Global temperatures were seventh warmest on record for July

According to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the globe experienced its seventh warmest July since record keeping began in 1880. July’s Arctic sea ice extent was the smallest on record for that month since records began in 1979.

Global Temperature Highlights: July

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for July 2011 was the seventh warmest on record for that month at 61.43 F (16.37 C), which is 1.03 F (0.57 C) above the 20^th century average of 60.4 F (15.8 C). The margin of error associated with this temperature is +/- 0.16 F (0.09 C).
• Separately, the global land surface temperature for July was 1.51 F (0.84 C) above the 20^th century average of 57.8 F (14.3 C), making it the fifth warmest July on record. The margin of error is +/- 0.23 F (0.13 C). Warmer-than-average conditions occurred across Northern Europe, western and eastern Russia, and most of North America. Cooler-than-average regions included central Russia, Western Europe, much of the western United States, and southwestern Canada.

• The July global ocean surface temperature was 0.85 F (0.47 C) above the 20^th century average of 61.5 F (16.4 C), making it the 11^th warmest July on record. The margin of error is +/- 0.07 F (0.04 C). The warmth was most pronounced across Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea in the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes and in the north central and northwestern Pacific Ocean.
• July 2011 temperatures were above normal for all states and territories in Australia for the first month since April 2010. La Niña conditions during 2010/11 kept temperatures below normal across most of the country for more than a year.
• The United Kingdom average monthly July temperature of 57.4 F (14.1 C) was the coolest July temperature since 2000 at 0.9 F (0.5 C) below the long-term average, which dates back to 1910.The average minimum July temperature was the coolest for this month since 1980. Dublin Airport reported its coolest July in 46 years, with an average temperature of 56.8 F (13.8 C).

Global Temperature Highlights: Year to date

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for the January – July period was 0.92 F (0.51 C) above the 20^th century average of 56.9 F (13.8 C), making it the 11^th warmest such period on record. The margin of error is +/- 0.16 F (0.09 C).
• The January – July worldwide land surface temperature was 1.40 F (0.78 C) above the 20^th century average — the eighth warmest such period on record. The margin of error is +/- 0.36 F (0.20 C). Warmer-than-average conditions were prevalent across most of Russia, the Middle East, northern Africa, Europe, the southern United States, and Mexico. Cooler-than-average regions prevailed over the northwestern United States, southwestern Canada, and most of Australia.
• The global ocean surface temperature for the year to date was 0.74 F (0.41 C) above the 20^th century average and was the 11^th warmest such period on record. The margin of error is +/-0.07 F (0.04 C). The warmth was most pronounced across the Labrador Sea, most of the central and western Pacific, the equatorial Atlantic, and much of the mid-latitude southern oceans.

• Neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions were present during July 2011. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, ENSO neutral conditions are expected to continue into the Northern Hemisphere fall 2011, with an equally likely chance of ENSO-neutral or La Niña conditions thereafter.

Polar Sea Ice and Precipitation Highlights

• The average Arctic sea ice extent during July was 21.6 percent below average, ranking as the smallest July extent since satellite records began in 1979. The extent was 81,000 square miles (210,000 square kilometers) below the previous July record low, set in 2007.
• The July 2011 Antarctic sea ice extent was 0.54 percent below average and was the 12^th smallest July extent since records began in 1979.
• Seoul, South Korea received more than 11.8 inches (300 millimeters) of precipitation on July 27, the heaviest single-day rainfall in the city since 1907.

Scientists, researchers and leaders in government and industry use NOAA’s monthly reports to help track trends and other changes in the world's climate. This climate service has a wide range of practical uses, from helping farmers know what and when to plant, to guiding resource managers with critical decisions about water, energy and other vital assets.

Yellowstone Forests in Peril? Frequent Fires Could Be the End of an American Icon

Wildfires that have been flaring up in the luscious forests and woodlands of Yellowstone are gradually changing the landscape of an American national treasure. The ever-evolving climate in the area is helping to increase the frequency of wildfires that burn hundreds of acres of forests to the ground. With rising temperatures speeding up the snow melting process in Spring, the landscape is able to dry out and heat up faster than ever before.

The last major outbreak of wildfires occurred in 1988, a time when over 1,200 square miles were left charred into twigs after fires roared on for weeks. Back then, conflagrations like these burst out almost every 100 years or so, but with the fires helping to heat the air above it and keep it warm in the long run, these wildfires will be able to grow larger and occur more frequently within the next century. Statistical projections show that by 2050, fires will burn on average about 400 square mile each year, but by 2075, those same projections predict the average to exceed the 1,200 square mile mark set in 1988. Although Yellowstone is covered by more than 10,000 square miles of forests, different wildfires in different areas of this size can spell doom for the woodlands.

Forests that collapse in these fires and regrow naturally, as the flares and ashes act as a natural fertilizer to help replenish the supply. If the fires indeed become more frequent, then more fires burning faster than the regrowth rate will create an eventual end to the iconic forests of a national landmark.

--Weather Intern Steve Engblom

Surfing the Sky

Undalatus Asperatus, sounds like a medical term or the chemical name for asparagus. Well, at least to me. However, these two words could be joining cumulus, nimbus, stratus, and cirrus; the cloud types that have not been tampered with since 1951. Undalatus Asperatus are Latin words which translate to agitated waves.

Recently, as more and more people are using camera phones, pictures and videos of such clouds are continuously being posted on the internet. They have been seen all over the globe and have been very common in the Plains states. These unusual, wave-like, ominous clouds are commonly seen in the morning or midday hours after a thunderstorm. As the clouds gained more and more popularity in 2009, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of “The Cloud Appreciation Society” started to work with “The Royal Meteorological Society” to promote the naming of this new cloud type. Scientists found themselves arguing over the new classification as some thought there was no need to add another classification to the list that they believe cover the whole spectrum of clouds.

The new name has been recognized, however it has not joined the classification list as of yet. The debate continues, but take a look at the pictures for yourself from the Midwest, and even New Zealand here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/jun/01/2?picture=348217732#/?picture=348217732&index=0

Also, check out these clouds in motion on our Wild Weather page, http://wearecentralpa.com/wildweather! The video is called “Waves in the sky? Who knew?”

- Weather Intern Jacqueline Layer

Nation's Heatwave is Hurting Corn Crops

We recently ran a story of a local Ethanol plant declaring bankruptcy, citing corn prices as a primary reason. The recent heat wave across the nation’s heartland has been creating problems for more than just the individuals of the heat-stricken states. Corn, a staple crop for the US economy, is in danger of serious damage from the extreme heat. 2011 crops were slated to be especially large to accommodate recent demand, but with heavy rainfall and flooding in the Spring months, planting was delayed. The delay has set the current stage of growth in a very critical period. The corn ideally requires temperatures in the 80s with a stable source of water. However with record-high temperatures in the triple digits and high pressure keeping skies clear, the corn is beginning to wither. On Tuesday July 26th, 35-40% of farmers reported that their crops have been damaged by the heat. Already this has raised the price of corn 12.25 cents to $6.6875 a bushel. Aside from causing an influx in the prices in the corn later in the year, the smaller harvests are expected to raise gas, meat, and dairy prices.

- Weather Intern Tom Bedard

A Historic Heatwave for Central PA

When I was a student at Penn State, I came back to visit during the 1988 Arts Festival and was in town when State College last reached 102 degrees. Being a weather fanatic who knew a lot about the local weather, I knew that I was in town for what may be the only 100 degree reading during my lifetime. The reason why is it takes a perfect scenario to actually reach 100 degrees in our area.

Last week it looked like we may get that scenario and this week it looks like we had a fair chance. Even into the middle of this week we thought it may happen, but it is so hard, we still had to go with the odds and kept the forecast for the upper 90s and mention the century mark. Why? Because so many things could interfere with reaching the mark. History proves the point as we really have only reached there last than a handful of times.

What created this perfect storm to create the heat?

First let's talk about the start of the heat wave itself:

- The South Central states have been in an extreme drought. A dry ground allows for the maximum heating from the sun and helps temperatures to reach as high as they can. Most major heatwaves need these air masses to build in the middle of the nation during such dry stretches.

- A ridge of high pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere developed over the middle of the nation allowing for a hot air mass to build there and then spread northward and eventually eastward.



But not every major heatwave will send our temperatures past the lower 90s. We needed a lot locally, specifically these things:

- We have been extremely dry. It's hard to even reach 90 in Central PA with a lot of moisture in the ground. The reason why is evaporation takes a lot of energy to happen. When there is evaporation from moisture in the ground, it prevents us from getting as hot as possible. Our vegetation and trees also sap moisture from the ground and put it out through their leaves. Therefore, we would need abnormal dryness to slow this effect and we did have this from late June through now.

- Lastly on top of all of the things mentioned above, we need two more things to help us get to 100. Sunshine and a westerly flow. This westerly flow downslopes from the highlands and this as air descends the increase of pressure allows the air to compress and warm. We had both the sunshine and this westerly flow for the past couple of days.

A Seven Month Thunderstorm?

Can you imagine being stuck in a thunderstorm that lasts up to seven months at the same intensity?  Well, thank goodness we don’t live in the Northern Hemisphere of Saturn.  I figured since not much is going on weather-wise in and around central Pennsylvania, we should take a look at the interesting weather occurring on other planets.  Scientists have been tracking a storm on Saturn since December after a telescope revealed a "Great White Spot," and ever since the spot has held that name just like the Great Red Spot for Jupiter’s hurricane-like storm that has been raging for centuries.  Radio outbursts created by lightning strikes were then tracked and confirmed by the orbiting space shuttle Cassini.  Since then, scientists have been tracking the storm’s turbulent nature and have come to find that the storm takes up an area that is eight times the surface area of Earth.  The storm itself wraps around the whole surface of Saturn, covering 2 billion miles. 

In relation to Earth’s lightning strikes, this storm experiences strikes that are electrically 10,000 times stronger and scientists have recorded ten lightning strikes in a second.  If our lightning strikes turn off our power, I don’t even want to think about the damage a Saturn lightning strike would cause.  This is not the only storm Saturn has seen, but scientists are still unsure how these storms develop; some evidence could link it to the change in seasons.  Take a look at photos of the storm and listen to its lightning strikes here-->   http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20110706b/

--Weather Intern Jacqueline Layer

Brown Lawn. Just Let It Go For Now

I know a lot of you are staring at a brown lawn and are either tempted to, or are attempting to water it back to a green color. Believe it or not, the best thing at this point is to let it stay dormant. We are in a dry pattern that is not going to break any time soon, therefore, giving your lawn some water may just wake it enough to become stressed. It's okay for the lawn to be dormant. If we get in a wetter pattern, it will come back.


- Think water... Joe Murgo

Dry Weather of Late Just Making it Hotter

June is, on average, our wettest month of the year.  For some spots, though, it was far from that.

Rainfall amounts always vary from place to place, especially during the summer months when thunderstorms only affect small areas.  This month, though, the differences seem bigger than usual.

Here are some of the rainfall stats from June from across the region:
DuBois:  4.62"
Clearfield:  4.03"
State College:  3.67"
Johnstown:  1.47"
Altoona:  0.61"

And with the first 10 days of July in the books, most places have seen less than a quarter inch of rain so far this month. 

Even after a wet spring, the ground has really dried out across much of the area after the recent stretch of weather.  That doesn't just turn the lawns brown, but it starts to affect the weather.

Our weather tends to become more desert-like.  Deserts have hot, dry days followed by cool nights.  When the ground is moist, some of the sun's energy goes towards evaporating the moisture while the rest goes towards heating the ground.  When there is very little moisture in the ground, almost all of the sun's energy goes to heating the ground since there is so little moisture to evaporate.  The result is warmer days, but generally lower humidity.  If you've noticed lately, we have had a lot of very warm and even hot afternoons that aren't all that humid.  We can have humid days in dry patterns, but they generally aren't as frequent and it generally isn't as humid as if we were in a wet pattern.  With the lower dewpoints associated with lower humidity, our nights also tend to be cooler and more comfortable.

It can be difficult to get out of these patterns because thunderstorms thrive in moist airmasses.  With the dry ground and the lower humidity, thunderstorms are less likely to form.

--Meteorologist Brian Thompson