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Winter season continues to break records; climate information
Wed Mar 3 2010 @ 00:03 EST
The 2009-2010 winter season continues to break records. Take, for example, the DC metro area: In Maryland, 262.5 inches of snow have been recorded at one garage managed by the Maryland State Highway Administration. "In Oakland, National Weather Service observer Sherry Helbig reports a seasonal total of 210 inches, more than double the winter average of 95 inches."
AccuWeather reports on Florida's coldest winter in 30 years. Much of the unusual winter weather we've seen in the Midwest and the East Coast has been caused by upstream weather patterns associated with El Niño and the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A negative NAO typically brings cold, snowy weather to the Eastern United States and can actually cause parts of Greenland to be warmer than locations in the United States!
In climate news, Professor Phil Jones of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU), responds to important climate questions after being widely criticized over the content of e-mails between colleagues that were stolen by a computer hacker. The BBC article is the definitive source for this interview — there have been many articles that mis-quote Phil Jones. While Jones may have made mistakes with regard to his research, I feel that it is only proper to read his original statements and the interview itself.
The National Weather Service has proposed a National Climate Service for the United States, which will help supply the public with climate information, similar to how the Weather Service provides information on current conditions, weekly forecasts, and severe weather. NOAA would like to have the Service running by the end of 2010, in celebration of its 140th Anniversary.
The Weather Service has already started a new website, climate.gov to provide publicly-accessible climate information, even before the new Service is officially created.
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