Extreme temperatures of 2011: 7 national all-time heat records; 1 cold record
The year 2011 was the tenth warmest year on record for the globe, but the warmest year on record when a La Niña event was present (Ricky Rood has a discussion of this in his lastest post.) Seven nations and one territory broke all-time hottest temperature records. This is a far cry from 2010 (which tied for the warmest year on record), when twenty nations (plus one UK territory) set all-time hottest temperature records. One all-time coldest temperature record was set in 2011; this was the first time since 2009 one of these records was set. The all-time cold record occurred in Zambia, which ironically also set an all-time hottest temperature record in 2011. Here, then, are the most most notable extreme temperatures globally in 2011, courtesy of weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera:
Hottest temperature in the world in 2011: 53.3°C (127.9°F) in Mitrabah, Kuwait, August 3
Coldest temperature in the world in 2011: -80.2°C (-112.4°F) at Dome Fuji, Antarctica, September 18
Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.4°C (120.9°F) at Roebourne, Australia, on December 21
Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -67.2°C (-89°F) at Summit, Greenland, March 18. This is also the coldest March temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.
Hottest undisputed 24-hour minimum temperature in world history: A minimum temperature of 41.7°C (107°F) measured at Khasab Airport in Oman on June 27
Figure 1. Seven countries and one territory set all-time hottest temperature records in 2011, and one nation set an all-time coldest temperature record. Image credit: Ilissa Ocko, Princeton University.
New country hottest temperature records set in 2011
Iraq recorded its hottest temperature on record on August 3, 2011 in Tallil (Ali military airbase), when the mercury hit 53°C (127.4°F). The previous record was 52.3°C recorded at Diwanya FOB airbase a few days before.
Armenia recorded its hottest temperature on record on July 31 in Meghri, when the mercury hit 43.7°C (110.7°F). The previous record was 43.1°C in Meghri on July 17, 2005.
Iran recorded its hottest temperature in its history on July 28, 2011, when the mercury hit 53°C (127.4°F) at Dehloran. The previous previous record was set just one day earlier at Omidieh and Shoshtar, when the mercury hit 52.6°C (126.6°F). Older hotter temperatures have been measured in Iran using automated stations, but these temperatures have been found to be overestimated.
Kuwait recorded its hottest temperature on record on August 3, 2011, when the mercury hit 53.3°C (127.9°F) at Mitrabah. The previous record was 53.1°C in Sulaibiya on June 15, 2010. The Kuwait Meteorological Center confirmed the reading as authentic, though the temperature sensor had problems between 2009 and July 2010. Some temperatures as high as 53.5°C measured at the Kuwait City Airport during 2011 were in error. The 53.3°C (127.9°F) at Mitrabah thus represents:
1) The hottest temperature measured on Earth in 2011
2) New official national record for Kuwait
3) Second highest (undisputed) temperature ever recorded in Asia
4) Highest temperature ever recorded in an Arabic country
5) Third hottest location in the planet together with Lake Havasu City, AZ (after Death
Valley, CA and Moenjodaro, Pakistan)
6) A new world record for August
China broke its national heat record for both uninhabited and inhabited locations on July 14, 2011, when the temperature soared to 50.2°C (122.4°F) at a automatic station near Adyngkol Lake (just south of Turfan), and 49.4°C (120.9°F) at the town of Tuyoq. A higher reading of 50.7°C at Aydingkol Mirabilite on 23 July 1986 has not been verified as official by the Chinese.
Republic of the Congo set a new all-time extreme heat record on March 8, 2011, when the temperature hit 39.2°C (102.6°F) at M'Pouya. Congo's previous all-time hottest temperature was 39.0°C (102.2°F) at Impfondo on May 14, 2005.
Zambia set an all-time national heat record of 109.0°F (42.8°C) at Mfuwe, on October 26, 2011, breaking the previous national record of 108.1°F (42.3°C) also set at Mfuwe, on November 17, 2010. A no longer functioning station at Lusitu, Zambia measured a higher temperature in November 1990, but surrounding stations were all about 10°C cooler, so the Lusitu 1990 reading is considered unreliable.
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands Territory tied its all-time hottest temperature record when Europa Island recorded 35.6°C (96.1°F) on November 12, 2011. The previous record was set at Juan de Nova Island on March 31, 1997.
New country coldest temperature records set in 2011
For the first time since 2009, a new national extreme cold temperature record was set. Zambia set an all-time national cold record of -9°C (16°F) at Choma on June 27, 2011, breaking the previous national record of -8°C (18°F), set on July 10, 1898, at Nalisa Western Province.
Special mention:
Russia had its hottest temperature on record at a regular synoptic reporting staion on July 30, 2011, when the mercury hit 44.3°C (111.7°F) at Divnoe in Russia's Kalmykia Republic. Three hotter temperatures have been recorded at automated stations: 45.4°C in 2010 at a hydrological station at Utta, plus readings of 45°C at El'ton and 44.5°C at Verhjnky Baskunkak in August 1940.
Weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera is the primary source of the weather records listed here and has worked tremendously hard to research them. He maintains a comprehensive list of extreme temperature records for every nation in the world on his website. If you reproduce this list of extremes, please cite Maximiliano Herrera as the primary source of the weather records.
Other posts looking back at the remarkable weather events of 2011
U.S. weather in 2011: unprecedented rains and wet/dry extremes
Top ten global weather events of 2011
2011: Year of the Tornado
Deadliest weather disaster of 2011: the East African drought
Tropical Storm Lee's flood in Binghamton: was global warming the final straw?
Wettest year on record in Philadelphia; 2011 sets record for wet/dry extremes in U.S.
Hurricane Irene: New York City dodges a potential storm surge mega-disaster
Figure 2. Portlight volunteers help distribute bottled water in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Weather Underground renews as National Sponsor of Portlight Disaster Relief
This week, wunderground put out a press release in concert with Portlight Strategies, Inc.--a national grassroots non-profit organization--that Weather Underground, Inc., will again be a National Sponsor of Portlight Disaster Relief.
Hundreds of members of the wunderground.com blog community have teamed with Portlight Strategies, Inc., throughout the last three and a half years to provide much needed relief services and supplies to victims and survivors of several natural disasters, both domestically and internationally.
These relief efforts focused on helping people with disabilities, as well as people in small towns and rural areas often marginalized by the larger institutional relief infrastructure.
Portlight Strategies, Inc., has committed to building on the stunning success of this collaborative, grassroots initiative.
"Weather Underground stepping up to be one of our National Sponsors again in 2012 is a huge honor", said Paul Timmons, Jr., Portlight Strategies, Inc., Board Chair.
"We are very pleased to continue our support of Portlight Strategies because they make a real difference to otherwise neglected communities that are affected by weather-related disasters around the globe", added Alan Steremberg, President and co-founder of Weather Underground.
Visit the Portlight blog on wunderground to learn more. Donations are always welcome!
Have a great weekend everyone, and I'll be back Monday with a new post.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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I believe that most of the fear of socialism in the US is just remains of the cold war and the people who were old enough to be around for the 50s-80s remember quite clearly all the propaganda that bombarded them about how bad communism and socialism is. You can clearly see this just from the opinion on communism of people who were too young, or not alive when the USSR fell over 20 years ago, they tend to not be blinded by the fact that it is evil and is going to "kill your children". There also appears to be a more open-mindedness about the new generation when it comes to political ideologies.
Just saying that most of the Western world knows only of communism from the remnant fear of it in the elders.
btw....take notes.....Nea and I will disagree on this without calling each other names or questioning each others' character...
2 strong earthquakes near extreme south chile.
6.5 mainshock
6.2 aftershock
another view
These earthquakes are located at the south shetland islands (lol @ the name no offense to the people who live there) south shetland islands...lol
Now, you claim I have no "real world answers". That's not true at all. In fact, here's one: let's stop listening to the lies Big Energy tells us; that's the first step. Here's another: let's stop listening to Big Energy's media mouthpieces as they shove down our throats story after story about the "debacle" of Solyndra, and talk instead about the thousands of other increasingly successful alternative energy stories. And here's yet another: let's stop pretending that fossil fuels are a clean, safe, sustainable alternative to clean energy. And one more: let's stop kidding ourselves that waiting before doing anything to mitigate climate change will save us money in the long run. (It won't; mitigation later will cost trillions.)
Anyway, since we're here, I've a few responses to your comment #345:
First, it's extremely relevant that people understand that the planet is warming because of our burning of fossil fuels. Failing to acknowledge that makes it far too easy for people to throw their hands in the air and do nothing about it.
Second, if the U.S. could somehow get the political will to cut our emissions even a bit (much less 50%), it would indeed make a huge "hill of beans". We're still far and away the largest per-capita CO2 emitter of any large-sized nation, so an extreme decrease in our emissions. Also, we like to fancy our nation as a--or the--world leader; as such, we have an obligation to clean up our act first before asking others to do so.
Finally, you've used a little false equivalency. Especially where energy policy is concerned, one party is far and away more adamant about maintaining the fossil fuel status quo. So much so, in fact, that every one of the current crop of GOP Presidential wannabes has had to deny climate science and scientists in order to rise above single-digit poll numbers (sorry, Jon; you don't stand a chance). There are certainly corrupt individuals on both sides of the aisle in it for themselves. But it's unfair and unwise to claim both POVs are equally removed from reality. They aren't.
Bottom line: continuing to live The Big Lie of Denialism and therefore doing nothing is definitely going to "leave us powerless and defenseless". And I have no "grand dreams for a cleaner world"; I just think we have a moral imperative to not leave our children an unliveably overheated ball of carbon-clogged air. Who wouldn't think that?
The deepwater methodology certain complicated things in the Gulf. But a mid-winter spill in ice-choked Arctic waters cloaked in howling winds, sub-zero temps, and semi-permanent darkness is going to complicate things a dozen-fold, or a hundred. I'm just saying that maybe we shouldn't simply take Big Oil at its word that it would be ready for any drilling eventuality; they've proven that they're not.
This makes sense. Instead of buying oil shares & such..letting them be king of the economy, invest elsewhere & against them. All the investment & subsidies to natural gas have led to fracking...you have geologists, Doctors & locals that want it stopped. Between the warm weather & flood of extra natural gas on the market the price is way down & the price of the natural gas companies have fallen off too. This Institutional investment money, it..like how we sparked the dot com investments..that invested money creates technology & market rallies. Kinda spent on the new phone/TV thing for now.. & those stocks are outrageous. Also betting on big oil has overall been bad for the economy & insurance which hurts Institutional investment firms. The way the weather has become more unstable because of climate change ups their interest in sustainable.
The Impact of Dropwindsonde and Supplemental Rawindsonde Observations on Track Forecasts of Hurricane Irene
Monday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 47. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tuesday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then scattered showers. High near 60. South wind 15 to 20 mph becoming northwest. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
I'm all for not believing Big Oil...about much of anything...ever.....I just can't find a way to do the things I have to do without consuming dead dinosaurs....
Otherwise, how are things in Bikini Bottom today?
Link
Link
Sure would like to see it streak across the sky!!!
January 15, 2012 12:19 PM
Associated Press
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- U.S. Senators from Vermont and New York say funding for flood gauges in the Lake Champlain basin has been secured.
Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Charles Schumer of New York say the funding will prevent the imminent shutdown of river and lake gauges in the basin.
The 18 U.S. Geological Survey gauges, nine in each state, proved their worth last year forecasting spring floods and Tropical Storm Irene. Before Irene hit, they enabled first responders, local and state officials, farmers and businesses to plan ahead of the rising flood waters and act.
Budget cuts this year threatened funding for the gauges, but Leahy and Schumer appealed to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to use funds in its budget to keep the gauges going.
Very well said.
Do have any true desires to make changes? Do you seek a government that is by the people, for the people and of the people? I have some ideas that should be the first steps towards obtaining this goal:
1. Immediately outlaw ALL professional lobbyists. - We have the Constitutional right to petition our government. One should be willing to do so without being paid to do so. When one is paid to do so then they are more apt to petition on the behalf of a special interest group. The only special interest group that should be listened to is we, the people.
2. Outlaw anyone from attending townhall meetings of a representative that is not in their representative district. Only the constituents of that representative should be given a voice to that representative, in a townhall meeting.
3. End ALL ryders from being attached to any bill. Any cause, for legislation, should be able to pass based upon its own merits and not attached to an otherwise good bill.
4. Reinstate the Presidential line item veto powers. I disagree with The Supreme Court's ruling that this gives too much power to The Office of The President. Line item vetoes, as with any Presidential veto, was set up to over ridden by a 2/3 vote in the Senate. Line item vetoes did not change any of the Senate's powers to over ride a veto. That power still remained, in full force, for the Senate.
5. End Congress's ability to use insider trading. Anyone that exercises Congress's ability for insider trading is subject to being put in prison. No free nation should permit trading by the very legislative force that is considering legislation that could impact a business or a business sector.
6. Install term limits for ALL elected official. I use to be a firm believer that we should let the voters decide how long a politician should remain in office by the power of our vote. I now know that the power of the vote has become too diluted by the incumbents. Incumbents already have name recognition, the power to gain campaign funds from special interest groups and use their office to make promises to these special interest groups. Our elected positions were never meant to be a career for any politician.
7. True Campaign Finance Reform. I, as probably everyone here, strongly object to any non citizen, or the ability of anyone not otherwise entitled to vote, to have a voice in our elections based upon their ability to put up monies towards getting a candidate into office. Once again, The Supreme Court's ruling that corporations "are people too" is a most egregious slap in the face of every citizen that has the right to vote in our elections. Just as we cry out when we think non citizens may be voting in our elections we should also being crying out when multinational corporations are given a voice in our elections. Corporations that have multinational interests at stake and not the concern of our citizens at stake. Corporations are comprised of people and this is true enough. However, not all of these people would be otherwise entitled to vote in our elections. How many of our corporations have foreign CEOs at their helm? Corporations also hire people that are not otherwise eligible to vote in our elections. People that are non citizens, too young or have felonies against them that stripped them of their right to vote. To use the call of "freedom of speech" is a fallacy when that freedom of speech has monetary attachments to it. The freedom of speech, given to us in our Constitution, allows us to say anything we wish about our government and those that hold elected office without fear of reprisal from our government. Nothing more and nothing less. ... We are a nation of one person, one vote and have allowed this process to become bastardized when the ones with the most money have the loudest voice. There is no escaping this simple fact. I, also, will never believe that corporations "are people too" until I see a corporation physically incarcerated in one of our prisons or given a voter's registration card and they physically walk into a poll booth and cast a ballot. Until such time I firmly believe that corporations are nothing more than entity, devised by man, for the profits.
Do you want to return our nation to being a representative force of the people, by the people and for the people? Well, in my opinion, we have to accomplish these goals first.
Now, for the weather/climate portion of this post, I would like to predict that our political future remains extremely cloudy. Strong head winds are with us and for the foreseeable future. We will also have to confront a lot of hot air and the political belching of pollutants from both locally and from afar. ... I will now step down from my soap box. I am allergic to any rotten tomatoes that may be cast in my direction. ;-)
Error projection down to 19 minutes ... South America
I've never seen the error estimate for re-entry get this low on this site
Link
the link you gave me on the PNA effectiveness on North Carolina was very helpful. Basic, got to the point, and i understood very well with my young mind lol. will watch the PNA observations closer now :D
And that, sir, is what makes you a gentleman with integrity and honor. We need more like you here!
Hasn't it already passed that point?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46005190/ns/technolog y_and_science-space/
I wonder why the tracking sites still have it up there w/ altitude and speed noted. Keep us posted please.
It begins, do not fear, it is the Earth announcing she is in Labor..
Uploaded by N0LINKNEWS on Jan 12, 2012
Also:
[Update 2 (18:40 UTC): According to the US Strategic Command, Phobos-Grunt re-entered over the Pacific ocean, not far west of Chile. This is unconfirmed, but STRATCOM is usually quite reliable. As I write this, I'm pretty sure the spacecraft is down, and hopefully we'll know more about where it came down in the next few hours.]
Also:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120115/D9S9HG20 0.html
"MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Defense Ministry says a failed probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars has crashed, showering debris over the southern Pacific, according to news reports.
The ministry said the fragments fell Sunday 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) west of Wellington Island."
(Remember that those tracking sites don't use telemetry from the satellites, but rather the last best orbital data. It used to make me a little crazy watching them tracking shuttles orbiting the earth several hours after they had landed. For instance, there's this disclaimer on the satflare.com: "The program will countinue to show for some time the spacecraft position according to the last orbital elements but it can be already decayed")
Some larger parts will survive the re-entry like the Bus itself and some larger fuel tanks and such.
Thanks!
think if this was 1945...wouldnt want to be the guy mowing grass in backyard who has satellite land on him xD
Yo habla espanol muy malo. Yo comprendo aun peor. Tu tienes en ingles?
Well, the first satellite was launched into space in 1957. :P And I'm sure that the Soviets knew when and where Sputnik 1 going to re-enter.
I do have more but, I must first clear the soap box of the last volley of rotten tomatoes. They are a bit "slippery", one might say. ;-)
The Transcaucasus highway, an arterial mountain road between South Ossetia and Russia, has been blocked due to foul weather and avalanche risk, Russia's regional EMERCOM said on Sunday.
January 15, 2011 – INDONESIA – Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia are now showing abnormal activity or have been put on alert or watch status, presidential special aide Andi Arief said here on Saturday. “According to official data, 25 volcanoes are now under alert or watch status and they must be given priority with regard to disaster mitigation planning at district or city levels,” he said at a workshop on journalists’ role in disaster management. He said in West Sumatra there were two volcanoes that need to be closely watched, namely Mount Marapi and Mount Talang, as they are still under alert status. Mount Marapi is located in Agam and Tanahdatar districts and rises 2891 meters above sea level, and Mount Talang (2597 meters above sea level) in Solok district was located around 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Padang. Apart from the two volcanoes, the government and regional disaster management agencies were also giving priority attention to Mount Papandayan in West Java, Mount Karangetan and Lokon in North Sulawesi, Mount Ijen in East Java, Mount Gamalama in North Maluku, Mount Krakatau in Banten and Lampung and Mount Lewoloto in East Nusa Tenggara. He said “it is not impossible that volcanoes that are now still normal could change to become abnormal due to earthquakes that have happened to trigger magma in the mountains to increase their activity, and therefore alertness and readiness of the people must continue to be maintained.” Andi said earthquakes below five on the Richter Scale could trigger magma in the volcanoes to rise and so people must not only be alert over big but also small tremors. The 4.4 magnitude earthquake like the one in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, is one of the examples, where people had never predicted before that it could happen there, he said. “The small magnitude quake is now being studied by researchers with regard to minimizing the damage in case an eruption happens in the country as there are a lot of volcanoes in Indonesia,” he said. –Jakarta Globe
J Krishnamurti quotes.
maybe i should not have stomp on the ground so hard
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