Cape Morris Jesup

By Paul Homewood

In yesterday’s post, Arctic Alarmists Hit New Records Of Hysteria, I noted the claim of record temperatures at Cape Morris Jesup, a station at the far north of Greenland.

This is what the DMI’s Ruth Mottram claimed:

Spikes in temperature are part of the normal weather patterns – what has been unusual about this event is that it has persisted for so long and that it has been so warm. Going back to the late 1950s at least we have never seen such high temperatures in the high Arctic.

As I pointed out, even as late as 1968, there was no settlement of any sort there, and it had only been visited a handful of times by Arctic explorers.

Climatologist John Cappelen of the DMI has written up a summary of the recent spike, and points out that the station only has data since 1980:

 

DMI’s measurement station at Kap Morris Jesup is the world’s northernmost weather station located on land, and usually the temperature is well below the freezing point of this season. On Tuesday, however, the thermometer pointed in the opposite direction, and the station measured plus degrees virtually 24 hours.

Tuesday measured the world’s northernmost land-based weather station, DMI’s station at Kap Morris Jesup in North Greenland, exceptionally high temperatures for the season and even plus degrees.

 

Temperature course at DMI’s weather station at Kap Morris Jesup in February 2018. The light blue line marks 0 ° C. Graphics John Cappelen.

"The reason for the exceptionally high temperature is probably the combination of relative hot air in the Arctic and the fohn around Cape Morris Jesup," he says.

Føhn is a special wind that occurs in Greenland when the air blows up over the ice ice, so the moisture spills out. When the wind blows down from the ice again, the temperature rises sharply in the now dry air.

DMI has measurements from Kap Morris Jesup back to 1980, and reveals that in February, absolute degrees are definitely not everyday at the world’s northernmost land-based measurement station. In fact, DMI has only twice previously measured similar high temperatures. The first time was in 2011. Second time last year; ie in 2017. Both times, føhn-winning may have contributed to the high temperatures.

The figures from 1980 onwards show that the average temperature at Kap Morris Jesup is cool minus 32.9 ° C in February. The figures also show that 2005 was the year with the hottest February – the whole minus 23.4 ° C could make it. The contradiction is in February 1985, which had average and record low minus 37.4 ° C on average.

Right now, the average for February is at Kap Morris Jesup at minus 21.2 ° C. In other words, it is hotter than the hitherto warmest February. However, that does not mean that the month ends with a record. Føhnen comes and goes and can quickly be below 30 ° C in the area.

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To draw any conclusions from data that only dates back to 1980 is little more than junk science.

But it is also worth pointing out the role that fohn winds played, both this month and in the similar episode in 2005.