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MAYBE EARTH HOUR CAUSED IT

Cold, cold, cold! We’re all a-frozen in Australia:

• “Record-breaking early snow has fallen across NSW, just days after Sydney’s longest period of rain in 23 years.”

• “Temperatures at Thredbo dropped to -4C and in Perisher to -2C, the coldest April days in the mountains for 30 years.”

• “Strathalbyn, south of Adelaide, had its coldest April night in more than a century ...”

• “The city of Orange in central west New South Wales is experiencing possibly its coldest April day on record.”

• “Woomera had its coldest April morning in 60 years of records ...”

It’ll be a cold day in hell before Cardinal George Pell buys into any warmening nonsense. We’re almost as cold in Australia as was the US last year. Here’s SMH enviro reporter Ben Cubby’s analysis:

Something strange is happening to our weather.

Damn straight, Ben. It isn’t following warmther predictions.

UPDATE:

• “Temperatures fell by as much as 14 degrees below the April average in parts of southern Queensland this morning on the coldest recorded day of the year so far ...”

• “Mt Hotham has just broken the all-time record for the coldest April day (Monday 28th April) ever in Victoria ...”

•  “It’s raining here today, and there is snow on the hills surrounding Melbourne. It was the coldest April day ever recorded in part of the state.”

• “Yesterday was the coldest April day in Sydney for 50 years ...”

• “The coldest April day in our district EVER according to tonight’s news.”

Posted by Tim B. on 04/28/2008 at 01:46 PM
  1. You have a town named Perisher?

    Is it near Bleeding?...

    Posted by mojo on 2008 04 28 at 02:26 PM • permalink

  2. Still amazes me that up here in the civilisation of Brisbane, our Minimum is also Canberra’s Maximum.  Nice symetry really.

    Posted by Todd on 2008 04 28 at 02:35 PM • permalink

  3. Yeah, well, here in southwest Ohio, we’re having a normal spring.  Which means it’s toasty warm one day and freezing cold the next.  I’m still going to blame global warming, just because I can.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 04 28 at 03:02 PM • permalink

  4. From the SMH link

    “This has less to do with global warming and more to do with the natural kinks and dips you see in weather patterns each year,” said Professor Matthew England, co-director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of NSW.

    “The extremes of heat are an example of the sort of weather we can expect to see a lot more often in the next 50 years, because the evidence is indisputable that the weather is getting warmer.”

    Sure professor. But could you possibly make an observation that countries in the northern hemisphere have just experienced one of the coldest and severest winters on record?  And could you possibly deduce that Australia may follow suit?  Why no of course not, that would be too obvious. “The evidence is indisputable that the weather is getting warmer.”  Well that may be you. I’m planning for a Cold Winter.


    Posted by Wand on 2008 04 28 at 04:08 PM • permalink

  5. Tim - you are being so last month.  Don’t you know Warming is old hat and it is all about Climate Change now?  A bob each way.

    Posted by brian_smaller on 2008 04 28 at 05:37 PM • permalink

  6. Snowed west of Sydney, in Orange and the Blue Mountains, last night.  Around 10cm or so in places. Coldest April night ever recorded.

    Cold in the old Steak ‘n Kidney this morning - ranges from 6oC to 10oC -  as the westerly winds bring with them the chill after blowing across all that snow.

    Bring on global warming!

    Posted by ann j on 2008 04 28 at 05:39 PM • permalink

  7. #4,
    Put another way, when it is unusually hot, it’s AGW, but when it’s unusually cold, “it’s the natural kinks and dips you see in weather patterns each year”.

    Posted by chrisgo on 2008 04 28 at 05:58 PM • permalink

  8. “This has less to do with global warming and more to do with the natural kinks and dips you see in weather patterns each year,” said Professor Matthew England, co-director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of NSW.

    Natural kinks and dips?  Is he talking about the GW jihadis?

    Posted by rinardman on 2008 04 28 at 06:11 PM • permalink

  9. And it’s currently snowing in Chicago. I didn’t know we were in the same hemisphere.

    Posted by JSchuler on 2008 04 28 at 06:25 PM • permalink

  10. This reminds me of one of my favourite quotes from Bob Dylan - “What global warming? It’s freezing here.”

    Posted by brucey bonus on 2008 04 28 at 07:14 PM • permalink

  11. And in other ground breaking research, Dr Benjamin Preston, a scientist with the CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, revealed that ‘Climate change will hurt poor and elderly most’.

    This year long study, the first of its kind, around Sydney has found: “Of 15 council areas, Rockdale and Botany Bay were identified as the most at risk from climate change impacts, including extreme heat, rising sea levels and flash flooding. Wealthier areas, such as Woollahra, Waverley, Warringah and Mosman, were the most capable of dealing with the dramatic effects.” 

    and

    “Wild weather caused by climate change will hit Sydney’s poor, elderly and least-educated hardest.”

    The print edition has an interesting table that ranks the exposure or each council area according to Extreme Heat, Rise in Sea Level, Extreme Rain, Bushfire and Ecosystems.

    No doubt the final report has some flowery conclusions but in plain English here’s my summary of the findings:

    1.  Hot areas in Sydney are areas where sea breezes or other cooling winds are lacking, hence they are in low lying heavily built up areas or in areas prone to fires (also see point 4 below).
    2.  If sea levels rise, low lying suburbs may get flooded.
    3.  Heavily built up suburbs may experience flash flooding from sudden downpours as the water overflows storm drains.
    4.  Suburbs built in areas surrounded by dense native bush may experience bush fires.
    5.  If they choose, wealthier people may purchase goods and services to offset heat (and cold - not stated of course).
    6.  Older people from lower socio-economic groups without resources can die from a heat wave (but more likely from cold - also not stated of course).


    Now I wonder if we already knew any of this stuff?

    Posted by Wand on 2008 04 28 at 07:24 PM • permalink

  12. ...because the evidence is indisputable that the weather is getting warmer.

    Reading that, I had a sudden flash of the scene in Eric the Viking where the people of Huy Braseal insist that the island is, in fact, not sinking as the water closes over their heads. This fellow would probably still be insisting that The Globe Is Warming if he were freezing to death in an April snowdrift.

    Posted by EdwardM on 2008 04 28 at 07:28 PM • permalink

  13. #1 mojo, we can do better than that.  We have places like Mt Desolation, Mt Terrible, Point Despair, Cape Disaster, Dismal this and that. Our outback maps are full of these sorts of names.
    Our 1800s original explorers didn’t know that under all the salt bush, dust and rocks we had some of the largest mine sites in the world.

    Posted by Barrie on 2008 04 28 at 07:39 PM • permalink

  14. #13, Barrie
    Yeah, but I was amused when checking on the weather in Michigan to watch Hell (pop. 266 - not 666) freeze over during the last winter storms.
    I wonder what whoever named Mt. Disappointment was hoping to see?

    Posted by SezaGeoff on 2008 04 28 at 07:57 PM • permalink

  15. Of course Cardinal Pell is a realist when it comes to climate. As a devout Catholic and Richmond supporter he has no room in his life for other whacky faiths.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 04 28 at 08:35 PM • permalink

  16. #11 Dr Benjamin Preston needs the money, good taxpayer funded jobs. Look for more with Rudd and Ms Wong, changing the climate.
    Did SMH Cubby House Earth Hour?
    Do any uptheres know any Gore sites?

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 04 28 at 08:37 PM • permalink

  17. The man-made global warming brigade can’t start blaming the weather for it being cold when they refused to blame the weather when it got warm. It was CO2 they said. We have more CO2 this year than last, yet it is cooler.

    The theory of man-made global warming has failed the test.

    Now I believe in global warming because I believe ice ages. If the world can cool enough for an ice age, why can’t it get warm enough to melt the ice caps? All man can do is adapt.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 04 28 at 08:56 PM • permalink

  18. It was the longest period of April rain in 77 Years, Tim.

    Posted by cyclosarin on 2008 04 28 at 09:13 PM • permalink

  19. Wasn’t too bad on the Gold Coast.  Didn’t really notice much coldness.  Must be all that insulation in the ceiling kicking in.  A well worth $3,000 investment.

    Ipf*kingswich was frozen as usual.  What a #$%%^hole of a “city”, weather wise.

    Posted by peter m on 2008 04 28 at 09:33 PM • permalink

  20. #17 Rudd will need to increase taxes to adapt.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 04 28 at 09:37 PM • permalink

  21. And it’s currently snowing in Chicago…

    Not in my zip code it isn’t (though we’re having cold, dank, nasty rain).  Though as JSchuler said, isn’t it odd that on opposite sides of the globe we’re having the same miserable weather.  I just hope it doesn’t freeze and kill the blossoms on our apple and pear trees.

    But really, isn’t it supposed to be cold in Oz this time of year?  You’re running up to winter, after all.

    Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2008 04 28 at 09:41 PM • permalink

  22. I just hope they’ve turned the heating off at the Lodge, because warming the place up produces so much CO2.

    Can’t have people producing gases that might warm us up when we are farking freezing.

    Posted by mr creosote on 2008 04 28 at 09:43 PM • permalink

  23. ManBearPig’s movie didn’t say anythin’ about this!! I want my money back.

    Posted by Shaky Barnes on 2008 04 28 at 09:49 PM • permalink

  24. One of the managers at my new job is off to Duluth, Minnesota for a few days. He’s less than thrilled, as it’s 0 degrees centigrade and they’re expecting “light snow.” At the end of April. I wonder when the glaciers are going to start advancing.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2008 04 28 at 10:06 PM • permalink

  25. #14 Sezajeff, the wife and I went through Hell two years ago. We were on a train travelling between Ostersund, Sweden and Trondheim in Norway. Part of the attraction in catching that train was so I could tell people I’d been through Hell.
    As for coldening, well up here on the sunny north coast midway between Sydney and Brisbane we took advantage of the sunny weather yesterday by strolling along our local beach and having a swim. Mind you, I went to boarding school in Orange NSW (mentioned in Tim’s post) - no carpets, windows wide open, up at the crack of dawn in the frost…......
    Makes me appreciate where I live now.

    Posted by Harold on 2008 04 28 at 10:23 PM • permalink

  26. #7
    Set against a 0.7C rise in the dodgey derived Global Mean Surface Air Temperature over a Century.

    What a bunch of f*cktards.

    Poster at Bolta’s re scientists reporting (often irresponsibly) perceived phenomena vs engineers dealing with reality.

    Kind of agrees with Ernest Rutherford: ‘Science is either physics or stamp collecting’ ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 28 at 10:39 PM • permalink

  27. Temperatures at Thredbo dropped to -4C and in Perisher to -2C, the coldest April days in the mountains for 30 years.

    IIRC the accommodation is c. 1300m and 1400m respectively.

    Further North here in the tablelands (1000-1400m) often competes with the Snowies for NSW overnight minima; was min. -2.8C last night and was min. -2.6C back on 4/4/08.

    So, getting a bit ‘fresh’ overnight; the unofficial yardstick is electric blanket usage c. ANZAC Day, but it’s been rather ‘fresh’ this year.

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 04 28 at 11:07 PM • permalink

  28. A record 96°F (35.5°C) in Los Angeles today. I haven’t heard any Globular Warmening Climate Changey tut-tutting yet, but I haven’t been watching the TV news shows. I expect the AGW cultists to focus on Southern California, however.

    A very pleasant and breazy 82°F at my place, for what it’s worth.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 04 28 at 11:57 PM • permalink

  29. just like you have the calm before the storm…so you also get the cold before the global warming.

    Posted by vinny on 2008 04 29 at 12:38 AM • permalink

  30. #29 - more like the brief warming we enjoyed before the global coldening that’s now descending upon us….

    Posted by Ubique on 2008 04 29 at 12:51 AM • permalink

  31. I believe that today Perth will have set a new record for April rainfall.

    Yoohooo . . . . Mr Flannery!

    Posted by Razor on 2008 04 29 at 02:53 AM • permalink

  32. #31 - Spot on.  Perth rainfall so far today has boosted the total for April to a record 152.4mm.  Previous record was 148.8mm set in 1926. 

    Incidentally, Perth’s highest maximum temperature for April was set in 1910 at 37.6 C.  It was the Edwardian mania for SUVs, air-conditioning and flat screen TVs that was responsible.

    Posted by Ubique on 2008 04 29 at 03:56 AM • permalink

  33. Obviously my 5.7 litre SV8 Commodore and Mrs Razor’s Volvo XC90 aren’t up to the job then!

    I know! I know! It’s a Volvo.  But it is a stinking big SUV Volvo. OK.  Nuff said.

    Maybe I should buy a horse and buggy and make methane.

    Posted by Razor on 2008 04 29 at 04:24 AM • permalink

  34. Stephen Schneider, one of the ‘fathers’ of the AGW hypothesis, in the early 70s after two decades of falling global temperature, was predicting an ice age due to the increase of human induced aerosols in the atmosphere.
    When, in the late 70s, it became apparent that the global temperature was on the rise, he revised his opinion to rising human induced CO2 would cause global warming.
    It seems Schneider (who is still an AGW activist), like his mates, is just an ardent misanthrope.
    But stand by, if the global temperature continues to fall, the focus will revert to human induced aerosols.

    Posted by chrisgo on 2008 04 29 at 06:38 AM • permalink

  35. Central Ohio wakes to snow this morning, showing the baleful effects of climate change.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2008 04 29 at 07:08 AM • permalink

  36. #34 normal change as climate alters.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 04 29 at 07:59 AM • permalink

  37. ot but related, vaclav klaus takes another thwack at the new religion

    linky

    Posted by KK on 2008 04 29 at 08:36 AM • permalink

  38. #21

    I haven’t seen snow either, but it is 34F.  I would swear I was wearing shorts last week.  Odd, that.

    Posted by the wolf on 2008 04 29 at 09:16 AM • permalink

  39. #3—well it is freezing here in Chicago.  I blame George Bush.

    Posted by Room 237 on 2008 04 29 at 09:52 AM • permalink

  40. AGW dissent crushed in the USA.

    Posted by Latino on 2008 04 29 at 12:09 PM • permalink

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