2012 Saw 362 All-Time Record High Temperatures In U.S. But Zero All-Time Record Lows

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/05/1394711/2012-saw-362-all-time-record-high-temperatures-in-us-but-zero-all-time-record-lows/

By Joe Romm on Jan 5, 2013

Describing how off the charts our weather has become gets harder and harder. Fortunately, we have wunderground historian Christopher Burton to put things in perspective.

He tallies the data from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in his recap of “the warmest calendar year on record for the continental U.S. according to NCDC data going back to 1895″:

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A chart of the total number of NCDC sites that measured daily and/or monthly record high and low temperatures. There are about 5,500 of these sites in the NCDC database all together and it is important to note that the first two columns of this table are not all-time record highs or all-time record lows but daily and monthly records. So, for instance, a single site may have broken dozens of daily records over the course of the year. The 5th and 6th columns are for all-time record highs and lows: a total of 362 such heat records and 0 such cold records occurred. The ratio of daily record highs to daily record lows (about 5 to 1) were the greatest for any year in NCDC records.

m on Jan 5, 2013 at 10:57 am

Describing how off the charts our weather has become gets harder and harder. Fortunately, we have wunderground historian Christopher Burton to put things in perspective.

He tallies the data from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in his recap of “the warmest calendar year on record for the continental U.S. according to NCDC data going back to 1895″:

A chart of the total number of NCDC sites that measured daily and/or monthly record high and low temperatures. There are about 5,500 of these sites in the NCDC database all together and it is important to note that the first two columns of this table are not all-time record highs or all-time record lows but daily and monthly records. So, for instance, a single site may have broken dozens of daily records over the course of the year. The 5th and 6th columns are for all-time record highs and lows: a total of 362 such heat records and 0 such cold records occurred. The ratio of daily record highs to daily record lows (about 5 to 1) were the greatest for any year in NCDC records.

This was the year where winter was like spring (see L.A. Times Explains U.S. ‘Seems to Have Largely Escaped Winter’ and ABC News Explains Warm Winter, ‘Wild Swings In Weather’, Driven by Global Warming, Only Going to Get Worse).

Then spring was like summer (see March Heat Records Crush Cold Records by Over 35 To 1, Scientists Say Global Warming Loaded The Dice and March Madness: ‘This May Be An Unprecedented Event Since Modern U.S. Weather Records Began In The Late 19th Century’).

Finally summer was something from the Dust Bowl era (see “July Heat Records Crush Cold Records By 17 To 1, ‘Historic Heat Wave And Drought’ Fuels Oklahoma Fires).

Imagine what our weather will be like if we are foolish enough to ignore all scientific warnings, If We Fail To Stop 10°F Warming.