12 thoughts on “That “World Record” Temperature”

    1. He is the expert on thermometer placement and weather station siting and maintenance. Latex paint versus whitewash makes a big difference, as does the age of the paint and its condition. If paint is peeling off then it’s like claiming you can reliably measure a 0.1 degree change in atmospheric temperatures while you’ve moved your thermometer from inside a freshly waxed white car to inside a rusting gray or black one. It’s absurd.

      As for Peter Gleick, why yes, he did just fall off the back of a turnip truck. If the heat wave out West makes its way here, I’m going to e-mail him a picture of a flaming marshmallow and see if he runs with it.

    2. Yes, but he seems to have missed that unlike 1913 there is also a large golf course near the ranch site which, along with all the air conditioned buildings in the area of the old ranch and paved roads, will probably have far more effect on temperature readings than the paint on the box modern thermometers are in 🙂

      Actually this is the key weakness of all historical temperatures. Not only are the instruments (and their boxes) different, but many are in very different micro-environments, not to mention even different locations. So trying to compare a temperature today recorded electronically with one a hundred years ago read by the human eye in a vastly different landscape is a waste of time.

    3. As Chris’s link below points out, in Death Valley the temperature difference between 8 feet high and 1 foot high is 10 degrees F, which is 1.4 degrees per foot, or 0.119 degrees per inch. We’re trying to spot long term trends down in that range, and just having some sand pile up or the legs settle in a bit would be bigger than the signal we’re looking for.

      The electronic instruments have a long, long list of their own accuracy problems. Occasionally some scientific experts in metrology will post on Anthony’s blog and give a laundry list of the problems with the new instruments, from calibration, repeatability, long term drift, EMI, and a host of other factors. Like the mercury thermometers, they’re accurate to about a degree under field conditions.

      What’s truly bizarre is the new claims that the reason the surface isn’t warming is that the heat is disappearing into the 700m to 2000m depths of the ocean, and they claim to be measuring changes that amount to 0.001 degrees.

    1. I looked all through the PDF you linked and didn’t see an answer to a single question Anthony raised. Perhaps I’m overlooking something. Could you point me to the proper page?

      1. I looked as well. I did find the coordinates for the Greenland Ranch/Funcace creek question, BUT, they are imprecise (no arc seconds). Altitude is mentioned as well, and accurately enough that I think it’s the only question the PDF actually answers.

        As for the other questions, there seem to be no answers in the PDF.

  4. OT: A 777 from Korea just crashed while landing at SFO. It’s not quite intact, but the fuselage doesn’t look all that wrecked (except for the missing tail and some other issues). No word on anything yet.

    Fox live feed.

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