Yet Another Winter 2010-11 Outlook (Doug Hill)

See here for other seasonal forecasts.

Doug Hill's (WJLA-TV, Channel 7) 2010-11 Washington/Maryland/Virginia winter outlook also calls for a La Niña pattern of warmer than average temperatures and lower than average snowfall:

Hill predicts the metro area will see 12 inches to 14 inches of snow, while Southern Maryland sees 10 inches and the mountains of Western Maryland, 25.

Here's the video (audio volume is low):

Wegman's: A Supermarket of Denialism

Nov. 24 Update: The commenters at Rabett Run point out that even the Daily Mail has got a clue:
Influential climate change report 'was copied from Wikipedia'

The WaPo, in whose backyard this business all transpired, is of course literally out to lunch, still focused on 80-pound cheese wheels.

Nov. 23 Update: USA Today's Vergano discusses the latest Wegmania this PM at his Science Fair blog: Wegman report round-up.
(h/t to John Mashey's comment at Herr Hare's)

Original Post:
To the WaPo, Wegman is just the name of a supermarket (Alec Baldwin: Paid to like Wegmans), while the Real Climategate continues to evolve in its own backyard at the suburban campus of George Mason University. USA Today follows up yesterday's report of an investigation into documented allegations of rampant plagiarism in the so-called Wegman Report to Congress (Experts claim 2006 climate report plagiarized) with a non-denial denial by the denialist:

Offered the chance to further respond to plagiarism allegations, reported Monday in USA TODAY, George Mason University statistician Edward Wegman said in an e-mail that "these attacks are unprecedented in my 42 years as an academic and scholar."

See Climate science critic responds to allegations for the full story.

Other coverage:

• Salon: Joe Barton's climate report was plagiarized
• Gawker: Report Questioning Climate Change Turns Out to Be Plagiarized
• UPI: Plagiarism charged in Congress report
• Climate Progress: Wegman exposed: Experts find “shocking” plagiarism in 2006 climate report requested by Joe Barton (R-TX)

Another 2010-11 Winter Weather Outlook: "Brutal Winter?" Kammerer Says No

See here for other seasonal forecasts.

WRC-TV (NBC 4) Chief Meteorologist Doug Kammerer issues his first Washington DC winter outlook, posted tonight. He calls for temperatures to be at least 2° above average each month and snowfall significantly below average, 8-14".

If It Limps Like a Duck . . . Congressional Committee's Climate Change Confab

Nov. 17 Update: Santer smacks down misleading Michaels
Here are the archived CSPAN videos of the hearing:
Panel 1 (begins at end of Cicerone testimony)
Panel 2
Panel 3

Ben Santer smacks down Pat Michaels starting at 35:15 in Panel 2: "Dr. Michaels' analysis is wrong; sorry, it's just completely incorrect."

Original Post:
The lame-duck Congress will take testimony on the climate change issue on Wednesday, November 17. The hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Energy & Environment is titled "A Rational Discussion of Climate Change: the Science, the Evidence, the Response". The current witness list includes:

Panel I

• Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences
• Dr. Heidi M. Cullen, CEO and Director of Communications, Climate Central
• Dr. Gerald A. Meehl, Senior Scientist, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• Dr. Richard Lindzen, Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Panel II

• Dr. Benjamin D. Santer, Atmospheric Scientist, Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Dr. Richard B. Alley, Evan Pugh Professor, Department of Geosciences and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, The Pennsylvania State University
• Dr. Richard A. Feely, Senior Scientist, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA
• Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, Cato Institute

Panel III

• Rear Admiral David W. Titley, Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, United States Department of the Navy
• Mr. James Lopez, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Mr. William Geer, Director of the Center for Western Lands, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
• Dr. Judith Curry, Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology

Lindzen, Michaels, and Curry were all added today to the list originally distributed last week.

The hearing is scheduled to be webcast at the committee's website from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The CSPAN schedule has not yet been posted.

Ellen's Weather Report Analysis

Ellen Degeneres critiques the weathercast (h/t weathermatrix):

Weather Wagering: Reducing Rainfall Risk

For over a century, commodity exchanges have provided a way to hedge against (or speculate on) price fluctuations for crops, livestock, metals, and other materials. More recently, financial products have been developed which allow investment directly in the weather conditions which can in turn affect commodity prices. Last winter, for example, the CME Group introduced options based on the amount of snowfall in 5 U.S. cities. Joining the existing snowfall and temperature products, the exchange last week began offering contracts on rainfall amounts.

The 9 cities involved with the new investments are:

• Chicago O’Hare International Airport (WBAN 94846)
• Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (WBAN 03927)
• Des Moines International Airport (WBAN 14933)
• Detroit Metro Airport (WBAN 94847)
• Jacksonville International Airport (WBAN 13889)
• Los Angeles Downtown USC Campus (WBAN 93134)
• New York LaGuardia Airport (WBAN 14732)
• Portland International Airport (WBAN 24229)
• Raleigh/Durham International Airport (WBAN 13722)

CNBC this morning interviewed the president of Chicago Weather Brokerage, which specializes in this type of product. Although acknowledging that trading in the new contracts has been negligible, Jeff Hodgson was bullish on potential market opportunities.



More background from Medill Reports of Northwestern University:
A new Chicago brokerage plans to take uncertainty out of the weather

Facebook Friends Carolina Climate; Building Data Center in "Isothermal" Area

An AP story, posted at wsj.com, reports that Facebook has picked North Carolina for its second dedicated data center. The site is located near Forest City in Rutherford County, which is in the western portion of the state near the South Carolina border.

One of the factors cited in the choice of location is "relatively inexpensive power", although the NYT Bits blog notes that "about half of the electricity in Forest City, North Carolina, is coal-generated, in line with the national average." On the other hand, the Prineville, Oregon site of Facebook's first data center has been criticized because the local utility there generates its electricity mainly from coal.

Another factor reported in the AP/WSJ article is the climate, since "extremes of cold and heat are a challenge for facilities with huge amounts of sensitive electronic equipment." Isothermal Community College, in nearby Spindale, was in fact named for the moderate "thermal belt" in the region. Interestingly, the current Weather Underground forecast for Rutherfordton, the county seat, shows a variation of only 5° in the high temperatures for the next 5 days. However, the daily record highs and lows for Rutherford County-Marchman Airport (KFQD) show maximums over 100° in August and minimums below 10° in January.

A more likely explanation for picking this location is the business climate, in the form of considerable tax breaks and government incentives. The NYT's Bits reports that "Facebook will receive approximately $17 million in local subsidies and tax breaks over 10 years" and "will also be exempt from paying state taxes on all equipment, electricity and construction materials for the data centers."

More from Information Week:
Facebook 'Friends' North Carolina With Data Center

Image (click to enlarge): Campus sign from Isothermal Community College; Daily record high and low temperatures at Rutherfordton, NC from Weather Underground