Thursday, September 24, 2009

Pacific Northwest Heat Record Update

For other record temperature posts, see:
Record Heat
Record Cold


As predicted, heat records were set or tied in the interior of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and northern California Wednesday; a few more were set today:
 ...PRELIMINARY RECORD HIGHS BROKEN OR TIED TODAY...  

STATION OLD RECORD (YEAR) NEW RECORD
MULLAN PASS (ASOS) 76 (1943) TIED 76
SANDPOINT 84 (2001) TIED 84
WENATCHEE (ASOS) 89 (1994) 90

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 85 DEGREES WAS SET AT BUTTE MT TODAY.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 85 SET IN 2001.

...RECORD HIGH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES REPORTED FOR SEPTEMBER 23RD 2009...

RECORDS
STATION NEW RECORD OLD RECORD YEAR KEPT SINCE

MULLAN PASS 78 74 1952 1938
OMAK 90 89 1939 1931
PULLMAN 93 TIED 93 2001 1940
WINCHESTER 88 TIED 88 2001 1939

...RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES REPORTED FOR SEPTEMBER 23RD 2009...

RECORDS
STATION NEW RECORD OLD RECORD YEAR KEPT SINCE

EPHRATA 58 TIED 58 1966 1948

STATION PREVIOUS NEW RECORDS
RECORD/YEAR RECORD BEGAN

MEACHAM, OR 88 / 2001 91 1948
PENDLETON(ARPT), OR 90 / 1994 92 1934
REDMOND, OR 92 / 1994 97 1949

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 98 DEGREES WAS SET AT MONTAGUE CA
YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 96 SET IN 1991.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 93 DEGREES WAS SET AT MT SHASTA CITY
CA YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 92 SET IN 2003.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 92 DEGREES WAS SET AT ALTURAS CA
YESTERDAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 92 SET IN 1949.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 DEGREES WAS TIED AT KLAMATH FALLS
TODAY [Sept. 23]. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 90 SET IN 1974.

How to Help Boil a Frog

Today's Tom Toles:

Economic Destruction for Fun and Profit

"Promoting alternative energy will destroy the economy."

Don't try telling that to investors on Wall Street, who have sharply bid up the price of a lithium-ion battery company's initial offering today. Shares of A123 Systems (symbol AONE) are up over 50% from this morning's offering price of $13.50, which had been raised from earlier estimates of around $8. After a delayed opening, the shares began trading at $17 and reached a high of $21.14 before retreating slightly to $20.29 at 4 pm. Volume was over 41 million shares.

The company, "one of the world's leading suppliers of high-power lithium ion batteries", has contracts to supply batteries for hybrid and electric cars to 7 auto manufacturers worldwide, including Chrysler, GM, and Nissan.

The A123 CEO Dave Vieau was interviewed this morning on CNBC:




From the press:
Image (click to enlarge): September 24 stock chart for A123, from MarketWatch, via Fidelity Investments

Disclaimer: CapitalClimate unfortunately does NOT own shares in A123.

Google Earth Provides Climate Change Visualization

BNET reports that Google Earth on Tuesday launched a series of guided tours to provide a visualization of climate change projections. According to the official Google blog,
In collaboration with the Danish government and others, we are launching a series of Google Earth layers and tours to allow you to explore the potential impacts of climate change on our planet and the solutions for managing it. Working with data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we show on Google Earth the range of expected temperature and precipitation changes under different global emissions scenarios that could occur throughout the century.
Also in cooperation with the Danish government, Google has launched the YouTube COP15 channel in anticipation of the Copenhagen climate change conference (fifteenth Conference of the Parties under the United Nations’ Climate Change Convention) to be held in December.

The introductory tour (short version):

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Rare Heavy Dust Storm Brings Red Dawn to Sydney

An unusually strong dust storm brought red skies and extremely low visibility to Sydney, Australia this morning. Although dust storms are fairly frequent in the Australian interior, it's very rare for storms of this intensity to reach the coast. At midday, the heavy dust cloud covered half of the state of New South Wales. The visibility restrictions caused widespread disruption in transportation systems and ferry service was suspended. Long delays occurred at Sydney Airport as Qantas flights were diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne. More than 500 fire alarms were reported between 3 and 7 am as dust particles set off detectors.

Coverage from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Today's forecast for Sydney:
"Strong to gale force west to northwest winds, gradually easing late afternoon or evening. Raised dust clearing, otherwise fine. Cloudy periods."

Image (click to enlarge): Sydney Opera House enveloped in dust, from Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Video: Obama Speaks to UN on Climate

President Obama's speech to the UN climate change summit this morning as broadcast on CNBC (transcript here):



Note to CWG/WaPo: No mention of the word "science".

Federal Appeals Court Rules Global Warming A Public Nuisance

The Warming Law blog reports that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York yesterday issued a ruling that greenhouse gas emissions by 6 power companies are a public nuisance. The companies had been sued in 2004 by 8 states, the City of New York, and several environmental organizations. The suit (State of Connecticut, et al. v. American Electric Power Company Inc., et al.) had previously been dismissed by the District Court on the basis that it was about a political question. The Circuit Court reversed that position and sent the case back for further litigation. Warming Law plans to provide further analysis, but its initial reaction is:
First, this opinion is pretty stunning, coming as it does from two Bush appointees to the Second Circuit, both in terms of the power of its recognition that global warming is a crisis and in its insistence that courts can play a role, through the use of nuisance law, in addressing the crisis. Following on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mass v. EPA and coming at a time when EPA is moving steadily forward in using its Clean Air Act regulatory authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is a powerful reminder to politicians in Washington that the train has left the station in terms of efforts to address global warming, and if Congress wants to lead this effort, and make sure we have a comprehensive and market-based solution, it better act soon.
Other reports:

Pacific Northwest Extending Heat Records
Portland Breaks Annual Record for 90° Days

Image (click to enlarge): 500 mb height at 8 am EDT, Sept. 22

For other record temperature posts, see:
Record Heat
Record Cold


Sept. 23 Update: Additional record reports:
Roseburg OR 101°, broke 1994 record of 100°
Montague CA 95°, tied 1974 record

6 PM PDT Update: Today's unofficial high at Portland was 92°. Other Oregon and Washington highs in the 90s:
Kelso     93°
Scappoose 92°
Vancouver 93°
Astoria 92°
Bremerton 93°
Ft. Lewis 91°
Preliminary National Weather Service record reports released so far:
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 92 DEGREES WAS SET AT ASTORIA OR TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 89 SET IN 1989.

AS OF 3 PM PDT...PORTLAND AIRPORT REACHED 91 DEGREES. THIS SETS A NEW
RECORD OF 24 DAYS THIS YEAR THAT EXCEEDED 90 DEGREES. THE PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 23 DAYS WAS SET IN 1987.

3 PM PDT Update: The Portland temperature of 91° makes this the 24th day of the year at 90°+ and sets a new record. The reading of 92° at Astoria breaks the record of 89° for the date set in 1989 and is the latest 90° temperature ever recorded there. The previous latest was 91° on Sept. 13, 1957. The previous latest 92° temperature was on Sept. 4, 1955.

PM Update: At 2 pm PDT, Portland is reporting a temperature of 88°. Astoria, on the coast, is at 91°, and Kelso, Washington is 90°.

Original post:
A very strong upper-level ridge of high pressure is helping to extend this summer's record heat into the fall in the Pacific Northwest. In anticipation of a much-above-average high in the low 90s in Portland, the National Weather Service has issued a statement reviewing heat statistics for northwest Oregon. A high of 90° or above would break the record annual number of 90° days of 23. The high yesterday was 85°. As of noon PDT, the temperature is 83°, up 14° in 2 hours.
PERIOD OF RECORD: 
PORTLAND...1940-CURRENT
SALEM......1892-CURRENT
EUGENE.....1890-CURRENT

*********************************************************
AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS PER YEAR:

PORTLAND SALEM EUGENE
90 DEGREES OR ABOVE..... 11 15 11
100 DEGREES OR ABOVE....LESS THAN 1 ABOUT 1 LESS THAN 1

**********************************************************
NUMBER OF DAYS SO FAR THIS YEAR (2009):

PORTLAND SALEM EUGENE
90 DEGREES OR ABOVE..... 23 22 20
100 DEGREES OR ABOVE.... 3 3 4

**********************************************************
RECORD TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS IN A YEAR:

PORTLAND SALEM EUGENE
90 DEGREES OR ABOVE..... 23/2009 34/1958 31/1958
NOTE....PORTLAND TIES RECORD SET IN 1987.

100 DEGREES OR ABOVE.... 5/1977 7/1988 5/1978

**********************************************************
RECORD NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES
FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR:

90 DEGREES OR ABOVE.....RANK #DAYS START DATE
FOR PORTLAND............ 1. 10 7-25-2009
2. 8 8-12-1967
3. 7 8-03-1972
4. 7 9-04-1944
5. 6 7-22-1996


FOR SALEM............... 1. 10 8-11-1967
2. 10 7-13-1938
3. 9 7-25-2009
4. 9 8-05-1977
5. 9 7-27-1974

FOR EUGENE.............. 1. 11 7-13-1938
2. 10 7-26-1974
3. 10 8-11-1967
4. 9 8-03-1990
5. 9 7-21-1939

100 DEGREES OR ABOVE....RANK #DAYS START DATE
FOR PORTLAND............ 1. 5 7-13-1941
2. 4 8-07-1981
3. 3 7-25-2009
4. 3 7-19-1994
5. 3 8-10-1977

FOR SALEM............... 1. 4 7-19-1994
2. 4 8-07-1981
3. 4 8-09-1977
4. 4 7-13-1941
5. 3 7-25-2009

FOR EUGENE.............. 1. 4 8-07-1981
2. 3 7-25-2009
3. 3 7-22-2006
4. 3 8-10-1977
5. 3 7-22-1928
In the interior of Washington and Idaho, high temperature records are expected to be threatened on Wednesday, Sept. 23:
HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE PROJECTED TO BE 10 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL  
WEDNESDAY. SOME RECORDS FOR THE AREA ARE LISTED BELOW ALONG WITH
FORECASTED TEMPERATURES.

...WEDNESDAY 9/23/2009....

STATION FORECAST RECORD (YEAR)
BONNERS FERRY 90 85 (1987)
BOUNDARY DAM 89 83 (1987)
CHELAN 89 87 (1987)
COEUR D'ALENE 89 93 (1966)
COLVILLE 92 94 (2001)
CONCONULLY 89 87 (1987)
DEER PARK 90 90 (2001)
ENTIAT 94 89 (1999)
EPHRATA 90 92 (1987)
FELTS FIELD 91 91 (2001)
LEWISTON 95 97 (2001)
MAZAMA 91 89 (1987)
OMAK 92 89 (1939)
PLAIN 88 88 (1990)
PORTHILL 88 86 (1999)
POTLATCH 95 93 (1938)
PRIEST RAPIDS 91 90 (1999)
PULLMAN 92 93 (1987)
REPUBLIC 90 92 (1928)
SANDPOINT 86 83 (1987)
SPOKANE 89 91 (1905)
WELLPINIT 92 91 (1987)
WENATCHEE WATER 93 90 (1939)
WENATCHEE 90 90 (1974)
WINTHROP 91 91 (1987)

Monday, September 21, 2009

FT Features Comprehensive Copenhagen Climate Change Conference Coverage

Today's Financial Times features a package of articles relating to Tuesday's climate summit meeting in New York leading up to the Copenhagen conference in December (registration required). This one collection of articles provides more coverage of the subject than the WashedUpPo has had in months:

China Plans Massive Solar Power Development

China recently announced plans for development of the world's largest solar power plant. The 2000 MW plant, to be built by U.S.-based First Solar, Inc, will be orders of magnitude larger than any solar plant currently operating when fully implemented. According to the pvresources online directory, the largest current plant is a 60 MW facility in Spain. Seven out of the top 10 largest plants are in Spain, with 2 in Germany and 1 in Portugal. Only 2 plants in the U.S. are in the top 50, a 14.2 MW facility at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and a 12.6 MW plant in Boulder City, Nevada. Over 70% (2300 MW) of European large-scale photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity is in Spain, with Germany in second place at 698 MW. Total worldwide large-scale PV capacity is currently about 3700 MW.

The new Chinese plant will be located in Ordos City in the desert region of Inner Mongolia. It is planned to be built in phases from 2010 through 2019. Phase 1, a demonstration project of 30 MW, will be followed with phases of 100 MW, 870 MW, and 1000 MW.

Image: 580 kW solar plant in Mombach Germany from First Solar, Inc.

Seasonal Outlook

Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.


Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.