Extremes mirrored 2006 temperatures

Preliminary data shows global temperatures for 2007 were similar to those of 2006. The peak of the Earth’s warming came in 1998, but readings since that year have been close to 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit well above the 30-year mean average temperature near 57 degrees.

Although global temperatures may have permanently or temporarily leveled off over the past few years, carbon dioxide levels have risen dramatically. Since 1960, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose from 315 parts per million to 390 ppm. That number is expected to climb in coming years.

There’s no doubt that 2007 was another year filled with wide weather extremes. Worldwide, January 2007 was the warmest first month in recorded history. The global temperature averaged 1.53 degrees above normal. This year will probably be the warmest in the Northern Hemisphere’s history. England also had its warmest April in history.

More than 10,000 weather records were tied or broken in the U.S. in 2007. More than 60 percent were warm weather records, about 20 percent were cold temperature extremes and the other 20 percent were precipitation records. Since the U.S. comprises about 2 percent of the Earth’s total land mass, it’s possible that several hundred thousand weather records were tied or broken for 2007 across the globe. Unfortunately, reliable weather data outside of the U.S. is difficult to obtain. For more information, go to www.ExtremeWeather Records.com. A weekly display of U.S. weather records is also printed next to the weather page in Tuesday’s Spokesman-Review.

In addition to extreme temperatures, there was plenty of other interesting weather across the globe in 2007. A rare tornado struck New York City last August. An unusual cyclone struck the Middle East, hitting Iran and Oman. Huge droughts plagued the southeastern U.S. and Southern California as Los Angeles had the driest year (July 2006 through June 2007) ever recorded. Australia also suffered through one of its worst droughts. By contrast, China and parts of England endured record rains and flooding. Last January, $1.42 billion worth of California produce was lost to a devastating five-day freeze. In April, a killer freeze destroyed 95 percent of South Carolina’s peach crop.

Here in the Inland Northwest, we saw plenty of heat, cold and precipitation records for 2007, with Washington setting 473 weather records. There were 159 high-temperature extremes and 68 low-temperature records either broken or tied. The hottest temperature was 110 degrees at Walla Walla on July 5. Spokane observed a record 101 degrees on July 5. The lowest reading was at Boundary Dam with a frigid 1 degree on Dec. 11. In Idaho, there were 258 extremes reported with 107 of them as new record high-temperature records and 29 as new low-temperature extremes.

La Niña, the cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event, continues to maintain its strength. As a result, the storm door is wide open across much of the western U.S. Between now and early April, we should see another 2 to 3 feet of snow in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas. There should be at least an added 200 inches in the nearby mountains.

I expect warmer than normal temperatures in early January, but some of that record cold bottled up in Alaska and Canada should make it into our area by the middle to the end of January. Don’t be surprised to see readings near or below the zero mark as this period should be the coldest of the winter season.