The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) makes another dubious claim – in refusing to accept the very significant urban heat island (UHI) effect in their Canberra Airport temperature data. Simple checks of nearby stations show the 2013 winter was not the warmest ever in Tuggeranong (Canberra southern suburbs) – Burrinjuck Dam, Braidwood and Cooma. And at Goulburn AP the 2013 winter was warmest – but not at Goulburn TAFE which recorded four warmer years back to 1996.
I have feelers out to find other Canberra data – if anybody knows of a source please pass on.
Table of average winter daytime temperatures – red marks years warmer than 2013.
The two Canberra stations are because the old Canberra Airport site at Fairbairn was moved south in 2009 due to nearby construction at Fairbairn. Ignoring completely the massive construction around the commercial terminals since before 2000.
I have a story from 2010 –
Evidence for a strong urbanization signal; 0.3 degrees C per decade in Canberra Airport temperature data 1997-2009 But I like the Floriade story below.
Canberra’s warm winter record could lead to hottest start to spring –
August 30, 2013 – Hamish Boland-Rudder
Sun, rain: it’s all a capital idea – 31 August 2013 – Hamish Boland-Rudder
Floriade ‘unaffected’ by warmest winter on record – Kathleen Dyett – Mon 2 Sep 2013
Warwick – you seem to have addressed maximum temperature anomaly only – the records I can find on line are for mean temperature anomaly.
No George, In this case the BoM as faithfully reported at The Canberra Times – is talking daytime temperatures – “The balmy finish to August will push the capital over the line to record its highest ever average daytime winter temperature – likely to be either 14.1 or 14.2 degrees, depending on how high the mercury rises on Saturday.” I am well aware the BoM can talk max or mean T depending ou what suits it that day. The ABC article does not state the issue as clear as The Canberra Times. In many other articles in last few days about a warm other periods – for example, “warmest winter in Victoria”, and “warmest 12 months for all Australia” – the BoM does talk mean T. Which I am well aware off.
Methinks the BoM/Dept of Climate change may VERY suddenly become a bit more careful in their specific choice of words.
You missed the point Warwick – you haven’t measured whether it was the warmest winter on record by mean temperature anomaly. The reporter has:
a) reported average temperature is warmest on record
b) reported the mean maximum temperature
c) reported that cooler night time temperatures dropping the average temperature down
Can you advise why your average temperature is different to that that is in the records (I did a quick average and got a different answer to you – more than 14.0 – compared to your 13.83)
Just checked my Table and chart above and the Canberra Airport 70351 column was adjusted cooler slightly be me to approximate the 2009-2010 overlap readings for the old Canberra Airport 70014 station. I should have used the raw numbers.
This Table below –
and chart has the raw numbers for Canberra Airport 70351.
Thanks George for getting me to check my content.
Just checked Tuggeranong and it is exactly as my “Table of average winter daytime temperatures” sets out.
Getting Tugg monthly max T history here –
Then Jun – July – August data here –
Scroll down for this text –
Other times and other places
The last 14 months of Daily Weather Observations for Tuggeranong,
then click on the 2013 month you want.
I enter the mean monthly max – then average in Excel to get the numbers used in my Table.
Go to cooma airport for unpolluted readings the heat island effect has been ignored for the global warming alarmist theory