Summer 2012: 3rd hottest in U.S. history
The summer of 2012 was the 3rd hottest summer in U.S. history, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in today's State of the Climate report. June 2012 ranked as the 14th warmest June on record, August was the 16th warmest August on record, and July was the warmest month of any month in U.S. history, bringing the average summer temperature of the contiguous U.S. just 0.2°F shy of the hottest summer on record--the great Dust Bowl summer of 1936. Second place is held by 2011, which was just 0.1°F cooler than the summer of 1936. So far in 2012, we've had the warmest March on record, 3rd warmest April, 2nd warmest May, and warmest July. These remarkably warm months have helped push temperatures in the contiguous U.S. to the warmest on record for the year-to-date period of January - August. Temperatures this year in the U.S. have been so far above the previous record--a remarkable 1°F for the year-to-date period--that even if the remainder of 2012 ranks historically in the coldest one-third of September - Decembers on record, 2012 will beat out 1998 for the warmest year in history. Reliable weather records for the U.S. go back to 1895. The most recent 12-month period of September 2011 - August 2012 was the 4th warmest 12-month period in U.S. history, exceeded only by the 12-month periods ending in July, June, and May of this year.
Figure 1. The summer of 2012 was the warmest on record for Wyoming and Colorado, and ranked in the top-ten warmest on record for 22 other states. For the Contiguous U.S., it was the 3rd warmest summer since record keeping began in 1895. Image credit: NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
Figure 2. Year-to-date temperatures for the contiguous U.S. through August, compared to the previous record warmest years in U.S. history. Outcome scenarios based on persistence of temperature from September through December, the remaining five months of 2012, are shown. Even if the remainder of 2012 ranks historically in the coldest one-third of September - Decembers on record, 2012 will beat out 1998 for the warmest year in history. The January-August 2012 contiguous U.S. average temperature was 58.7°F, 4.0°F above average. The data for 2012 are preliminary. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.
Most extreme January - August period on record
The year-to-date period was the most extreme in U.S. history, according to NOAA's U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI), which tracks the percentage area of the contiguous U.S. experiencing top-10% and bottom-10% extremes in temperature, precipitation, and drought. The CEI was 47% during the year-to-date January - August period. This is the highest value since CEI record-keeping began in 1910, and more than double the average value of 20%. Remarkably, 85% of the contiguous U.S. had maximum temperatures that were in the warmest 10% historically during the first eight months of 2012, and 75% of the U.S. of the U.S. had warm minimum temperatures in the top 10%. The percentage area of the U.S. experiencing top-10% drought conditions was 22%, which was the 11th greatest since 1910.
Figure 3. NOAA's U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) for January - August shows that 2012 had the most extreme first eight months of the year on record, with 47% of the contiguous U.S. experiencing top-10% extreme weather.
Jeff Masters
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How naive I was to believe that the world is fundamentally different from that of our ancestors, whose lives were changed by bearing witness to the 20th century's vilest acts of war.
May all the people that passed from this act and all the people effected by this act, may they be at peace.
Yea, I'm thinking that after Nadine we might be in for a lull until early October when the Madden-Julian Oscillation phase comes into a more prominent positive phase.
Thinking that 16-9-1 or 16-9-2 is a fair bet for final total.
Pacific near El Nino thresholds; positive Indian Ocean Dipole
Issued on Tuesday 11 September | Product Code IDCKGEWWOO
Tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures remain at values close to El Nino thresholds. Other ENSO indicators such as the trade winds and tropical cloud patterns show patterns more typical of neutral conditions. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is also presently within neutral values.
Regardless of whether El Nino thresholds are reached, the tropical Pacific remains warmer than average. This, combined with other influences on Australian climate such as cooler than normal waters to the north of the Australian continent and the patterns of cloud and ocean temperatures in the Indian Ocean, tends to favour below average spring rainfall over much of Australia.
Climate models surveyed by the Bureau of Meteorology suggest sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean will maintain values close to El Nino thresholds before returning to more neutral values towards the end of 2012 or early 2013.
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is currently positive, with values of the IOD index consistently above positive thresholds for the past 7 weeks. Outlooks from the Bureau%u2019s climate model indicate the IOD will likely remain positive throughout the remainder of spring. A positive IOD is usually associated with decreased spring rainfall over parts of southern, central and northern Australia.
We hope it never happens again. Many thank yous to the NYPD and NYFD that risked everything to save the lives of those trapped in the towers.
Windsat. Circulation looks good.
Link
That way I'll be happy, Caribboy probably wanted a bit more but, rain is rain.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOURTEEN ADVISORY NUMBER 1...CORRECTED
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL142012
1100 AM AST TUE SEP 11 2012
CORRECTED FOR MISSING REFERENCE LOCATION
...NEW TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS IN THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC
BUT NOT A THREAT TO LAND...
SUMMARY OF 1100 AM AST...1500 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...16.3N 43.1W
ABOUT 1210 MI...1950 KM E OF THE LESSER ANTILLES
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...35 MPH...55 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 275 DEGREES AT 10 MPH...17 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1006 MB...29.71 INCHES
Leap Second ... Will Cause 61-Second Minute
Isaac was certainly bad and did take lives. But, was it (in terms of fatalities and/or monetary damage) worse than the average worst tropical cyclone affecting the US in a given year?
Well, there aren't any aircraft there, but that's beside the point. Storms often develop in Canada and move into the States. NCEP uses data from Canada to initialize the GFS and other US models. Does this mean Canada pays for US weather forecasts? Of course not. It just means that the World Meteorological Organization and its agreements for member states (nearly every country on earth) to share data is alive and well, and one of the few examples of really good international cooperation.
The farther in time we progress, the better the conditions are in the east and Central Atlantic. My opinion anyways.
but other radical christians have.... abortion clinic bombings...the atlanta olympics bombings....oklahoma city..... shall i go on?
I just gotta say, as impressive as it looked, that roof had a flawed design. The roof itself did not fail, but it lacked "Kickers" on the overhangs*, and it lacked straps. If it had either/or, the total failure and blown away event would not have happened.
* a "Kicker" is the short, 2-by-4 framing piece which goes between the tail of the rafters and connects it in a triangle to a lower portion of the wall. This is what forms the parallel overhang on most American roof construction.
Typically, the framing crew runs a 2-by-4, sometimes 2-by-6, along the wall nailed into each stud, and these kickers are nailed perpendicular to this board, and run horizontal out to the end of the tails, where they are nailed into the tails of the Rafters and an outside "tail plate," typically 2-by-4 or 2-by-6.
In order for a roof like this to be "blown away," the wind would basically need to disintegrate the entire wall, or take the entire building air-bourne.
In Louisiana I think this was pre-andrew code in most districts, or at least I was never involved in making a house without the kickers, except on one possible occasion.
The roof without kickers looks "fancy" and more popular, but it is nowhere near as strong. I don't know for sure, but kickers with no straps is probably significantly stronger than straps with no kickers.
Doing both probably adds a full category or 2 to the survivability of a structure compared to doing neither.
No.
1, Domestic and International crimes that would otherwise be considered war crimes:
Anyone directly involved in terrorism, piracy, gang, or mob massacres or other killings related to their activities and other militia or para-militia criminal organizations; Organized crimes or terror attacks or mass shootings not involving any state's military.
2, Evil dictators who commit war crimes or atrocities against their own people or neighboring nations.
We should kill such organizations or rogue governments from the top down, rather than the bottom up as we have done in the past. Aim for heads of state, cabinet members, officers and other "appointed" officials first.
A tomahawk missile should have been up Ghaddafi's rear end decades ago, IMO.
Assad in Syria?
His entire government should be executed. We already know they are guilty war crimes and massacres against their own people, which started even before the two-way violence happened. They opened fire on unarmed protestors in some cases. It's public, world wide knowledge, so a "trial" is a joke and unnecessary.
If we're going to baby-sit the MIddle East then let's go ahead and do it, and off these guys immediately every time they do something like this, instead of letting it go on for decades.
After a few years of that policy, I think any potential Saddams, Ghadafi's, and Asads would think twice before doing this any more.
The majority of radical christians haven't bombed or shot anyone, and would never do unprovoked physical violence to anyone.
Comparing Pat Robertson to a terrorist or pirate, regardless of religion or non-religion, is completely absurd as they have nothing at all in common.
The reason I hate muslims is because radicals want me and all other "infidels" dead for no reason whatsoever, and make unprovoked terror attacks and massacres of innocents. meanwhile, the so-called "moderates" almost never confront the radicals or do anything about it at all.
Many of the so-called "moderates" were mad and complained that we killed Bin Laden.
He got better than what he deserved.
He should have been paraded around on a pike in the capital city of every nation that has been hit by an Al Quaeda terrorist attack, and let everyone, especially Muslims, watch while the birds picked out his eyes.
And anyone who wanted to should be given the opportunity to take a piss on his corpse.
That's more in line with what the crime was. Teh punishment should fit the crime, and his secret burial at sea was not fitting the crime.
As for non-muslims like this most recent guy who did the booby trap and distraction for police, while doing the mass shooting in the theatre, the punishment should fit the crime.
It was a para-military style attack with at least 3 layers of pre-planning: distraction, booby trap, massacre the unarmed.
That is not insanity, that is a calculated, rationally planned murderous attack.
He should get the same fate as any other "war criminal" type perpetrator, in a military tribunal, NOT a civilian court. They should not have the benefit of a plea bargain or insanity plea, as this is a deliberately calculated attack with multi-layers of planning, intended to maximized civilian casualties. In that case by distracting or attempted murdering the police with his booby traps, almost like "Jigsaw" from the "Saw" horror/thriller movies.
In cases like this where the guilt is already know and is not in any contestation, I think it needs to go farther even. The law should give the police officers the right and responsibility of executing the perpetrator on sight.
It's ridiculous that millions of dollars will be spent on a "trial" for somebody everyone already knows is absolutely guilty, and then the bastard will probably get away with it somehow on an "insanity" plea. It's a mockery to even the most basic concepts of justice.
It absolutely makes me sick the way our judicial system works for the majority of cases. We actually have another mass murderer, who killed 4 people and maimed a few others by driving over them in a car back in 2001, and he plead insanity (but was found guilty of the crime,) so they put him in a mental hospital, and now after 10 years he's been declared "cured" and is going to be released!!! If the SoB is "cured" then he can serve his 4 life sentences in prison, or take the death sentence, just like every other "sane" murderer or mass murderer.
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