January: 4th Warmest Globally Since 1880
February 25, 2014
You wouldn’t know it if you got all your news from Fox & Friends, but January was, globally, one of the warmest in the instrumental record.
Interestingly, this report, based on NOAA data, says January was the “third wettest” in the record, whereas the UK Met Office says the month was the wettest in 248 years, since records began. I give the Met Office the edge on that one.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
February 26, 2014 at 4:13 am
So far as I know the UK Met Office are only claiming it was “the wettest in 248 years” in some areas of southern England.
February 26, 2014 at 4:27 am
I’ve checked out the Met Office offical final report on the storms.
Click to access Recent_Storms_Briefing_Final_07023.pdf
“…Although no individual storm can be regarded as exceptional, the clustering and persistence of the storms is highly unusual. December and January were exceptionally wet. For England and Wales this was one of, if not the most, exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248 years.
Hmmmm.
“…the most, exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248 years…”
Terrible bit of writing – what the heck is THAT supposed to mean? Was it a record amount or not?
They go on to say:
“…The two-month total (December + January) of 372.2mm for the southeast and central southern England region is the wettest any 2-month period in the series from 1910…”
So it is a record for the southeast and central southern England region since 1910 but, as a scientific institution they really ought to use unabiguous language.
I’m still none the wiser whether it was a 248 year record or not.
Maybe somone here could e-mail them and ask for clarification?
February 26, 2014 at 7:18 am
I haven’t asked, but there are different data sets. There’s a directly comparable national instrument record dating back to 1910, and then patchier regional rainfall records with varying start dates. The longest running of which is the Ratcliffe Station in Oxford.
So I think the gist is that you can say with a high degree of confidence that it’s the wettest since 1910 and there’s nothing comparable amongst the other records dating back 248 years or so either – with caveats that those records aren’t a complete gridded time series for the UK.
February 26, 2014 at 8:30 am
There’s more info at the venerable wikipedia
February 26, 2014 at 1:35 pm
The maps of CA showing “where your food comes from” were both illuminating and ominous. We may have to go back to getting red fingers from eating pistachio nuts imported from Iran. Remember Zenobia?
March 1, 2014 at 8:27 am
“Interestingly, this report, based on NOAA data, says January was the “third wettest” in the record, whereas the UK Met Office says the month was the wettest in 248 years, since records began. I give the Met Office the edge on that one.”
What is your reasoning behind that please? Curious.
March 3, 2014 at 8:01 pm
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