Daily Temperature Records Set, Tied in Mid Atlantic Through CarolinasWashington Dulles Exceeds Old Mark by 6°

Image (click to enlarge): U.S. temperatures at 3 pm EST, from Unisys

Several daily temperature records were tied or broken in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina today. Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service:

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 68 DEGREES WAS SET AT CHARLESTON WV TODAY.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 68 SET IN 1925.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 65 DEGREES WAS SET AT WASHINGTON DULLES DC TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 59 SET IN 2005.

THE TEMPERATURE AT ROANOKE WAS 68 DEGREES AT 3 PM...WHICH TIES THE
RECORD HIGH FOR FEBRUARY 7TH SET IN 1927. IF THIS TEMPERATURE RISES
THIS AFTERNOON...ANOTHER RECORD EVENT REPORT WILL BE ISSUED LATER.

THE TEMPERATURE AT LYNCHBURG WAS 68 DEGREES 2 PM...WHICH TIES THE
RECORD HIGH FOR FEBRUARY 7TH SET IN 1925. THE TEMPERATURE IS
EXPECTED TO CLIMB A FEW MORE DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON...SO ANOTHER
RECORD EVENT REPORT WILL BE ISSUED LATER.

THE TEMPERATURE AT DANVILLE WAS 69 DEGREES AT 2 PM...WHICH TIES THE
RECORD HIGH FOR FEBRUARY 7TH SET IN 1950. THE TEMPERATURE IS
EXPECTED TO CLIMB A FEW MORE DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON...SO ANOTHER
RECORD EVENT REPORT WILL BE ISSUED LATER.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 71 DEGREES WAS SET AT THE RALEIGH
DURHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 71
SET IN 1999.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 70 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON AT THE
GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG AIRPORT. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 70 SET
IN 2007.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 57 DEGREES WAS RECORDED AT THE
HARRISBURG AIRPORT IN MIDDLETOWN TODAY. THIS EXCEEDED THE PREVIOUS
RECORD OF 55 DEGREES SET IN 1990.  
A CONTINUOUS WEATHER RECORD HAS BEEN KEPT FOR HARRISBURG SINCE 1888.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 61 DEGREES WAS SET AT GEORGETOWN DE TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 60 SET IN 1965. 

(Note the cherry-picking inherent in the sub-headline: Dulles records go back only 45 years. The old Feb. 7 record was highly vulnerable, since it was the only date in February never to have exceeded 60°.)

Snow Continues Travel Disruption in UK Deniers Drooling While OJ Takes a Bath

Feb. 6 Update: Number of daily records for Feb. 5:
Highest maximum temperature 11
Lowest minimum temperature 6

Original post:
The UK Guardian reports today that snow is continuing to disrupt travel and schools across England and Wales, with salt supplies running low in some areas:

Forecasters said the worst of the weather was likely to be in the Midlands with as much as 10cm (4in) of snow, however the south and west of England and Wales ground to a halt today after waking up to their heaviest falls of snow this week.

Michael Fish, Britain's longest-running TV weather forecaster, notes that the snowfall is the heaviest since 1991, while Charlie English, author of The Snow Tourist, gives some British snow history, including:

The snowiest British winter of the 20th century was in 1947 (the coldest was 1963), when snow fell somewhere in the UK every day from 22 January to 17 March.

The latest forecast from the UK Met Office:

This Evening and Tonight:
Patches of sleet and snow edging southeastwards across England and Wales, with locally heavy snow developing across parts of southern and eastern England later. Scotland and Northern Ireland will have scattered wintry showers. Widespread ice will form across the UK.

Friday:
Locally heavy snow across southern and eastern England, especially during the morning. Elsewhere, brighter with some sunshine, but cold. Scattered wintry showers will affect northern and western areas.

The cold weather blog is still eating it up, while drooling over the no-skill 252-hour forecast for Feb. 15.

Florida cold

Don't forget the record cold in Florida; you guys must have made a killing betting on OJ:
"Orange-Juice Futures Slide 8.3% as Florida Crops Skirt Cold Snap".

ACTUAL LOWS/RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 5:
                                      ORIGINAL
                            THIS      RECORD LOWS    RECORDS
LOCATION                          MORNING     FOR FEB 5      BEGAN

ARCHBOLD                 :ACHF1     27        26 IN 1980     1969
ARCADIA                  :ARCF1    *26        26 IN 1996     1899
AVON PARK 2 W            :AVPF1     28        25 IN 1966     1901
BARTOW                   :BARF1     28        27 IN 1996     1892
BROOKSVILLE CHIN HILL    :BROF1     23        21 IN 1996     1892
BUSHNELL 2 E             :BSHF1     24        22 IN 1996     1948
CHIEFLAND 5 SE           :CHIF1     19      **17 IN 1996     1956
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD    :FMY       34        29 IN 1996     1902
INVERNESS 3 SE           :INVF1     25        23 IN 1996     1948
LAKELAND LINDER FIELD    :LLDF1     27      **24 IN 1996     1948
MOUNTAIN LAKE            :LWLF1     29        26 IN 1996,    1935
                                           1966 & 1935
MYAKKA RIVER STATE PARK  :MKCF1     26        24 IN 1996     1956
PARRISH                  :PARF1     NA      **24 IN 1996     1957
PLANT CITY               :PLCF1     29        25 IN 1996     1892
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE        :PNTF1     30      **27 IN 1996     1965
ST LEO                   :STLF1     27        22 IN 1996     1895
ST PETE/ALBERT WHITTED   :SPG       37      **28 IN 1996     1914
SARASOTA-BRADENTON       :SRQ       31      **24 IN 1996     1948
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL APT  :TPA       32        25 IN 1996     1890
TARPON SPRINGS           :TRPF1     NA        23 IN 1996     1892
VENICE                   :VNCF1     29      **26 IN 1996     1955
WAUCHULA 2 N             :WAUF1     NA        27 IN 1996     1933
                                           & 1958
WEEKI WACHEE             :WEEF1     NA        22 IN 1996     1969
WINTER HAVEN             :WHNF1     29        26 IN 1996     1941

* NEW OR TIED RECORD LOW FOR FEBRUARY 5
** RECORD LOW FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 

Total number of daily maximum temperature records set in the entire U.S., Feb. 1-4: 76
Total number of daily minimum temperature records set in the entire U.S., Feb. 1-4: 9

Git out the mukluks and the mastodon traps, maw, the Ice Age is nigh!

And Al Gore is still fat!

Images: Train arriving at Clapham Junction station, London, from UK Guardian; UK weather forecast for 6 am Friday from Met Office; orange juice futures prices from Wall Street Journal

Weathering Economic and Meteorological Storms

Anne Applebaum's op-ed column in today's WaPo, "Relearning How To Weather a Storm" draws an interesting analogy between the current economic situation and the reaction of certain English-speaking world capitals to snowstorms:

"Trudging around snowy London, it was impossible to escape another thought: Surely what's true of the weather is true of other kinds of unexpected change, too. People who no longer remember slow economic growth, for example, might not be able to cope with negative growth, let alone a severe recession. In London, it hasn't snowed much for 18 years, so no one owns a snow shovel -- and if they do, they don't know how to use it. In the United States, the economy hasn't really collapsed since 1929, so no one knows how to save string and tinfoil -- and if they did, they wouldn't know what to do with them. A whole set of skills, from cooking with leftovers to recycling bottles (not because it's green, but because it's thrifty) has been lost during two generations of prosperity, in much the same way the British have forgotten how to drive their cars through slush."

Heavy Snow Strikes Nation's Capital Washington Extends Drought With a Trace on Monday

Video from the BBC is here.

Washington is not the only world capital which finds it difficult to cope with snow and ice. Heavy snow virtually paralyzed some areas of Britain on Monday, with as much as 8" in parts of London. The UK Guardian reports:

The heaviest snowfall for 18 years paralysed swaths of the country yesterday, bringing chaos to roads, railways and airports, closing thousands of schools and businesses, and costing the economy an estimated £1.2bn in lost working hours.

Although the snow had been forecast since last week, much of Britain was overwhelmed, with conditions forcing one in five workers to stay at home, as many as 3,000 schools closed and many non-urgent hospital operations were postponed.

The south-east bore the brunt of the snow, which settled to a depth of 25cm (10in) in Kent and Surrey, and saw all flights cancelled at Heathrow and London City airports, leaving thousands stranded.

London's public transport system buckled under the stress, with all but a handful of bus routes cancelled yesterday morning and 10 of the 11 underground lines either completely or partly suspended.

The cold weather hype machine is loving it. This just in, however, the seasons haven't been repealed: "Despite global warming, snow still exists".

The UK Met Office's latest forecast calls for the snow to be moving northward on Tuesday.

As of midnight, the National Weather Service reports the following snow totals in the Washington, DC region:

********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL********************

LOCATION          STORM TOTAL    TIME/DATE    COMMENTS
                     SNOWFALL       OF
                     (INCHES)   MEASUREMENT


MARYLAND

...FREDERICK COUNTY...
   SMITHSBURG             2.0   725 PM   2/2  
   FOXVILLE               1.0  1155 PM   2/2  
   MYERSVILLE             0.4   805 PM   2/2   1265FT

...MONTGOMERY COUNTY...
   DAMASCUS               0.8   955 PM   2/2   COOP OBSERVER

...WASHINGTON COUNTY...
   HAGERSTOWN             1.5   848 PM   2/2  
   HAGERSTOWN             1.0   820 PM   2/2  
   KNOXVILLE              1.0   755 PM   2/2  

VIRGINIA

...AUGUSTA COUNTY...
   CHURCHVILLE            2.0   830 PM   2/2   ALL SURFACES
   SWOOPE                 1.0   825 PM   2/2   GRASSY ONLY

...CITY OF HARRISONBURG...
   HARRISONBURG           1.5   725 PM   2/2  

...CITY OF STAUNTON...
   STAUNTON               1.2   638 PM   2/2  

...CITY OF WAYNESBORO...
   WAYNESBORO             2.8  1000 PM   2/2   2 WEST

...CITY OF WINCHESTER...
   WINCHESTER             1.0   845 PM   2/2  
   WINCHESTER             0.3   724 PM   2/2  

...CLARKE COUNTY...
   BOYCE                  1.8   835 PM   2/2   ALL SURFACES
   BERRYVILLE             1.0   920 PM   2/2  

...FAIRFAX COUNTY...
   HERNDON                0.1   849 PM   2/2  

...FAUQUIER COUNTY...
   OPAL                   2.0   919 PM   2/2  

...FREDERICK COUNTY...
   GORE                   2.0   848 PM   2/2  

...HIGHLAND COUNTY...
   MONTEREY               5.5   900 PM   2/2   ALL SURFACES

...LOUDOUN COUNTY...
   LEESBURG               0.5   824 PM   2/2  

...MADISON COUNTY...
   HAYWOOD                0.5   739 PM   2/2  

...PAGE COUNTY...
   STANLEY                2.5  1028 PM   2/2  
   LURAY                  1.8  1025 PM   2/2  
   LURAY                  1.0   715 PM   2/2   5MI W
   LURAY                  0.5   849 PM   2/2  
   SHENANDOAH             0.3   722 PM   2/2  

...PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY...
   HAYMARKET              1.8  1001 PM   2/2   ELEV. 1200FT

...ROCKINGHAM COUNTY...
   MASSANUTTEN RESORT     4.0  1128 PM   2/2  

...SHENANDOAH COUNTY...
   NEW MARKET             1.5   845 PM   2/2   ALL SURFACES
   STRASBURG              0.8   845 PM   2/2   ALL SURFACES  

Hansen Derangement Syndrome: Outbreak of New Strain Reported

As noted here previously, James Hansen was awarded its highest honor by the American Meteorological Society for his climate research and communication. Even a major denialist blog offered congratulations, but an ex-colleague at Capital Weather Gang (formerly CapitalWeather.com) inexplicably raised the bizarre question of whether "Science Group Erred Giving Hansen Top Honor". The post is inexplicable, that is, unless it was a crude attempt to get linkage during a season in which the CWG's target age demographic of 12-14 has been mainly out of action as a result of the ongoing Beltway snow drought. DotEarth's Andrew Revkin, whose own cluelessness is frequently on display, took the bait, raising the absurd question, "Can a Scientist Be a Citizen, Too?"

CapitalClimate's comment submitted to Revkin's post is quoted below, but there are other interesting comments, as well as one that is particularly amusing. The anonymity of the signature "wmar" creates some ambiguity, but the incoherence, both linguistically and scientifically, points in the direction of one of our favorite squawk radio meteorologists.

CapitalClimate's comment:

As a degreed meteorologist and member of the AMS for over 45 years, I am very pleased to see the Society take a responsible public position on an issue which has serious and far-reaching consequences to society at large. As a former member for over 3 years of Capital Weather Gang and its predecessor web site (author of PM Update Monday-Friday), I repudiate my ex-colleague's ill-advised comments. Freedman's conflation of "clear communication of climate science in the public arena", one of the stated bases of the award, with politics is naive at best. This is especially baffling in light of the fact that he professes to be a student of climate policy. If he can't understand the difference between communication and partisan politics, he should be looking for a new career field.

Freedman's citing of an extremist view from one of the most biased and widely-discredited climate web sites is even more egregious. The only reasonable explanation is that this is some kind of juvenile attempt to gain approval from corporate taskmasters by promoting the same kind of "mushy middle" that you yourself have been rightly accused of advocating by Joe Romm and others. (I was personally a witness to your firm adherence to that false dichotomy in the face of sharp questioning at the DC MIT club seminar series last year.) It's no surprise that IceCrap has returned the favor by prominently featuring Freedman's post on its own main page.

It's hypocritical to argue that Hansen is not qualified for an award because he is accused of having an agenda by some whose own agenda is highly suspect. (Have you investigated the sources of D'Aleo's funding, for example?) The Rossby Medal is not a popularity contest. Either the work is technically qualifying for recognition or not. Denying the honor as punishment for speaking out in the policy arena is just as wrong as denying certification to meteorologists who are not public advocates. On the other hand, D'Aleo's activity with such organizations as the Fraser Institute is far more overtly political than Hansen's. Should D'Aleo's recognition as Fellow of the AMS be questioned because of his political action? What about Richard Lindzen, an outspoken skeptic in such scientific venues as the Wall Street Journal op-ed page and the Larry King show? Are his Meisinger and Charney Awards from the AMS or AGU Macelwane Medal to be revoked? I don't think so.

Colbert Puts Science in Proper Place

Stephen Colbert welcomes the new Administration in Washington by helping put science in its proper place with guest Chris Mooney:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Obama's New Science Policy - Chris Mooney

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Colbert Report Tickets

Paul McCartney Appearance
More Funny Videos

Obama Wonders at Washington Winter Weather Wimps

Video from CNBC.

The President said:

"My children's school was cancelled today -- Because of what? Some ice? As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never cancelled, in fact my 7-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess. You wouldn't even stay indoors. We're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this. I'm saying, when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."

From around the web:

• AFP: Washington weather is snow joke for Obama
• Chicago Sun-Times: Ice storm shuts down Washington; President Obama tells city to "apply some Chicago toughness."
• AP: Obama gives chilly reception to canceled school
• Reuters: Obama to shivering Washingtonians: Toughen up
• Politico: Obama girls can't believe school canceled
• CNN: Obama mocks Washington's winter panic
• Washington CityPaper: On a Snow Day, Obama Disses D.C., Recommends “Flinty Chicago Toughness”
• NBC Washington: Obama Scoffs: D.C. Needs "Flinty Chicago Toughness"