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• How much hotter is it than normal?
• How much hotter is it than the preceding record?
• How much hotter has it been the past 3 months than normal?
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Summary: Climate Thermometer compares current temperatures to normal and
extreme temperatures at airports throughout the world. It relates observed temperatures
every hour to the normal diurnal temperature cycle, and to record high and
low temperatures throughout the day. It gives the instantaneous departure of
current temperatures from that diurnal cycle. It also shows a monthly average
of those departures, for assessing the question of how much hotter it has been recently
than normal. This assessment relates directly to the issues of global warming and
climate change.
Temperatures in isolation don't tell you much. You need some reference
temperatures with which to compare, in order to determine if the current
temperature is about normal, much hotter than usual, or colder than average.
Being able to make the comparison is complicated by the fact that temperatures
vary in a daily cycle -- the "diurnal cycle" of temperature -- because of warming
every day by the sun and cooling at night. Weather records
will tell you that the high temperature for the day was 86 degrees, the low
45 degrees, and the average 62 degrees, but how does that relate to a
temperature of 76 degrees at 11:00 am? Is that hotter or colder than what
would be expected at that hour? From the three point temperatures, it is
very difficult to guess how the current temperature relates to the historical
record.
Climate Thermometer puts current temperatures in the context of the diurnal
cycle so you can tell. It relates what is happening now to what the
normal, record high, and record low temperatures are for that same time.
It presents the difference between the current and normal temperatures as a temperature
"departure" showing how many degrees hotter it is than normal -- in red -- or
colder than normal -- in blue. Here is an example for Phoenix, Arizona:
Climate Thermometer not only allows you to put the current temperature into the
proper perspective for the instant, but shows for the most recent two weeks
how the pattern of current temperatures has related to normal temperatures
and to record high and low temperatures. If the current-temperature curve
is generally near the normal curve, you have just seen normal temperatures. If
current temperatures start to bump up against the red dotted record highs, you know that
you have just encountered a period of near-record high temperatures for that date. A
similar pattern develops for record lows, as current temperatures approach or extend below
the blue dotted curve.
For either record highs or record lows, there will still be considerable variation
throughout the day. Nighttime temperatures during periods of record highs will be
considerably below the single-temperature "record high" for the day -- but if
you truly are encountering a period of record highs, will be above the record high curve
for that time of the day.
You just cannot get this information from isolated single temperature measurements. You
can't make the comparison. Climate Thermometer puts current temperatures in context
with period-of-record normal, high, and low temperatures throughout the day.
Climate Thermometer further addresses the question global warming poses: Has it generally
been hotter recently than normal? To answer this question, you want to ignore
the hourly and even daily temperature fluctuations and concentrate on a longer
average. Climate Thermometer presents this -- in green -- as an "average
departure" for the preceding three months, which is typically in the range of a degree or
two from normal. Having this average available tends to keep the assessment in
perspective: if you look at just a hot couple of days, you may have the impression that
temperatures are going off the chart. It is important to look at averages over
longer periods, as Climate Thermometer does with the average departure.
Climate Thermometer charts are available for airports throughout the world. Airports
are used because they have excellent current data and long-term records. Normal
temperatures and the record highs and lows correspond to the airport's historical
temperature record, which is typically 1950 to present.
For a list of available airports, click the following link:
Location List
Location maps are also available for accessing the charts by clicking one
of the following links:
Standard Density Location Maps
High Density Location Maps
For average global departures by world region, click the following link:
Global Departures
For a description of the world regions for temperature departures, click the following link:
Global Regions
For a brief explanation of the Climate Thermometer charts and their color coding, click the following link:
Chart Explanation
A program to display airports of choice cyclically is available for downloading by
clicking the following link. To use the program, save it to your PC and execute it
locally.
Cyclic Display Program
Contacts:
Hymet
Creative Methods
Translations of the entire site are available by clicking the following links:
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