13-17 February 2012

• Review of national weather and climate for January 2012 -- Using preliminary data collected from the national network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center have determined that the recently completed month of January 2012 was the fourth warmest January across the coterminous United States since comprehensive national climate records began since 1895. Nationwide temperatures were 5.5 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average. Every one of the coterminous states had statewide temperatures that ranged from slightly above to much above average. Nine states primarily across the center of the nation (Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming) had statewide January temperatures that were within the top ten in the last 118 years. This warm January followed a generally warm December, which made the first two months of meteorological winter (December-February) the fourth warmest December and January two-month periods on record. While the "lower 48" had unseasonably warm January weather, Alaska experienced its coldest January on record.
  The scientists also found that last month was drier than average, as nationwide averaged precipitation was 0.37 inches below the 20th century average. Some locations across the southern Plains and the Great Lakes had above average precipitation totals, while the central Plains and the Southeast had below average January precipitation totals. Snowfall across the northern Plains, the Midwest and the Northeast was below average. According to researchers at the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the January snow cover was the third smallest in extent for the last 46 years of record. [NOAA News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

• Instrumentation onboard new environmental satellite close to being commissioned -- The team of scientists and engineers from NASA and NOAA are continuing to checking and commissioning the set of five instruments on the nation's newest polar-orbiting satellite, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite designed to monitor atmospheric conditions. One of these instruments that has been sending data back to Earth is the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) that will produce high resolution, three-dimensional temperature, atmospheric pressure, and moisture profiles to be used in NOAA's weather prediction computer models and climate models designed to monitor El Niño and La Niña conditions. Commissioning of all instruments should be completed by late March, when NOAA assumes operational control of this satellite. [NOAA News]
• New Japanese satellite radar instrument shipped to US -- A new Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument designed and built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology has been shipped to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. This instrument, to be placed on the NASA's Core Observatory for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite, is designed to make three-dimensional measurements of the shapes, sizes and other physical characteristics of both raindrops and snowflakes. The instrument, along with a companion instrument should open a new generation of space-based observations of global precipitation, a key element of the Earth's climate. This satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2014. [NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission]
• An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]

CLIMATE FORCING

• Despite low solar activity, imbalance in Earth's energy budget remains -- A science team led by the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, recently reported that their updated calculations of the planetary energy budget show that more energy was absorbed by the Earth surface than the amount of energy returned to space between 2005 and 2010, a time of unusually low solar activity when the amount of incident solar radiation on the planet declined slightly. The researchers claim that this energy imbalance was due to greenhouse gases generated by human activity serving as the primary force driving increased global temperatures rather than changes in solar activity. An improvement in calculations of the Earth's energy budget came from satellites as well as from the fleet of Argo floats that have been deployed in the global ocean basins to measure ocean temperatures downward several thousand meters from the surface. [NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

• La Niña advisory continues -- Scientists with the NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently noted that below average sea surface temperatures continued across the equatorial Pacific Ocean east of the International Dateline through January 2012, which indicated the continued presence of a mature La Niña event, or an anomalous atmospheric and ocean circulation regime characterized in part by relatively cold waters in the waters of the eastern Pacific along the Equator to the west of the South American coast. This event affects the atmospheric and oceanic elsewhere around the planet. These forecasters continued their La Niña advisory as the foresee that this weak-to-moderate La Niña event would persist for the next month before weakening to El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-neutral conditions during the three-months running from March through May 2012. [NOAA's Climate Prediction Center]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

• New guidebook designed to help management of nation's forests facing changing climate -- Researchers at the US Forest Service's western research stations have compiled a four-part science-based framework designed to assist resource managers at the 155 national forests across the nation manage their forests for resilience to future climate change. The guidelines have been published by the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station in a guidebook entitled "Responding to Climate Change on National Forests: A Guidebook for Developing Adaptation Options." [US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

• Climate response to volcanic eruptions may be underestimated by tree rings -- Researchers at Penn State University and Roger Williams University claim that reconstructions of past temperature changes made by tree-ring analysis may not reflect some of the episodes of global cooling as larger temperature drops following past volcanic eruptions may have led to greatly shortened or absent growing seasons. They point to the inconsistency of the response of tree ring proxy indicators to three large tropical eruptions in 1258-1259 AD, 1452-1453 and 1809-1815. [Penn State University Live]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

• Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Climate and Architecture

Humans have been constructing houses and other buildings for thousands of years not only to protect themselves from the weather and other environmental factors, but also to create a comfortable indoor environment that would exhibit energy efficiency, especially in harsh climates. For centuries, natural or primitive housing reflected an adaptation to the climate of the locale and the availability of local building materials.

In order to maintain a tolerable level of comfort within a building, attention must be paid to thermal effects, ventilation, illumination and atmospheric humidity.

The indoor thermal state ultimately depends upon the building's energy budget involving incoming and outgoing radiation, latent and sensible heat loss and by interior heat sources or sinks. The indoor thermal level is mainly associated with the external energy load on the building. The external energy load on the building depends upon the latitude of the building, season of the year and time of day.

In tropical latitudes and during midday hours in summer, the sun's path across the local sky increases the solar radiation incident upon the roof and walls of the building. In polar latitudes, or during the winter or the amount of available sunlight is significantly lower, with the loss of infrared radiation causing a net cooling from the building. Changes in the color of the roof and the outer walls can affect the amount of incoming sunlight absorbed. Building orientation and the effective use of overhangs can also affect the amount of sunlight absorbed. Furthermore, the amount of insulation, often related to the thickness of the walls, reduces the conduction of heat into or out of the building. Thick adobe walls have been used effectively in the Southwest to moderate indoor temperature. These walls reduce the heat flow into the building during the daytime and in summer and out from the building at night or during winter.

The size and placement of windows also affects the energy balance. Large windows on the side of the building facing the sun's path tend to permit large amounts of sunlight to penetrate into the building. However, large windows on the side facing away from the sun can cause for heat loss due to conduction, as many types of windowpanes are not energy efficient.

Effective landscaping can reduce energy demands upon a dwelling: Deciduous trees planted on the south and west sides of the home provide cooling shade during the summer, keeping sunlight from entering the windows. These trees will lose their foliage in fall and allow the sun to shine through in winter, and warm south facing rooms. Evergreen trees or dense shrubbery on the north side can serve as a windbreak, which reduce the cold northerly winds from striking the house in winter.

Energy losses from buildings during the upcoming winter in northern latitudes can be seen readily by how quickly snow melts from roofs and by how big the icicles form. Heat losses from buildings occur with larger negative energy budgets, which are reflected also in higher heating bills during the winter season. However, the heating bills also depend upon the severity of the winter season that can be ascertained from the number of accumulated heating degree-day units. Check this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for how you can monitor the number of heating degree-day units to date in your state for this coming heating season.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Place your responses on the Chapter Progress Response Form provided in the Study Guide.

1. The thicker the outdoor walls, the [(greater),(less)] the heat flow into or out of a building.
2. Planting [(evergreen),(deciduous)] vegetation on the south side of a home in New England will help reduce winter heating and summer cooling bills.

Historical Events:

• 13 February 1784...Ice floes blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans, then passed into the Gulf of Mexico. The only other time this occurred was during the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of 1899. (David Ludlum)
• 13 February 1899...It was the coldest morning of record along the Gulf Coast. The mercury dipped to 2 degrees below zero at Tallahassee, the lowest reading of record for the state of Florida. The record low temperature for the state of Louisiana was set at Minden, when the thermometer fell to 16 degrees below zero. A trace of snow fell at Fort Myers, FL. This was the farthest south snow has ever been observed in the U.S. until 1977 when snow fell in Miami. The lowest temperature ever recorded at Dayton, OH occurred when it dropped to 28 degrees below zero. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 13 February 1905...Morning lows of 29 degrees below zero at Pond, AR, 40 degrees below at Lebanon, KS, and 40 below at Warsaw, MO established all-time records for those three states. (The Weather Channel)
• 15 February 1936...The temperature at Parshall, ND plunged to 60 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. On the 6^th of July that same year, the temperature at Steele, ND hit 121 degrees, also a state record high temperature. (David Ludlum)
• 16 February 1903...The temperature at Pokegama Dam, MN plunged to 59 degrees below zero to establish a state record. (David Ludlum) This record has since been broken with a 60 degree below reading in 1996. (NCDC)
• 16 February 1929...Britain's greatest snowfall of 70.9 inches fell in just 15 hours at Dartmoor, Great Britain. (The Weather Doctor)
• 16 February 1943...Record cold prevailed in the northeastern U.S. The morning low of 32 degrees below zero at Falls Village, CT established a state record, yet the afternoon high that day was 20 degrees above zero. In January 1961, this Connecticut record low was tied. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 16 February 1966...Heavy rain fell in Whenuapai, New Zealand, with 4.2 inches of rain falling in one hour, a new record for that time in New Zealand. (The Weather Doctor)
• 16 February 1989...A surge of arctic air produced all-time record high barometric pressure readings of 31.08 inches at Duluth, MN, 30.97 inches at Chicago, IL and 30.94 inches at South Bend, IN. Readings of 31.00 inches at Milwaukee, WI and 30.98 inches at Rockford, IL tied their all-time records. (The National Weather Summary)
• 16 February 1996...A coastal storm produced heavy snow along the East Coast to push seasonal snowfall totals to new records at several locations. The following cities set new all-time seasonal snowfall records: Lynchburg, VA (8.1 inches new, 51.3 inches seasonal total); Washington/Dulles, VA (7.5, 53.4) ; Washington/National, DC (6.8, 40.8); Baltimore, MD (9.8, 54.9); Philadelphia, PA (7.5, 55.9); Hartford/Bradley, CT (10.3, 90.2) and Providence, RI (7.0, 78.0). (Intellicast)
• 17 February 1748...The temperature at Charleston, SC fell to 10 degrees, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Colonial South. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17 February 1926...A deadly avalanche, Utah's worst, demolished 14 miner's cottages and a three-story boarding house in Binham Canyon. Thirty-six are killed and 13 injured. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17 February 1936...The temperature at McIntosh, SD plunged to 58 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. (David Ludlum)
• 17 February 1974...Lakelse Lake, British Columbia received 46.5 inches of snow over 24 hours, Canada's greatest 24-hour snowfall on record that stood for nearly one quarter of a century until 57 inches fell in 24 hours at Tahtsa Lake, British Columbia on 11 February 1999. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17-18 February 2003...The President's Day snowstorm set a new Boston, MA record for the greatest snowstorm total snowfall: a total of 27.5 inches. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18 February 1899...While much of the central and eastern U.S. was recovering from the most severe cold wave of modern history, the temperature at San Francisco, CA soared to 80 degrees to establish a record for month of February. (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1959...Some of the higher elevations of California were in the midst of a five-day storm that produced 189 inches of snow, a single storm record for North America. (13^th-19^th) (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1966...The temperature at Winnipeg, Manitoba dropped to 49 degrees below zero, the city's lowest recorded temperature. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18 February 1979...The record low temperature for the state of New York was set at Old Forge when the temperature plummeted to 52 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
• 18 February 1996...Cuba's coldest morning on record occurred when the temperature at Bainoa, Cuba dropped to 33 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
• 19 February 1998...The temperature at Mardie, Western Australia reached 122.9 degrees, the second highest temperature ever recorded in Australia. (The Weather Doctor)

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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2012, The American Meteorological Society.