Comments on: 4 More USHCN Stations

By: Christopher Hill

Christopher Hill — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:31:28 +0000

Dear Earle Williams:

You will not see my sign-off.. and your statement that my post is apropos to nothing makes absolutely no sense whateeover…[snip]

My point that is obvious to all except you, is that you may challenge station location, elevation of measuring station, proximity to parking lots or air conditioners, by simply asking to read that agency’s manual on setting them up… but alas, that will pass you by I know.. Oops, did you hear that noise? That was the real world passing by again…

Christopher Hill

By: Steve Sadlov

Steve Sadlov — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:22:57 +0000

RE: #46 – RE: Air conditioners. Also, consider the obesity factor here as well. Furthermore, whereas, 50 years ago, not having A/C meant sweat, today, in many settings, especially businesses and some homes, it may mean greatly exceeding the operating temperature specs of electronic equipment sometimes leading to incendiary results!

RE: Coats. Another thing those of us in the US have no doubt witnessed are the strange aspects of the now-much-emulated gang banger look whereby one overdresses in the summer and underdresses in the winter. Go figure ….

By: MarkW

MarkW — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:27:52 +0000

That there has been a change is beyond question. That the change is due to warmer summers is not.
Could it not be possible that the fact that airconditioning units, have gotten cheaper and more efficient, making them less expensive to own and operature, have something to do with the fact that air conditioning units have gotten more plentiful?
Could the fact that air conditioning is now considered by most to be a neccesity, rather than a luxury, also be playing a role?

As to fewer coats in the winter. A couple of possibilities.
People are more obese than they were a generation ago. Fat is a good insulator.
It takes time for people to become acclimated to changes in climate. The fact that people no longer expose themselves to the extremes of summer heat, could make it due to the omnipresence of AC units, makes it possible for them to adapt to winter temperatures more quickly, thus they don’t “feel” as cold, and hence don’t feel the need to encumber themselves with coats?

By: Earle Williams

Earle Williams — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:07:04 +0000

Re #44

Christophger Hill,

This is apropos to nothing, but I just want to say that I hope to see more of your postings if only for your signoff.

I’m fully intending to go document the Milwaukee, WI, station at Mount Mary College. I lack a GPS but the station is where it appears on the Google Map; it already has accurate coordinates. Nicely shaded garden spot, surrounded by a parking lot. No AC units in the vicinity, just plenty of cars.

By: Christopher Hill

Christopher Hill — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 07:50:51 +0000

When I was young, I worked for the US Forest Service in California… My first year of work was at the Region 5 Forest Fire Laboratory in Riverside.. There we were taught how to take weather measurements, because your crew was used in major project fires to record weather information..

The next fire season I set up an un-official station at the heli-tack base where I worked… Two fire seasons later, I set up an official station that is still being used today after more than 30 years(Oak Opening, CA) .. They (the USFS) has a manual for setting up weather stations.. It gives the height of the station enclosure, distance from other taller trees and other stuff that might interfere.. The USFS is not the only fed gov’tagency with manuals… Hey, they all have manuals, all written by the same people.

Violating their manuals is common, apparently from reading this website. No one cares once it is set up, and a AC condensor installed 10 feet from the station means nothing? Holy cow, this is insane..

My suggestion is to figure out the agency, and ask to see their manual for installing and maintaining weather stations..

chill

By: beng

beng — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:10:18 +0000

Whoops, I rechecked & there was a 94F day – so correct to my #43.

By: beng

beng — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 02:06:13 +0000

FYI, I can feel my central A/C exhaust at least 30 ft away. It’s still in a surprisingly narrow plume, but by then well-mixed w/adjacent air. Might try a test next time it’s needed — don’t right now w/nights in the low 60s.

Highest summer temp here in the Appalachians (900 ft elev) has been 93F (34.5C) & only a couple days of 90+ so far. Unless the surrounding forest drastically dries, these are typically the highest temps that can occur (hot air mass w/sun all day & little wind) due to evaporative cooling, outside of urban areas. Severe forest drying greatly increases the potential highest temps, like the 1930′s & 1960′s droughts.

By: Steve Sadlov

Steve Sadlov — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:23:02 +0000

RE: #40 – In the SF Bay Area, the 70s had a wider swing in annual temps but rather dry winters for the most part. The El Nino of ’78 coincided with the flip to positive PDO and upended it all. From then and throughout most of the 80s, there was notably wetter and slightly warmer winter weather while summers were relatively warm. From ’87 to ’91, the drought which had begun in SoCal around ’84 spread to the north and affected us as well, but not badly. When that ended, we got into a very El Nino dominated set of years – even neutral and La Nina years were warm and wet, this lasted until late ’97. Something new started in the mid 90s, namely, crummy and weak Springs, where late winter like weather would persist until it was nearly the Solstice. By ’98, the signs of the demise of the positve PDO were there, and we got into what appeared to be ringing at the end of the cycle. Crummy springs continued and even summer heat became more sporadic (but these sproadic heat events became seemingly more intense, in an almost early Fall-like, Santa Ana-esque way). Now I’m calling it pure play negative PDO, all the signs are there, what with the very dry winter we had along with record cold and yet another crummy spring. Summer’s a dud thus far, for the most part as well, in contrast to the SoCal where it’s tended to be hotter than normal inland.

By: D. Patterson

D. Patterson — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:07:05 +0000

Re: #10 While living in Los Angeles County at the western end of the San Gabriel Valley nearby the Santa Anita racetrack during the decade of the 1970s, we typically used the air conditioner part time or full time only for a few months from about June through September. December temperatures often threatened possible frosts which could damage the citrus trees in the backyard. It was ususally necessary to wear a jacket or coat from December through March. This changed rather dramatically after about 1979. By around 1982 the winters became too warm to wear a coat unless you drove into the adjacent mountains and snow. Consequently, it reached a point where the coats stayed in the closet unused the year around. Use of the air conditioner increased from 2 to 3 months per year to 11 to 12 months per year. Instead of experiencing temperatures of 35F on December 10th, the air conditioner was running full blast to counteract the effects of 90+F temperatures. Garden plants which required a winter chill to properly germinate failed to grow.

Likewise in Southern Illinois and Puget Sound in Washington there have been notable changes as the warmer temperatures have encouraged the use of air conditioning in older homes which had not needed them very much before to remain cool. Now, however, there does seem to be another change taking place in Southern California, Southern Illinois, and Western Washington. The latest winters have been more harsh and longer lasting than has been seen since the decades of the Sixties and Seventies. It now appears as if the cycle is poised to reverse and return to the colder weather patterns I experienced 30 to fifty years ago. If this results in a Dalton Minima or Maunder Minima in Solar Cycles 24 or 25, there is going to be a generation of people who have no experience to prepare them for the consequences of such continuing cold weather.

By: BarryW

BarryW — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:07:54 +0000

Sorry, wrong reference.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/climatedata.html#surface has a link to the ftp site for 1 and 5 min ASOS data