Saturday, January 4, 2014

Brisbane: Hot but not hot enough

ABC Headline: Queensland heatwave: Brisbane set to roast as weekend temperatures soar
The scorching heatwave gripping much of Queensland is being felt in Brisbane today, with residents set to roast in temperatures of up to 41 degrees Celsius.

Thankfully ABC reported reality, but as always a slant put on it: Queensland heatwave: Brisbane spared predicted maximum temperature, Bureau of Meteorology says
Brisbane has been spared the full wrath of the Queensland heatwave, with temperatures today peaking just below the predicted high of 41 degrees Celsius.
The mercury reached a top of 38.7C just after 1:00pm, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Pradeep Singh said, a mark just shy of the expected peak and several degrees below the January record of 43.2C. 


What is the date on that  record? The city's highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C (110 °F) on 26 January 1940.  What was the CO2 reading at the time? Below 315ppm

Degrees below: 43.2-38.7=4.5!

"just below", "just shy"?! Percentage difference: 9.44% in weather terms this hardly qualifies "just", but when you are spruiking alarm what do the facts matter?

The alternate headline reads: Brisbane heatwave: BOM wrong again!

On that 1940 temperature record here's one article from the archive. Seems global warming was much worse back then!"

GREATEST HEATWAVE IN STATE"S HISTORY: EIGHT DEATHS 
BRISBANE, January 26.
Eight people died in Queensland to-day at a result of the greatest heat the State has ever known. Three cases occurred in Brisbane and five in the country. Forty-three people collapsed in Brisbane and many more in the country. Brisbane experienced the highest temperature in its history—109.8 degrees at 2.35 p.m.

Nothing like this figure has been re-corded during the 85 years that the Meteorological Bureau has been operating. The nearest was 108.9 in January, 1902. To make matters worse, today's heat was accompanied by a record relative humidity of 20 per cent.The record day was followed by the hottest January night since 1922. The temperature at 9 p.m. was 83.3.

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