Too Hot To Handle, or... Temperature Outposts Skewed

If Government Can't Tell Temperatures Right,

What Makes You Think They Can Run Health-Care Well?

I wanted to piggy-back on an important site and the work this person has done. He has set out to study over a thousand weather stations where the government takes temperatures that have been used in the “scare” about Global Warming. As you will see, many of these weather stations (temperature taking apparatus) are in areas that reflect heat or have been built around with concrete and steel.

This site has a purpose, that is to study 1,200 (plus) stations:

The survey project continues to move forward, even in these cold and snowy winter months. I’m pleased to announce that we have just passed the 500 mark for surveyed stations. Now with 41.1% of the network surveyed comprising 502 stations surveyed so far, that leaves 719 to go out of 1221 stations nationwide.

What a task.

Not to mention that they are government run, so the calibration would be right on or would have been neglected for some time? I will let the reader come up with the most plausible answer to that.

Here are some photos with a short explanation… by-the-by, the site where this can be found at (in the links to the right of the main blog is:

http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/

This first site has some commentary from Whats Up With That researcher, enjoy... and may I add that if one stays long enough another factor that would play in this station being way off would be when the guys and gals are out washing down their firetrucks (and the like).

One of the things that happens when your work becomes well known is that people send you things to look at. Such is the case for today’s subject. Here we have a NOAA COOP station which is on the side of a mountain, well away from large cities. Only problem is, they put it right next to a parking lot.

A reader of this blog, Brad Herrick, sent me these photos of the Mt. Charleston weather station on State Route 157 west of Las Vegas. For those that don’t know, Mt. Charleston is the large mountain to the west that overlooks Las Vegas. NOAA lists it on it’s COOP-A list, meaning that it reports for the climatic database. It’s been in operation since 1949. Its been moved 3 times, but all within about 1/2 mile as the fire station changed and grew.

According to NOAA’s MMS database, here is the description: Elevation, 7600 feet. NV DIV OF FORESTRY FIRE STN KYLE CYN OUTSIDE AND 30 MI NW PO AT LAS VEGAS NV. Topographic Details: RUGGED DEEP CANYON .25 - .5 MILE WIDE, RISING TO PEAKS 3000-5000 FEET HIGHER TO NORTH, SOUTH AND WEST A DISTANCE OF 2 TO 4 MILES. Lat/Lon 36.2597, -115.6452 , COOP ID 265400

Seems pretty rural, with a mental image of “way up in the mountains” if you were researching this station. By James Hansen’s figuring, it would also be a “lights=0″ station since I doubt there is municipal street lighting for this area.

It’s certainly well enough away from the super sized Las Vegas concrete and asphalt heat island.

Here is the view from Google Earth:

Except for a few houses, it certainly looks “rural”. Any researcher at NCDC or maybe a university that might use this station in some research report would certainly think this station was well away from the building/concrete/asphalt influence of bustling Las Vegas wouldn’t they?

But then we see this:

And this:



And This

Unfortunately, I don’t have a time series temperature graph of this station to show you since I haven’t found a place at NCDC yet to graph COOP stations that are COOP-A. If anybody knows of such a link, please let me know.

There’s nothing like convenient parking to convert a rural station to urban. But lets not forget the maintenance of the Stevenson Screen roof (see pic #2 -large), hillside, shade bushes, fire station building revisions, and portable storage unit. When did all that happen? We have no idea.

Surely, it’s easy to disentangle all that from the temperature record. Quick! Somebody create an adjustment equation.

Lampasas, TX., this weather station was found to be tucked between a building, and two parking lots, one with nearby vehicles. According to the surveyor, it is right next to the ACE Hardware store on the main street of town. While likely representative of the temperature for downtown Lampasas, one wonders how well it measures the climate of the region.

Another shot.


Miami AZ., I do not think this one needs an explanation about how bad the temperature readings must be... um, hotter than they should be???

Another shot.

Cedarville CA., looking east. Take note of the new Forest Service concrete pad for their offices.


Inside temperature structure.

Looking north. I am sure no heat radiates off the propane tanks.


Some great work on the part of this site. Holding the crazy enviro-whacker's to task as well as holding the government responsible for shoddy work!! Awesome!