Anthony Watts has just posted an article (archived here) with the headline:
New record low set in the coldest city in the continental USA – much of the country headed for a deep freeze
Oh boy! We're heading for an ice age.
Thing is, his NEW RECORD LOW is for International Falls, Minnesota, USA. Guess how long they've been keeping records - a whole forty years. Yes, that's right. According to this weather website:
This report describes the typical weather at the International Fa (International Falls, Minnesota, United States) weather station over the course of an average year. It is based on the historical records from 1974 to 2012. Earlier records are either unavailable or unreliable.
Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from -21°C to 25°C and is rarely below -33°C or above 30°C.
So what was the "record low" that was recorded? It was cold. Very cold. It was -42ºF, breaking the previous cold record of -37ºF. I'll translate for most of my readers - that's -41ºC with the previous record a well-below freezing cold of -38ºC.
Now while Anthony has in his hand a single town in the USA that had the coldest morning in forty years, in winter time, I'll raise him two countries including an entire continent with extremely hot temperatures, not just for a day - but for days on end.
Argentina
Argentina is only now experiencing relief after some areas have had the worst heat wave since records began. When did the records begin, you ask? They began not forty years ago, not fifty years ago, not one hundred years ago but one hundred and eight years ago - back in 1906.
And this isn't a single town we're talking about with a few hours of record heat. This heat wave affected the large part of a nation and lasted more than a fortnight. Okay, it might not seem that hot to some people with temperatures in the high thirties but in some parts it got into the mid-forties. Argentina isn't used to these sort of temperatures and its power grid can't cope with the demand.
What happens in record heat waves? Well it happened here too so I relate to the people of Argentina who can't use their air conditioners because of power cuts. It's causing all sorts of problems for the nation, exacerbating political problems as well as daily living. The power cuts have made people angry, stopped shops that should have benefited from the hot weather, like ice cream parlours, from being able to earn a crust. Yep, expect more civil unrest in various parts of the world over coming decades.
Australia
Australia is reporting massive areas only now getting relief from a wave of heat that emerged in the west on Boxing day and shifted across the continent. It brought temperatures in the low to high forties (102ºF to 114ºF) to large parts of Australia sparing only Victoria and Tasmania. This is what it's been like - not from latte-sipping city slickers in air-conditioned luxury, but from tough people who live in the bush and have lived through all sorts of weather extremes. (Australians tend toward understatement not exaggeration or over-exuberance.)
Queensland isn't out of the woods yet - it's still in the grip of the heat wave. They aren't used to temperatures that high in the tropics.
This after Australia's Angry Summer last year, various "hottest days" on record and the hottest year on record - with no El Nino.
USA
I wonder why Anthony didn't report this hot spell last month, a bit closer to his home.
From the WUWT comments
Okay, let me have my fun. Sometimes I get the impression that WUWT readers think that the USA is the entire world - except for Alaska which is sometimes hot when the rest of the country gets chilly and maybe Florida which has been warm and toasty.
January 2, 2014 at 7:50 am
This brings to mind a question to add to Bob Tisdale’s list. For 25 . . . years we’ve been promised . . . global warming. Where . . . is it? I want a refund. Profanity free, but can be added for effect. -35C this morning. “Normal” minimum is -17C. Wind chill is cheating and isn’t included in that.
IIRC it was only yesterday that it was pointed out that the "CAGW crowd" = deniers. They are the only people who use the acronym. I've never tried to measure the thickness of their skulls with a ruler. physics geek says:
January 2, 2014 at 8:52 am
2014 is setting out to be another inconvenient year for the CAGW crowd.
That presupposes that a) the weather and temperature will be honestly reported and b) that reality will somehow penetrate the overly thick skulls of the CAGW crowd. I would opine that no evidence exists for the latter supposition.
