[Vision2020] 2010 Already Ties 2007 As Year With Most National Extreme Heat Records

[Ted Moffett]

>From Dr. Jeff Masters' website on weather and climate:

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1563

*Cyprus records its hottest temperature in history yesterday
*The island of Cyprus recorded its hottest temperature in its history on
August 1, 2010 when the mercury hit 46.6°C (115.9°F) at
Lefconica<http://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?lang=en&ind=17515&ndays=30&ano=2010&mes=08&day=01&hora=18&ord=REV&Send=Send>.
The old record for Cyprus was 44.4°C (111.9°F) at Lefkosia in August 1956.
An older record of 46.6°C from July 1888 was reported from Nicosia, but is
of questionable reliability.

The year 2010 is now tied with 2007 as the year with the most national
extreme heat records--fifteen. There has been one country that has recorded
its coldest temperature on record in 2010; see my post last
week<http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1559>for
a list of the 2010 records. My source for extreme weather records is
the
excellent book Extreme Weather <http://www.extremeweatherguide.com/> by
Chris Burt. His new updates (not yet published) remove a number of old
disputed records. Keep in mind that the matter of determining extreme
records is very difficult, and it is often a judgment call as to whether an
old record is reliable or not. For example, one of 2007's fifteen extreme
hottest temperature records is for the U.S.--the 129°F recorded at Death
Valley that year. Most weather record books list 1913 as the year the
hottest temperature in the U.S. occurred, when Greenland Ranch in Death
Valley hit 134°F. However, as explained in a recent Weatherwise
article<http://www.weatherwise.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/2010/July-August%202010/retrospect-full.html>,
that record is questionable, since it occurred during a sandstorm when hot
sand may have wedged against the thermometer, artificially inflating the
temperature. Mr. Burt's list of 225 countries with extreme heat records
includes islands that are not independent countries, such as Puerto Rico and
Greenland. Seventy four extreme hottest temperature records have been set in
the past ten years (33% of all countries.) For comparison, 14 countries set
extreme coldest temperature records over the past ten years (6% of all
countries). I thank Mr. Burt and weather record researchers Maximiliano
Herrera and Howard Rainford for their assistance identifying this year's new
extreme temperature records.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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