Unusual global extremes in May and spring 2011
As I discussed in yesterday's post, during the spring period of March, April, and May 2011, 46% of the U.S. had abnormally (top 10%) wet or dry conditions--the greatest such area during the 102-year period of record. On average, just 21% of the country has exceptionally wet conditions or exceptionally dry conditions during spring. In addition, heavy 1-day precipitation events--the kind that cause the worst flooding--were also at an all-time high in the spring of 2011.
A highly extreme precipitation pattern was also observed over the British Isles during spring 2011. England suffered its driest spring in over a century during May, with late May soils the driest on record over large parts of eastern and central England. In contrast, Scotland had its wettest spring on record.
New Zealand had its warmest May since records began there in 1909, whereas Australia saw its coolest March-May since their records began in 1950.
Our weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, has a detailed summary of May 2011 global weather extremes.
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May Arctic sea ice 3rd lowest extent on record
Arctic sea ice in May 2011 was much-below average according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, and ranked 3rd lowest on record for the Northern Hemisphere. Sea ice loss has accelerated during the first half of June, and as of June 16 was the lowest for the date since satellite measurements began in 1979. Snow cover extent in the Northern Hemisphere was also below average, making May 2011 the 7th consecutive May with below-average snow cover extent in the Northern Hemisphere.
Five-day period of critical fire conditions expected in the Southwest
The powerful winds that helped fan Arizona's massive Wallow fire into the state's largest fire on record will return in force today, after a two-day quiet period that allowed firefighter to achieve 29% containment of the fire by Wednesday evening. The forecast for Eastern Arizona calls for afternoon winds of 20 - 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph today and Friday. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center forecasts that even stronger winds will blow Saturday and Sunday. With hot conditions and humidity values below 10%, these are likely to be among the worst fire conditions the region has seen this year.
"Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors."
-Jonas Salk
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Fan is not Entirely Clean Anymore
More evidence compiled by Jeff Masters:
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5 comments:
Are you saying the septage has hit the wind farm on Climate Change effects?
Try this.....
I dare you to find a major grain exporting region that is having a "normal" growing season. That is normal plant dates, crop development and soil moisture.
Exempt are: California, China, England, Australia, Texas, Mississipi Basin, Canada. Where else?
Didn't I see somewhere that Russian wheat is doing well? But ...
Less reportage is going to new season of wildfires in Russia said to be bigger than last year.
In addition, snowmelt appears to be flooding Canada and the Missouri catchment area, including at least one nuclear plant relying on a moat.
OTOH, lots of volcanoes. Nature's balance can be a puzzle. We disturb it at our peril.
It's still well beyond our means to accidentally cause volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. The deep earth does not notice us. I hope that's some consolation.
"Russia's official forecast for this year's crop is 85-90 million tonnes compared to some 61 million tonnes in 2010, 97 million in 2009 and 108 million in 2008."
From http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/22/us-russia-fires-idUSTRE74L0P820110522
I encourage people to go and read the entire article that skanky quotes. It's quite short but it doesn't inspire the least bit of confidence in the prospective 2011, European wheat harvest.
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