Hansen says that 1906-1915 was the coldest decade ever.
Data.GISS: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis: Analysis Graphs and Plots
During that super-duper cold time, Death Valley set the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
From July 8 to July 14, 1913 – Death Valley maximum temperatures averaged 129F According to Hansen, that was the second coldest year ever.
Wow. apparently the rampant heatwaves that caused the great Dustbowl left nary a clue in the temperature record.
Prior to 1999, Hansen knew about the Dust Bowl, but the rigorous demands of funding caused him to lose track of it after Y2K
Heh, 12% of the US record highs come from that “COLD period”:
While 8% of the record lows come from that “COLD period”:
Fascinating…
Remarkable event from 1859 (obviously a year of very bad Global Warming), and, unfortunately, almost certain to happen again – to be attributed to CO2 in the 21st century, but somehow not caused by CO2 in the 19th…
http://wildfirelessons.net/documents/SUNDOWNER_WINDS_S_CA.pdf
“The most phenomenal of all known sundowners occurred on 17
June 1859. (Tomkins, undated publ.)
It was recorded in 3 historic texts from 19th century California as a frightening event without parallel in weather records in that part of the world. An engineering boat from the “US Coast Survey” fortuitously anchored near Santa Barbara monitored the weather that day and issued a report on its observations.
The ship record states that temperatures reached into the mid 80s by mid morning and no unusual weather was noted.
At approximately 1pm, gusty northwest winds developed “from the direction of Santa Ynez Peak” accompanied by a sharp temperature rise and a severe dust storm. The storm “filled the inhabitants (of Goleta) with terror; they thought the end of the world had come.”
At 2 pm, the survey boat recorded a temperature of 133 degrees F (56 degrees C) in heavy blowing dust. Animals died in the fields, wild birds dropped from the air dead, and fruit and vegetables were “scorched on the windward side.” The survey report stated that “no human being could withstand such heat.” Contemporary accounts called the wind a “simoon,” an Arabic word for a hot desert wind.
By 5 pm on that June day, the thermometer reading had dropped to 122 degrees. By 8 pm, it had cooled to 77 degrees. A North American high temperature record was established that day which would be eclipsed only years later by a 134 degree reading in Death Valley. “
Atmospheric blocking when the Arctic/tropic temperature difference is greatest (a cooling or cool period) sets the stage for hottest ever when a hot region is blocked over Death Valley.