Rural Temperatures Around Washington DC In Steep Decline

7 Responses to Rural Temperatures Around Washington DC In Steep Decline

1. Grumpy Grampy ;) says:

   August 1, 2011 at 1:30 pm

   In some of these cases I would suspect LULC is having a negative effect on temperatures. Station siting could also be the culprit. All in all I see the surface station records globally as being beyond redemption and the US is definitely no exception. If lack of quality control affects over 90% of the weather monitoring stations in the US there is no guarantee the others have not been compromised in the past and the US is supposed to have the best records!

   On the other hand it could well be cooling off and that is just being masked by sloppy record processing! Fraudulent also comes to mind but it is BAU for Governkment either way.

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2. Andy WeissDC says:

   August 1, 2011 at 1:46 pm

   In case you haven’t heard (which is doubtful with the media defecating in their pants), Washington, DC just concluded their hottest July EVER with an average temperature of 84.5 degrees, beating the old record of 83.1 set in 1993 and again last summer. Not only the hottest July but their hottest month EVER.

   Couple of things to point out. The summer of 1930, DC had 11 days of 100 or more, this summer we have only had 4.

   DC had an astounding number of 80+ degree minimum temperatures, seven during this past July. There were only three 80 mins between 1872 and 1930. The heat island effect affects minimum temperatures far more than maximum temperatures and is probably an important factor.

   During the 1930’s heat waves, the official DC observations were taken at a different location, much further away from the Potomac River. Now, at National Airport, they are taken right along the river. Recently on the news, they stated that water temperatures of the Potomac River had risen to at least 90 degrees. That also could be having an inflating effect with respect to DC’s minimum temperatures.

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   • Grumpy Grampy ;) says:

     August 1, 2011 at 1:53 pm

     UHI effect is a misnomer because it is actually an Urban Bubble that is restrictive in nature

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   • stevengoddard says:

     August 1, 2011 at 1:54 pm

     Riding my bike, it is painfully obvious that temperatures close to the Poudre River have been much cooler this summer than those away from it.

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     • Grumpy Grampy ;) says:

       August 1, 2011 at 2:29 pm

       The Poudre is a fresh mountain stream compared to the swamp the call the Potomac. Where you are near the head waters, the Potomac in DC is the delta / swamp / termination point of that river. Relatively speaking!
       I experienced the same conditions while riding bikes and motorcycles around Southern Nevada over the years. I knew where the underground streams were located because of the drastic drop in temperature.

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3. gator69 says:

   August 1, 2011 at 5:18 pm

   Siting stations near water alters their readings. Bodies of water retain heat that raises overnight low readings just like UHI. To get an unbiased land reading, you must pick a site outside of urban and marine influence. When you do, the results are almost never a warming trend. I know because I spent many days auditing NASA staitions that meet this criteria.

   http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/

   They used to provide photos of the sites, which allowed one to ensure that the sites appeared to be free of changes over 100+ years. Now it is impossible to see if the station is now attached to a BBQ pit or some other artificial heat source.

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4. PhilJourdan says:

   August 1, 2011 at 8:44 pm

   DUH! The wind blows from the west and blows all the hot air to the east! This creates a vacuum, which causes the remaining air to chill. Simple thermodynamics! Want to cool Colorado? Move DC to Kansas!

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