Journalists have been reporting "all time record high temperatures" this year in various parts of the United States. But Dr. John Christy, of the University of Alabama's Earth System Science Laboratory in Huntsville, believes that many of these news reports may be false because of incomplete weather records at the National Weather Service.
In the attached press release, issued July 3rd from the Earth System Science Laboratory, Dr. Christy takes issue with one such report, from Associated Press and National Public Radio, that June 1998 in Huntsville, Alabama, set a warm weather record. Dr. Christy shows that 6 years--going all the way back to 1914--had warmer temperatures for June.
The problem, says Dr. Christy, could lie with the National Weather Service, the reporters' most likely source for this weather information. NWS, he says, has limited computerized temperature records, whereas records kept locally often go back a century and more. In short, it is possible that NOAA Public Affairs officers are inadvertently handing false stories to the press.
I called the NWS Office of Meteorology in Washington (301-713-0700) and the NWS Public Affairs Office (Gloria Washington, 301-713-0622) this morning. NWS-Washington called its Birmingham Office (205-772-9876), and was told that NWS temperature records there for Huntsville only went back to 1958. That caveat did not come through in the news accounts.
Someone needs to track this story down. Press credibility has taken a hit in recent weeks because of the CNN/Stephen Glass/Patricia Smith debacles. If reporters are getting wrong information here, it needs to be straightened out because it does impact coverage of the global warming issue.
I'm now wondering if NWS computerized data was also responsible for Vice President Al Gore's statement last month that spring 1998 set a record for tornado fatalities (122) --also glaringly wrong. That record was set in 1925 (695)
Here is Dr. Christy's press release, along with contact numbers.
PRESS RELEASE: "June 1998 Hot, but not Hottest"
Huntsville, Alabama, July 14, 1998---Several reports appeared recently stating that June 1998, with an average temperature of 80.5 F in Huntsville, was the hottest June on record. These reports probably originated from the digitized records available in National Weather Service Offices which, unfortunately, are quite limited in scope. Here in the Office of the State Climatologist we have virtually all records, some on microfiche, but most still as handwritten forms up to 103 years old. After a search of these, I've concluded June 1998 was indeed hot in North Alabama, but certainly not the hottest since systematic records began in 1895.
Two years stand out as the hottest, 1914 and 1952, and four others as warmer than the present 1921, 1936, 1943 and 1953. It was so hot in 1914 and 1952 that the average temperature in Valley Head (elevation 1,031 ft.) was 81.3 and 80.8 F respectively -- warmer even than Huntsville's June 1998 average. Decatur's temperatures were 83.9 and 83.7 F for the two years. Huntsville did have a weather station at the old airport (out in the "country" back then) by 1943 and reported June average temperatures of 80.8, 83.0 and 81.7 F for 1943, 1952 and 1953 respectively, all exceeding the value for June 1998.
Because it takes time to search these kinds of records, we are unable to respond as quickly as we would like when interesting weather occurs. We realize the timely nature of media services and the temptation to report a particular event as the hottest, coldest, most, least, wettest, driest, etc. We will begin soon to digitize all of Alabama's weather records so we can offer a more expeditious and representative picture of today's "extremes" in terms of over 100 years of Alabama's climate. In the mean time, when old timers say, "aw shucks, it was worse back in '52, '53 and '54," believe them.
John R. Christy, Ph.D.
Earth System Science Lab
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville AL 35899
Voice: 256-922-5763
Fax: 256-922-5755
E-Mail: christy@vortex.atmos.uah.edu
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