Tag: surface temperatures

Death Valley World Record 134 deg. F is Biased ~10 deg. Too High

Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

[This blog by Dr. Roy W. Spencer was originally published on his blog site on 8 November 2024.  It is reproduced here under the fair use doctrine and with standing permission from the author. Ed]

Key Points:

      • Over the years, a few commentators have have argued that the world record highest temperature of 134 deg. F at Death Valley, CA recorded on July 10, 1913 is physically implausible.
      • Here I show quantitatively that the 134 deg F temperature is biased high, by about 10 deg. F.
      • Extensive historical research by William T . Reid has suggested the person making the temperature observations at Greenland Ranch likely replaced the official measurements from a thermometer in a Stevenson screen shelter with other measurements made next to the adobe living quarters.

Update #1 (11/8/2024): Fixed a few typos.

Update #2 (11/8/2024): For those messaging me about Furnace Creek temperatures reaching 130 deg. F in recent years, see Bill Reid’s summary of side-by-side measurements made there [and reported at an AMS meeting] showing the non-aspirated “official” equipment produces temperatures 2-3 deg. too high during light wind conditions.

Update #3 (11/9/2024): Bill Reid corrected my use of the term “mountain” stations to describe those not in Death Valley. Many of those stations are at desert plateau sites, so I have changed the term to “higher elevation” stations. I have also asked Bill to provide additional thoughts on this issue, which will be the next blog post here.

BACKGROUND

The “official” world record highest near-surface air temperature is 134 deg. F, recorded in Death Valley, California on July, 10, 1913 at Greenland Ranch, California an isolated location with no similarly sited stations with which to compare (say, within 10 miles and below sea level). Greenland Ranch was a man-made oasis created by the Borax people around the turn of the 20th Century, with water piped in from a nearby mountain. It has a rich history, but always against a backdrop of oppressive summer heat that few visitors (and even workers) could endure.

Continue reading “Death Valley World Record 134 deg. F is Biased ~10 deg. Too High”

2024’s Hurricanes Helene & Milton

 and claims their power was juiced by “Human-Caused Climate Change”  

Robert W. Endlich

Author’s note: This post is based upon the presentation graphics, on-line here, for the 19 October 2024 meeting.

PRELUDE: THE 2024 HURRICANE SEASON BEFORE HELENE

The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane season got off to a late start; Tropical Storm Alberto did not form until 19 June, the latest named storm since 2014. Then, Hurricane Beryl was a long-lasting (around 14 days) system; she began in the Cape Verde Islands region, tracked past Jamaica, crossed Yucatan, entered Texas near Matagorda and weakened, with her remnants getting to the eastern Great Lakes region, before dissipating, 11 Jul 2024.

From Wikipedia,

“Activity then quieted down across the basin for most of July after Beryl dissipated, with no new tropical cyclones forming due to the presence of the Saharan air layer (SAL) across much of the Atlantic.” Continue reading “2024’s Hurricanes Helene & Milton”

“Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part TWO

By Robert W. Endlich
Author’s Note: This is Part TWO of a multiple post topic.  Figure numbers remain consecutive across the four parts of the post.

Part ONE is here.
Part THREEis here.
Part FOUR is here.
Presentation is here.

THE “SOLAR CONSTANT” IS NOW VARIABLE? YES, IT IS TRUE!
Image by Pixabay

When I was an Undergraduate in Basic Meteorology, 1963-64 at Texas A&M, and Graduate Student, 1967-69, Penn State, we learned that the “Solar Constant” was 2 calories/cm**2/sec.  But sometimes we used 1.94 cal/cm**2/sec ….in the CGS, the Centimeter-Gram-Second system of measurements.

Sometimes we used 2 Langleys per second…after this definition, in terms of Langleys, graphic below.

In 2024’s retrospect, the 1960s were seemingly in the Dark Ages of Continue reading ““Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part TWO”

“Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part FOUR

By Robert W. Endlich
Author’s Note: This is Part FOUR of a four part post topic.  Figure numbers remain consecutive across the four parts of the post.

Part ONE is here
Part TWO is here
Part THREE is here
Presentation is here

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT “CLIMATE CHANGE MAKING DAYS LONGER” UP TO NOW

NPR claims that humans burning fossil fuels controls sea level and that CO2 is “climate pollution.”

Regarding the NPR claim, the data show that sea level is a dynamic property of earth (Fig 3) and was meters higher than today within the historic past. There are numerous examples of this from the NMSU-A WEEK SEVEN class graphics, slides 33-146. 

One example, from 1066,  is when William the Conqueror invaded what we now call England. He landed at Pevensey Castle, which is now a mile from the English Channel and 13 ft above present Sea Level, Presentation Graphics, Slide 145.

The only way to understand this is, that when William landed in  England at Continue reading ““Climate Change Making Days Longer,” studies say, Part FOUR”

In Search of the Perfect Dozen Graphics to show the Climate Alarmists are Wrong

Robert W. Endlich
Illustration by Pixabay

During the comments and questions part of the 15 July 2023 meeting, CASF Member and physicist Edward Burlbaw suggested that we find a “perfect 10 or 12” images that any CASF member might pull up, for instance, on a cell phone, to show their climate alarmist friends data or graphics to dispel the current climate alarm in the mainstream media (MSM), Governments, Academia, and popular culture.

So, with that as background, this is an admittedly different kind of post for this site. I used the 19 August 2023 meeting of CASF as an opportunity to describe some of what I call the “insanity” of the climate alarmist Continue reading “In Search of the Perfect Dozen Graphics to show the Climate Alarmists are Wrong”