It's cold here, but down under, Potito Starace of Italy pours water to cool down during a break as he plays Tatsuma Ito of Japan during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
This morning was cold. Way colder than I thought it was going to be. And drizzling. So, generally, it was a pretty gross morning compared to the temperate and sunny weather we’ve been used to.
Like I mentioned earlier this week though, it won’t stay long. The weather has been all over the place this month. Cold, drizzle-y and dreary today…Sunny and 60s Sunday.
I don’t know. Maybe it was forecast to be like this today. I can’t keep it all straight anymore.
But, enough about that. Please allow me to be predictable as I talk once again about 2011. Even typing those numbers in that sequence anymore makes my hands ache.
The National Climatic Data Center just released its
look at 2011. Turns out last year was the 11th warmest on record, since 1880. Last year tied with 1997 with an annual global combined land and ocean surface temperature 0.92 degrees above the 20th Century average (which is 57 degrees).
A note on warm temperatures comes from Antarctica, where an all time record high temperature was recorded last month. It was 9.9 degrees and happened on Christmas Day.
The NCDC pointed the finger at La Nina, at least which went back in her cage in the spring before busting out again in the fall. Of La Nina years, the 2011 global surface temperature was the warmest observed.
While we were plagued by drought in the southern United States, it was actually a pretty wet year on average. In fact, it was the second wettest year on record behind 2010. But, the obvious caveat is that the precipitation was widely varied across the globe. Drought persisted here and in the Horn of Africa, but it was the third wettest year in Australia’s history.
It’s a great report that has bursting at the seams with great information. If that’s your thing, dive on in!
And now for something completely different: A co-worker requested I throw in some
fishing reports for Oklahoma, since he will be spending the weekend at the lake, that jerk. Well, tomorrow it will be cold (good). Sunny, but highs in the mid 40s. Sunday is low 60s and partly sunny but windy. Gusts as high as 30s. Hope it blows him in the water.
--Jerry Wofford
