Monday, February 06, 2006
Leaving Lake Wobegon
Steve Scolnik @ 4:45 PM
Paraphrasing Garrison Keillor, Washington DC this winter has been the place where "all the men are good looking and all the [temperatures] are above average. At least part of that is coming to an end; you can judge for yourself on the rest.
Temperatures mostly in the low 40s by noon were headed close to seasonal highs of 45 after a morning low 1° above "normal" at 29°. Through yesterday, 43 of the last 45 days have been at or above "normal", and this month so far was averaging 11° above the long term average. With a west-southwest breeze and a bright February sun bringing the temperature to 46 by 2pm, the string is intact for another day, unless the reading drops well into the 20s by midnight.
Under mostly clear skies, lows tonight will be near 28 in the city, 23 in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be a lot like today with highs near 46, but less windy.
The thunderstorm on Saturday brings the total so far this year to 4, approximately 10 times the climatological average for January and February combined. Baltimore's WJZ-TV reports that heavy damage in the Westminster area of Carroll County MD from the storms which moved through the area Saturday evening is being investigated by the National Weather Service. Eyewitness reports indicated the possibility of a tornado.
CapitalWeather.com chart from NWS data, photo by Kevin Ambrose
Discussion of the political manipulation of science at NASA continued over the weekend. The NY Times revealed that the press official who muzzled Dr. James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, was a 24-year-old journalism hack who wasn't even born when Dr. Hansen began his career. Editorials and op-ed columns appeared in:
Correction: After heavily promoting the San Francisco earthquake episode of its "It Could Happen Tomorrow" series, the Weather Channel apparently wimped out at the 4th quarter Super Bowl® competition and reran the New York hurricane show last night instead.
On Weather Talk radio yesterday, Larry Cosgrove made a convincing case that the return to more normal winter weather doesn't imply the more extreme outcomes being touted by more hype-oriented sources.
Temperatures mostly in the low 40s by noon were headed close to seasonal highs of 45 after a morning low 1° above "normal" at 29°. Through yesterday, 43 of the last 45 days have been at or above "normal", and this month so far was averaging 11° above the long term average. With a west-southwest breeze and a bright February sun bringing the temperature to 46 by 2pm, the string is intact for another day, unless the reading drops well into the 20s by midnight.
Tonight and Tomorrow
Under mostly clear skies, lows tonight will be near 28 in the city, 23 in the 'burbs. Tomorrow will be a lot like today with highs near 46, but less windy.Saturday's Storms
The thunderstorm on Saturday brings the total so far this year to 4, approximately 10 times the climatological average for January and February combined. Baltimore's WJZ-TV reports that heavy damage in the Westminster area of Carroll County MD from the storms which moved through the area Saturday evening is being investigated by the National Weather Service. Eyewitness reports indicated the possibility of a tornado. CapitalWeather.com chart from NWS data, photo by Kevin Ambrose
Political Climate
Discussion of the political manipulation of science at NASA continued over the weekend. The NY Times revealed that the press official who muzzled Dr. James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, was a 24-year-old journalism hack who wasn't even born when Dr. Hansen began his career. Editorials and op-ed columns appeared in:
- Houston Chronicle: Gagged prophet
- Boston Globe: Too Hot to Handle
- Philadelphia Inquirer: Stop muzzling experts
Broadcast News
Correction: After heavily promoting the San Francisco earthquake episode of its "It Could Happen Tomorrow" series, the Weather Channel apparently wimped out at the 4th quarter Super Bowl® competition and reran the New York hurricane show last night instead.
On Weather Talk radio yesterday, Larry Cosgrove made a convincing case that the return to more normal winter weather doesn't imply the more extreme outcomes being touted by more hype-oriented sources.
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