Bloomberg says that the 12 foot storm surge from Sandy proves global warming.
5 March 1887
From all reports, the storm surge from the disastrous 1887 cyclone, flooded almost all of Burketown. Only the highest part of town, near where the Council Office is currently located, escaped the waters from the Gulf of Carpentaria. A copy of a 1918 report to the Queensland Parliament from the Department of Harbours and Rivers Engineers refers to the sea rising to 5.5 metres above the highest spring tide level at the Albert River Heads. This level is about 8 metres above Australian Height Datum. 7 people out of a population of 138 died in the cyclone. Storm winds commenced at 11 am from the SE and backed to the E and the NE increasing in violence until 10 pm when virtually the whole of Burketown was devastated. The storm surge arrived at 7 pm.
Hey Hansen,
Thanks for fixing the ancient temperatures (pre-1980).
I bet there is a TOBS bias in storm surges, too. You better ratchet down the past before its too late.