lowest extent since satellite record began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. However, sea ice extent began declining more quickly toward the end of the month, and as of May 16 was the second lowest on record.
I'll have more on the Mississippi River flood next post. If you haven't seen it, read my post, America's Achilles' heel: the Mississippi River Old River Control Structure.
Jeff Masters and Angela Fritz
Angela is a new wunderground hire, with a Masters degree in Meteorology, who will be helping out with my blog and the site's weather education and climate change content.
Reader Comments
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Hmmm, that kind of question needs serious philosophical debate....
Lawrence, MA
Conditions past 72 hrs
Link
It's a scam for money.. Real Christians know that the bible directly says, words in red, we will not know the day nor the hour of His coming. He may come a minute from now or 300 years from now. So this whole end of the world thing is bull. Besides, the bible also states that it will take 7 years of Tribulation, not 5 months. Harold Camping is distorting the bible and creating his own cult/religion.
"1 day is as 1000 years, and 1000 years is as 1 day."
- I think He has time on his hands...
..."Choot um Liz,,take da schott!!!
I doubt Camping will kill himself; he didn't the last time his EOTW prediction failed back in September of 1994. No, he'll just change his story and say that God told him that the world is now on borrowed time, and people have a very limited number of days in which to get make their selves right and, of course, to fork over some more green to Camping's ministry.
I for one plan to write him a HUGE check. From someone else's account.
Good post :) .. That's probably exactly what's gonna happen.
Pat, is that your avatar's son?
'Da Swamp is now mainstream!
I really can't believe people are actually preparing for this, it's sickening. To go back to the time of Jesus would mean studying the Torah. The Torah makes no mention of the end.
In my opinion, religion is a highly corrupted business, for the most part that is. I believe, I pray however, in my own time.
If your ever here,I can show it to yas.
Bring Mosquito Repellent and a Pair o Hip Boots too.
Nope, Abrams...
Nice to see PR finally drying out a bit.
hope liz's ankle heals up fast or Troy might choot her...
Hey there Pat. Troy is one of my new heros, Swamp People is a good show. I've been thinking about them and the flooding, gonna mess things up, I'd think.
but everyone's perfect weather, is different
Finally dry... our Basil plants in the garden were drowning....
Good to hear....take care and I hope the arm is healing real fast.
Yes, but then you get to watch weather all over, and can be more objective.
Rehab sched to begin June 23.
Well, now we know. The lawyer is too cheap to pay for a membership - he is a freeloader. Lawyers!!!!
LOL
ROTFLMAO!!!
Thanks DJ!!!!
Look at it this way Reed, we will have a whole bunch of new Darwin Awards to pass out.
Yes!! Yes we do! :)
Wrong, DS. On several counts. A) I'm not a lawyer. B) "Neapolitan" is a paid membership; that was a snapshot from a different browser (computers can run multiple programs nowadays; I can point you to some tutorials if you need help learning all about multitasking). C) Do you ever have anything of substance to add here? Anything? Anything at all? (And, no, endlessly posting "Amy!!" doesn't count as "substantial".) ;-)
P.S. -- I do appreciate your obsessing over me; it makes me feel wanted. Really. ;-)
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