NOAA’s Hottest January Relies On Dodgy Russian Data
By Paul Homewood
WUWT uncovers some very dodgy looking Russian temperature data:
Other data shows the USA wasn’t even close to a record.
By Anthony Watts
In a report generating substantial media attention this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claimed January 2020 was the hottest January on record. In reality, the claim relies on substantial speculation, dubious reporting methods, and a large, very suspicious, extremely warm reported heat patch covering most of Russia.
The January 2020 Climate Assessment Report, released by NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI), was accompanied by a map showing a giant red menace of extraordinary asserted warmth extending from the Russian border with Poland well into Siberia. Yet, the asserted hot spot appears nowhere else.
Figure 1: Map of temperature departure provided by NOAA/NCEII. Note the huge red spot over Russia.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Alaska was abnormally cold, and the contiguous United States wasn’t even close to a record.
Full post here.
I would add a couple of points to Anthony’s analysis.
We see similar dodgy looking hot spots over Russia in previous Januaries, not to mention December 2019:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201912
Secondly, satellite measurements, while indicating warmer than usual air, don’t support NOAA’s claims of a 5C+ anomaly. Both UAH and NOAA use the same 1981-2010 baseline.
Comments are closed.
Why are they tempted to use dodgy data, why not admit they lack their own?
Do they know the data are weak?
NOAA comic climate paintshop, peer reviewed in the National Enquirer.
Much as I respect both yourself and Anthony Watts, I am afraid this time you are wrong. Firstly, although UAH and NOAA use the same baseline, NOAA shows surface temperature whilst UAH shows the lower troposphere, 0-8kms. So one would expect there to be variation in the temperature anomalies.
Secondly, here on the Latvian Baltic coast, we have had record January temperatures. My own readings show January this year to have been some 3C higher than any other January over the last 14 years. The reason is that we have had continuous westerly winds, whereas normally they are interrupted by cold easterlies from inland. I observe the Atlantic and European pressure chart on a daily basis and this year it has been noticeable that rather than depressions tracking northerly from here, they have been tracking to the east and influencing the western part of Russia. The Moscow weather forecast appears together with my daily forecast for our local area and it has been clear that this winter’s temperatures have been forecast at around zero degrees as opposed to their normal winter temperatures of -10C or below. It would therefore not surprise me if their January temperature anomaly was even as high as +10C.
You will also note that the DMI Arctic temperatures north of 80 degrees show very few ‘spikes’ in temperature this year, proof that warmer air form the Atlantic is being directed to the west rather than into the Arctic circle.
As I commented on the original article, it has been exceptionally mild.
Since I was a kid I’ve almost daily checked the global city temperature list published in the DM. Anecdotal I know, but I’ve got a pretty good sense of what is usual.
Over the last few months I would have made 2 observations.
(1) A near complete absence of the usual bitter cold in Moscow and all the usual places, including Europe.
(2) Nothing particularly unusual about Australia – despite the MSM claims, a few very hot days (even more ‘normal’ for NZ where a new max. record was also claimed).
Weather patterns:
26 January 2020 – *BRUTAL* cold in Yakutia, Russia in the past days – several stations reported 55-57 °C below zero! Northeastern Russia (Yakutia region, Siberia)
Nov 26, 2019 – ‘Brutal’ freezing November temperatures spread across northeast Russia … russia-nov-26-2019-freezing-temp … russia-cold-temp-nov-26-2019 … -62 °C (-79.6 °F): Russia’s Sakha Republic registers near-record low temperatures.
Jul 15, 2019 – All-Time Record Low Temperatures Tumble in Northwest Russia: Temps like these have “not been observed in the middle of summer for almost 50 years!”