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Global Temperature Dives in May


Watts Up With That? Blog
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:41 UTC
Confirming what many of us have already noted from the anecdotal evidence coming in of a much cooler than normal May, such as late spring snows as far south as Arizona, extended skiing in Colorado, and delays in snow cover melting in many parts of the northern hemisphere, the University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH) published their satellite derived Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit data set of the Lower Troposphere for May 2008.

It is significantly colder globally, colder even than the significant drop to -0.046°C seen in January 2008.

The global ∆T from April to May 2008 was -.195°C

UAH
2008 1 -0.046
2008 2 0.020
2008 3 0.094
2008 4 0.015
2008 5 -0.180

Compared to the May 2007 value of 0.199°C we find a 12 month ∆T is -.379°C.

Global Temperature Anomaly
©UAH
Reference: UAH lower troposphere data
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Eagle

UK: Man teaches heron to fly by flapping his arms

Richard Savill
The Telegraph
Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:27 UTC
Gary Zammit, 42, started his training by running in a field with food in his pockets so the bird would follow him, and gain in strength.

He then waved his arms and made the squawking noises until the bird copied him, and eventually took off.

Now it flies at 70ft, and obediently returns when called.

Mr Zammit said: "He never showed any sign of wanting to take off.

"To encourage him to try flying I had to tempt him along with food in the hope that instinct would kick in and he would go up. But for days he just walked alongside me, or occasionally hopped a bit.

Image
©South West News
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Cloud Lightning

US: Lightning ignites tank at Kansas petroleum factory


Associated Press
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:49 UTC
Authorities say lightning from a line of strong thunderstorms ignited a large fire at a petroleum terminal in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.

City fire Capt. Stan Castaneda says lightning struck a large storage tank at the Magellan Pipeline facility near downtown. The massive fire has sent flames and dark smoke billowing into the sky.



Image
©NBC

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Cloud Lightning

Torrential rain brings flash flooding to Britain


Telegraph
Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:18 UTC
Downpours lasting several hours hit southern and eastern Britain, with some areas receiving half a month's rainfall in six hours.

By mid-afternoon the Environment Agency had placed two rivers on flood warning and a further 19 on flood watch.
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Evil Rays

Chinese scientists predict more powerful quakes in next 15 years


RIA Novosti
Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:41 UTC
China is likely to experience earthquakes measuring 7 or higher on the Richter scale over the next 15 years, a national newspaper said on Tuesday, citing Chinese experts.

The devastating earthquake that hit the Sichuan province in the country's southwest on May 12 with a magnitude of 8.0 was the country's worst in more than three decades, and has claimed the lives of at least 69,000 people.
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Thames Valley hit by flash floods


BBC News
Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:38 UTC
Homes and schools in the Thames Valley have been flooded after heavy rain swept across the area.

Many parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire were hit by flash flooding on Tuesday and the Met Office has extended its severe weather warning.

It has warned that another 15 to 25mm of rain could fall during the day.
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Ladybug

Last flight of the honeybee?

Alison Benjamin
The Guardian
Sat, 31 May 2008 05:32 UTC
A bee-less world wouldn't just mean the end of honey - Einstein said that if the honeybee became extinct, then so would mankind. Alison Benjamin reports on a very real threat.

Dave Hackenberg's bees have been on the road for four days. To reach the almond orchards of California's Central Valley, they pass through the fertile plains of the Mississippi, huge cattle ranches and oilfields in Texas, and the dusty towns of New Mexico on their 2,600-mile journey from Florida. The bees will have seen little of the dramatic landscape, being cooped up in hives stacked four high on the back of trucks. Each truck carries close to 500 hives, tethered with strong harnesses and covered with black netting to prevent the millions of passengers from escaping. When the drivers pull over to sleep, the bees have a break from the constant movement and wind speed, but there's no opportunity to look around and stretch their wings.
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Bizarro Earth

China says 200,000 evacuated because of flood risk

William Foreman
Associated Press
Sat, 31 May 2008 17:28 UTC
Chinese authorities had evacuated nearly 200,000 people by early Saturday and warned more than 1 million others to be ready to leave quickly as a lake formed by a devastating earthquake threatened to breach its dam.

Hundreds of Chinese troops have been working around the clock to drain Tangjiashan lake in Sichuan province. The lake formed above Beichuan town in the Mianyang region when a hillside plunged into a river valley during the May 12 quake that killed more than 68,000 people.
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Cloud Lightning

Flood emergency declared in Italy


Press TV
Sat, 31 May 2008 17:26 UTC


Image

Italy declared a flood emergency in the northwest after torrential rainfall caused floods and landslides and killed at least three people.

Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Service told reporters after an emergency meeting in Turin, "We are still in the middle of a crisis and will be so for the next 24 hours". The emergency was called as the river Po reached dangerously high levels.
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Cloud Lightning

Trend of deadly tornadoes puzzles experts


Journal Now
Wed, 28 May 2008 15:39 UTC
2008 is expected to break U.S. record for number of tornadoes in one year

Image
©Associated Press
Clouds descend from a storm that created tornadoes near Marshall, Okla., on Saturday. So far this year, tornadoes have killed 110 people.

Another week, another train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashes homes to their foundations and kills people even as they take shelter in their basements.
The year is not even half done, but 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of tornadoes in a year, the National Weather Service said. Also, this year's storms seem to have been unusually powerful.

Meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening.


Comment: They haven't been reading SoTT

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