Summer 2010 Climate Outlook

The official Climate Predicition Center Summer climate outlook has been issued.



The forecast for Nebraska is cooler than normal and wetter than normal.

America's Climate Choices

As part of its most comprehensive study to date, the National Research Council hasreleased three new reports examining how the nation can combat the effects of climate change. The reports are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America's Climate Choices.

Three publications available currently:
Advancing the Science of Climate Change
Limiting the Magnitude of Climate Change
Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

The America's Climate Choices suite of studies will include two additional reports that will be released later this year: Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change will examine how to best provide decision makers information on climate change, and a final overarching report, America's Climate Choices, will build on each of the previous reports to offer a scientific framework for shaping the policy choices underlying the nation's efforts to confront climate change.

find out more at: http://www.americasclimatechoices.org/

Ocean Stored Significant Warming Over Last 16 Years

Ocean Stored Significant Warming Over Last 16 Years.

"The upper layer of the world’s ocean has warmed since 1993, indicating a strong climate change signal, according to a new study. The energy stored is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs per each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet".

read more at:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100519_ocean.html

Greenland Rising as it shed its ice cover

"The ice is melting so fast in Greenland that the giant island is rising noticeably as the weight is lifted. In some spots, the land is rising 1 inch per year. Scientists at the University of Miami say Greenland's ice is melting so quickly that the land underneath is rising at an accelerated pace."

Read the full article at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100518/sc_livescience/greenlandrisingrapidlyasicemelts

January - April 2010 Warmest on Record for the Globe

From NOAA: Year-to-date (January–April)
The January–April 2010 map of temperature anomalies shows that for the first four months of the year anomalous warm temperatures were present over much of the world, with the exception of cooler-than-average conditions across the higher-latitude southern oceans, the northern Pacific Ocean, along the western South American coast, Mongolia, northern China, northern Australia, the south central and southeastern U.S., northern Mexico, and most of Europe and Russia. The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for January–April period was the warmest January-April period on record. This value is 0.69°C (1.24°F) above the 20th century average. Separately, the worldwide land surface temperature ranked as the third warmest on record, behind 2007 (warmest) and 2002 (second warmest), while the worldwide ocean surface temperature ranked as the second warmest January–April on record—behind 1998.

April 2010 Warmest on record for the Globe

April 2010 was the WARMEST ON RECORD for the globe with data extending back 131 years to 1880. March 2010 was also the warmest on record for the globe.

U.S. Climate Warming

If the climate is warming, won't the entire U.S. be having above normal temperatures?

The answer is "no".

Even though the temperature trend clearly shows a warming climate for the U.S. since 1980, there have still been areas that have experienced below normal temperatures. However, if you look at the amount of red (above normal) and blue (below normal), there is more red than blue on the attached graph (especially since the mid 1990's), which subtly shows the current warming trend.

Record Temperatures

Everyone has heard of "record highs" and "record lows" but did you know there are also "record low highs" and "record high lows"?

Record low highs are the coldest recorded high or maximum temperature on a given day.
Record high lows are the warmest recorded low or minimum temperature on a given day.

Here is an example from May 12, 2010:

Lincoln's high (maximum) temperature was 49 F
Lincoln's low (minimum) temperature was 44 F

Records Maximum (daily high) temperatures:
Record High Temperature: 97 set in 1956

Record Low High Temperature: 43 F set in 1966
The coldest ever daytime high temperature on May 12 is 43 F

Records Minimum (daily low) temperatures:
Record Low Temperature: 32 F set in 1946
Record Low High Temperature: 43 F set in 1966
The warmest ever nighttime low temperature on May 12 is 70 F set in 1956
The warmest ever overnight minimum temperature on May 12 is 70F

The RCC Report, Newsletter of the NOAA Regional Climate Centers

Check out what the NOAA Regional Climate Centers have been up to recently:

In this issue...

• Impacts of the 1954 Heat Wave Studied
  

• Emergency Management Decision Support Tool for East Coast Winter Storms
  

• Record-Breaking Snow, Precipitation in the Northeast

• Tracking the Ups and Downs of Mountain Snow Levels
  

• Sporting Event Climatologies Prove Popular with Media
  

• Irrigation Scheduling Tool Saves Water, Energy, Production Costs

Click here to read the report.

Day 1, Documentation of Storm Chase Research on the Plains

Monday May 10, 2010:

As forecast by SPC, the "High Risk" day produced many tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma. Storms were moving over 50 mph and were chasing the chasers instead of us chasing the storms. This made photo documenting storm chasing reserch quite difficult! Well over 30 tornado reports today, (wth injuries and fatalities) more storms to come the rest of the week but not as active as today. Possible heat ridge and a break in the spring severe weather next week, so until then, the atmosphere reloads and we will head out again with VORTEX2 again on Tuesday and the rest of the week.

April 2010 climate summary: 31/48 conterminous states averaged above normal temperatures and only 3 states had below normal temperatures. Many of the Midwestern states and all of the Northeast and New England averaged well above normal. And 5 states (IL, RI, ME, NJ, CT) had their warmest April on record (116 years of data).

Summer Temperatures following winter El Ninos in Lincoln, NE

El Niño Winters and Following Summer Weather
123 years of data

The winter of 2009-10 was an El Niño Winter which raises the question, following an El Nino winter what is the Summer weather like in Lincoln, NE?




3 Categories =

Above Normal (Ranks 1-41),

Near Normal Ranks 42-82),

Below Normal (Ranks 83-123)

Results: 6 years AN; 9 years NN; 2 years BN

2 Categories =

Above Normal (Ranks 1-61.5);

Below Normal (Ranks 61.5-123)

Results: 9 years AN; 8 years BN

EPA launched a new website for Climate Change

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html

The website covers five main areas:

• Science: Explains our current scientific understanding of the causes of past, present and future climate change.
• U.S. Climate Policy: Summarizes the current U.S. policy and describes programs being implemented at EPA and elsewhere.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Provides information and data on U.S. and international greenhouse gas emissions, and projections of future emission levels.
• Health and Environmental Effects: Provides an overview of how climate change may affect human health, different sectors of society, different regions and the natural environment.
• What You Can Do: Describes actions that individuals and organizations can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

MIT Integrated Global Systems Model analysis shows climate change odds much worse than thought

The new projections, published this month in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, indicate a median probability of surface warming of 5.2 degrees Celsius by 2100, with a 90% probability range of 3.5 to 7.4 degrees.

http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/spotlights/change-odds.html

April 2010 Lincoln climate summary:

Average temperature was 55.6 F, and was 4.4 degrees above normal

Total precipitation was 2.53 inches, and was 0.37 inches below normal

It was the 2nd month in a row with below normal precipitation. However,

the total precipitation for January 1-April 30 of 6.11 inches is only 0.33 inches below normal.