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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:38 am Post subject: Record Cold in Fairbanks..... |
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Record cold in Fairbanks, Alaska - A reader, Kate Salvati, sent this excerpt to me
from the National Weather Service:
"THE COLD AIR OVER THE EASTERN INTERIOR CONTINUES TO BREAK RECORDS
FOR LENGTH OF COLD. FAIRBANKS IS POISED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE
MONTH WITHOUT EVER GOING ABOVE THE FREEZING MARK...ALTHOUGH IT
COULD BE CLOSE ON SATURDAY. THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME IN
MODERN HISTORY FOR THAT MARK TO BE ACHIEVED"
"Just the fact that this hasn't happened before in modern times," says Kate, "should
sound alarm bells for many for several reasons."
"One would be that the current global warming theory states that the poles are the areas
to be affected worst by this warming. Since Fairbanks is a polar location it goes against
the GW theory.
"Second, not only is Fairbanks on track for breaking its record coldest March of -2.7�F,
it is going to shatter it! As of today the average temperature for the month in Fairbanks
is -8.6�F, about 6 degrees colder than the previous record. Normally when longer-term
records are broken, they aren't broken by more than 2 degrees. This record could be
broken by 5 degrees."
����������������.
And here are some key excerpts that Kate sent along from the Fairbanks News Miner.
"The last time I saw it this bad was the winter of 1988-89," said Lynn, referring to a winter that is legendary among those living in Fairbanks at the time. "I think this may have that beat."
"We�re at the end of the winter and the frost line has really gotten down there," said Lynn, dressed in a pair of insulated Carhartt bibs and bunny boots. "I�ve heard about people with (underground) water tanks that are frozen solid. Septic tanks are freezing."
The period from Feb. 12 to March 20 was the coldest on record, according to Aycock. The average temperature was minus 13.1 degrees Fahrenheit, 17.1 degrees colder than normal. |
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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:40 am Post subject: |
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| and I know, this record cold is being caused by global warming, right? |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| When it is getting colder, it is called climate change, not global warming. Le duh. |
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ptarmigan
Joined: 01 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:19 am Post subject: |
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First of all, Fairbanks is not currently experiencing record cold temperatures. The high yesterday was 39, while the normal high for that date was 36. So the excerpt from the article could be a bit misleading.
Here are the weather facts:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=fairbanks%2C+ak
Note that Fairbanks is gaining nearly 7 minutes of daylight per day.
See for yourself:
http://arcticcam.com:16080/cam/
Having actually spent the winter here in Fairbanks, I can say with some certainty that it was cold, but not that cold.
Any oldtimer, referred to locally as a sourdough, can tell you from their experience that in the old days you would see temperatures drop to minus 60 or 65 during the winter. They say that you aren't seeing them anymore. The coldest it got this winter was only about minus 45, which is not unusual. I've seen minus 45 in Anchorage.
What the recent weather data shows is that winter lasted longer into the spring. However, the cold weather also started about a month later than usual in the fall. And what the article in today's News-Miner is talking about is AVERAGE temperatures.
Note the headline for the article:
Close, but no record for cold
The article says that it was cold, but no record was broken, contrary to the heading of the OP.
| Quote: |
Close, but no record for cold
By Tim Mowry
Staff Writer
Published April 3, 2007
Spring sprung a day too early in Fairbanks to make this the coldest March on record.
A high temperature of 41 degrees on Saturday, the first time since Dec. 9 that the temperature at Fairbanks International Airport rose above freezing, ruined any chance that March 2007 had to go down in the record books as the coldest ever documented in Fairbanks.
The average temperature this March was 6.5 degrees below zero, falling one-tenth of a degree shy of tying the record of minus 6.6 degrees set in 1959.
�If we didn�t mess up that last day, we would have had it,� said meteorologist Cary Freeman at the National Weather Service office in Fairbanks.
While this wasn�t the coldest March on record, the period between Feb. 1 and March 31 was the coldest two-month period on record. The average temperature for the two months was minus 6.6 degrees. The previous record for the coldest February and March was 6.5 degrees below in 1930.
The low temperature was above zero only two days during the month � March 21 (11 above) and March 22 (5 above). The low for the month was 39 below on March 2, and there were six days when the low was 30 below or colder. Saturday marked the only time during the month that the temperature rose above freezing. The closest it came before Saturday was 29 degrees on March 21.
Temperatures will be slightly cooler today and Wednesday, dipping into the mid-30s, but should rise into the 40s during the day starting Thursday. Fairbanks could see its first 50 degree day on Sunday, Freeman said.
�It looks like spring is here,� he said.
Saturday�s high of 41 degrees marked the first time in 161 days that the temperature at the airport hit 40 degrees. The last time was Oct. 20, when the high was 40.
This marked the second year in a row that the final day in March was the only one on which the high temperature climbed above freezing for the month. Last year, the high temperature on March 31 climbed to 42 after failing to hit the freezing mark the previous 30 days. The average temperature last March was 3 degrees above.
The cold temperatures prevented any snow from melting during the month and has Fairbanks on pace for a normal breakup, despite the fact only 28 inches of snow fell this year, which is more than three feet below normal.
As of March 31, the snowpack measured 16 inches, which is only 2 inches below normal, Freeman said.
�We�re fairly close to normal for snow on the ground,� he said.
Only 3.3 inches of snow fell in March, just over half the normal snowfall of 6.4 inches for the month.
While there a few flurries in the forecast, there is no sign of any major snowfall in the near future, Freeman said. |
http://newsminer.com/2007/04/03/6279/
Weather in Fairbanks, being less than 200 miles from the Arctic Circle, is heavily influenced by the pattern of the jet stream. If it is coming from the north, it is going to be cold. If from the south, it will pick up warm air from the Pacific. When the Northeast was having that unusually warm weather last fall, Fairbanks was very cold because it was receiving the brunt of the jet stream. When the Northeast cooled off, Fairbanks warmed up.
The evidence of global warming is everywhere in Alaska, and has been evident for decades. Most important, the permafrost is melting, leading to tilting buildings and waffly roads. But also, the ice pack is thinning, and coastal villages in the Arctic are eroding. The habitat for polar bears is threatened. Towns in the Southeast that never saw temperatures much above the 70s are seeing summer temps sometimes hit the 90s. Insects are moving northward, killing forrests. And there is an increase in forest fires.
In short, if you look at the average monthly temperatures year to year, you will see a fairly steady warming trend.
I looked at the 30-year temperature and precipitation chart in 1990, when I worked for an Anchorage newspaper, and 14 out of the preceding 15 years were above "normal," which the National Weather Service bases on the 30-year running average. So I called up the NWS and spoke to a meteorologist. He said, "Some people believe it is the result of global warming." I wrote an article about this.
It has only gotten worse since then. The past winter in Anchorage seems to have been significantly warmer than in the old days. - as in 20 years ago.
In short, in Alaska global warming is not a theory; you can see it with your own eyes. It is not a controversial subject, except with some people with close ties to the oil industry. And this is an oil state.
Spotting weather records is a bit of a sport in Alaska, where the weather definitely gets your attention. What counts with regards to global warming is not the one-time records, but the year to year trends. It is as important not to take weather data out of context as it is to take quotes from articles out of context.
One more thing, I don't know who this Kate Salvati is. She is not quoted in the News-Miner article, despite appearances by the OP, and there is no Salvati listed with a phone in Fairbanks. Indeed, a search revealed no evidence of anyone named Salvati anywhere in Alaska.
| Quote: |
| "We�re at the end of the winter and the frost line has really gotten down there," said Lynn, dressed in a pair of insulated Carhartt bibs and bunny boots. "I�ve heard about people with (underground) water tanks that are frozen solid. Septic tanks are freezing." |
This is pure unadulterated BS. There is no one in Fairbanks walking around in insulated overalls and bunny boots -- white inflatable boots designed for use on the North Slope with temperatures of minus 40 or colder. People aren't even wearing pac boots. I saw one man going to the store this weekend in a short sleeve shirt, and most at least were not wearing jackets; I wasn't because inside the stores are too hot. The air might be cool, but the sun warms you up now.
And what the heck is an underground water tank? I've heard of underground fuel tanks, but why would someone put a water tank in the ground? Either you have city water or you have a well with an electric pump in an insulated enclosure. I don't care what the weather is like, why would someone put a water tank in the ground in Alaska? Shoot, even a diesel or heating fuel tank can gel up.
Where I live in Fairbanks has a well and septic tank. Neither froze this winter.
But I will concede that the winter in Fairbanks has been about a month too long. Next winter, sunny southern South Korea! |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Ah yes, sundubuman and his unattributed, quote-mined sources. I think he got this one from here: Not by Fire but by Ice THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW! (sorry to play 'the source game', BJWD - I know how much you hate it.) One of these days the truth will come out though - global warming is a communist conspiracy! |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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| gang ah jee wrote: |
| global warming is a communist conspiracy! |
Agreed. Back in the day, the number one criticism of capitalism was that it would not produce enough for everyone, and the "workers" would toil at peasant conditions while there overlord masters reaped the rewards. Well, that was bullsiht. Now the number one criticism is that capitalism produces too much and the "workers" consume too much...
I watch the CBC news everyday. Last year, and the year before, all the special reports were on bird flu and meth. When I went home, my grandma and many of my otherwise sane friends were stocking up on "fresh" water (cause of all the salt-water in Alberta?) and talking about meth as the new crack. Now, the cbc profiles GW everyday, and the panic has moved on to that. All that stays the same is the panic. One of the coolest things about being away from home is that you unplug yourself from the cycle for a few years.. And once you go back home, it is like entering bizarro-world.
Anyhow, back to your regularly scheduled source war. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Right. Panicking about global warming takes valuable time away from panicking about Muslims. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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Panicking. Look. Ideas matter. islam is just an idea. In the same way that the idea of communism must be exposed for the nonsense that it is, islam must be exposed. It is just an idea. To say that ideas influence the way that we act is elementary, but if we apply this idea to a "religion", which is just institutionalized schizophrenia, all of a sudden one is a "phobe" of that idea.
Would it have been panicking to show concern about the creeping spread of the idea of communism in China 70 years ago? An idea can change the world, and we have to be damn sure that we oppose, full stop, those ideas that threaten our way of life. I'm afraid that all the mulitcult PC nonsense will not change the very real historical fact that islam tends to dominate those regions that its followers settle unless fully opposed.
From a strictly structural perspective, all the defending of an idea that happens by those who do not believe in the idea is very, very strange. If we were at all consistent, and by we, gaj, I mean people who value liberalism (which I think you would count yourself as one) would defend liberal values as universal and not tolerate barbaric ideas from wherever they come.
I am the most vocal defender of liberal values on this stupid site. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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| thanks ptarmigan for so thoroughly and quickly ripping apart more misappropriated "evidence". |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:45 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| All that stays the same is the panic. |
I agree that there is a lot of panic inducing hype by the media. But does that mean the issues they are hyping are not legitimate concerns? Or that we should ignore these issues? Maybe part of the reason that these "threats" never seem to materialize is because the hype motivates governments to take preventative action. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| huffdaddy wrote: |
| BJWD wrote: |
| All that stays the same is the panic. |
I agree that there is a lot of panic inducing hype by the media. But does that mean the issues they are hyping are not legitimate concerns? Or that we should ignore these issues? Maybe part of the reason that these "threats" never seem to materialize is because the hype motivates governments to take preventative action. |
Maybe. But in the two examples I gave - bird flu and meth - I don't think the panic was warranted. |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
Maybe. But in the two examples I gave - bird flu and meth - I don't think the panic was warranted. |
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/whatis.html
| Quote: |
Historically, the 20th century saw 3 pandemics of influenza:
* 1918 influenza pandemic caused at least 675,000 U.S. deaths and up to 50 million deaths worldwide
* 1957 influenza pandemic caused at least 70,000 U.S. deaths and 1-2 million deaths worldwide
* 1968 influenza pandemic caused about 34,000 U.S. deaths and 700,000 deaths worldwide |
I guess trying prevent a million deaths isn't as newsworthy as a million people actually dying. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:47 am Post subject: |
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Huff. There is quite a difference from governments stocking up on tamiflu to prepare and local health authorities/media needlessly whipping the population in a tizzy. There have been doctors (GP's) in Alberta who have toured towns telling the people that millions and millions of people are going to die, soon. Besides, for bird flu to be very contagious, it would have to be more easy to trasmit between people. If it were to become more easy to trasmit between people, it would stop being bird flu, and just be flu.
It is more of an economic problem for poultry producers than a looming health crises. But I'm sure the producers of tamiflu don't want you to know that. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:10 am Post subject: |
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You know, meth (we call it 'P') causes some pretty serious problems over here in New Zealand. A lot of lives ruined, women raped, people robbed, families destroyed, children dead because of that drug. Nasty stuff. Not a threat to civilisation as we know it of course, so perhaps some of the warnings about it are overblown.
Bird flu? You're probably right - the WHO is just in Roche's pocket. |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:54 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| Huff. There is quite a difference from governments stocking up on tamiflu to prepare and local health authorities/media needlessly whipping the population in a tizzy. There have been doctors (GP's) in Alberta who have toured towns telling the people that millions and millions of people are going to die, soon. |
Well, unfortunately, not everyone is as levelheaded and free from hyperbole as you. |
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