Record warmth at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet
The coldest place in Greenland, and often the entire Northern Hemisphere, is commonly the Summit Station. Located at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, 10,551 feet (3216 meters) above sea level, and 415 miles (670 km) north of the Arctic Circle, Summit rarely sees temperatures that rise above the freezing mark. In the 12-year span 2000 - 2011, Summit temperatures rose above freezing only four times, according to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera. But remarkably, over the past week, temperatures at Summit have eclipsed the freezing mark on five days, including four days in a row from July 11 - 14. There are actually three weather stations located at the location--Summit, Summit-US, and Summit AWS. The highest reliable temperature measured at any of the three stations is now the 3.6°C (38.5°F) measured on Monday, July 16, 2012 at Summit-US. A 4.4°C reading at Summit in May, 2010 is bogus, as can be seen by looking at the adjacent station. Similarly, a 3.3°C reading from June 2004 is also bad. Records at Summit began in 1987.
Video 1. A 20-ton tractor attempting to repair a bridge washed out by the raging Watson River on July 11, 2012 in Kangerlussauaq, Greenland gets washed downstream. The driver escaped unharmed. Image taken from an article, Warm air over the ice sheet provides great drama in Greenland, at the Danish Meteorological Institute's web site.
Record heat leads to major flooding in Greenland
The record heat has triggered significant melting of Greenland's Ice Sheet. According to the Arctic Sea Ice Blog, on July 11, glacier melt water from the Russell Glacier flooded the Watson River, smashing two bridges connecting the north and south of Kangerlussuaq (Sønder Strømfjord), a small settlement in southwestern Greenland. The flow rate of 3.5 million liters/sec was almost double the previous record flow rate. The latest forecast for Summit calls for cooler conditions over the coming week, with no more above-freezing temperatures at Summit.
Another huge iceberg calves off of Greenland's Petermann Glacier
A massive ice island two times the size of Manhattan and half as thick as the Empire State Building calved off of Greenland's Petermann Glacier on Monday, July 16, 2012. According to Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment in his Icy Seas blog, the break-off point has been visible for at least 8 years in satellite imagery, and has been propagating at 1 km/year towards Nares Strait. The same glacier calved an iceberg twice as big back on August 4, 2010--the largest iceberg observed in the Arctic since 1962. The freshwater stored in that ice island could have kept the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years, or kept all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days. “While the size is not as spectacular as it was in 2010, the fact that it follows so closely to the 2010 event brings the glacier’s terminus to a location where it has not been for at least 150 years,” Muenchow said in a university press release. “Northwest Greenland and northeast Canada are warming more than five times faster than the rest of the world, but the observed warming is not proof that the diminishing ice shelf is caused by this, because air temperatures have little effect on this glacier; ocean temperatures do, and our ocean temperature time series are only five to eight years long — too short to establish a robust warming signal.”
Figure 1. The calving of a massive 46 square-mile iceberg two times the size of Manhattan from Greenland's Petermann Glacier on July 14 - 18, 2012, as seen using MODIS satellite imagery. Image credit: NASA.
Figure 2. Look familiar? Two years ago, a 100 square-mile ice island broke off the Petermann Glacier. It was the largest iceberg in the Arctic since 1962. Image taken by NASA's Aqua satellite on August 21, 2010. Image credit: NASA. I've constructed a 7-frame satellite animation available here that shows the calving and break-up of the Petermann Glacier ice island. The animation begins on August 5, 2010, and ends on September 21, with images spaced about 8 days apart. The images were taken by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.
Related posts
Unprecedented May heat in Greenland; update on 2011 Greenland ice melt
Greenland update for 2010: record melting and a massive calving event
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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In case you missed it.
"The results show that not all weather events are created equal. When it comes to things like flood and droughts, most people seem to have accurately registered the recent trends in their area. But when the subject shifts to temperatures, the actual trends become irrelevant, and ideology and political beliefs shape how people perceive things. As the authors put it, "the contentious nature of the climate change debate has influenced the way in which Americans perceive their local weather."
Flash Flood Watch
Statement as of 3:37 PM CDT on July 19, 2012
... Flash Flood Watch in effect through Friday evening...
The National Weather Service in New Orleans has issued a
* Flash Flood Watch for portions of southeast Louisiana and
southern Mississippi... including the following areas... in
southeast Louisiana... northern Tangipahoa... Orleans...
southern Tangipahoa... St. Charles... St. John The Baptist...
St. Tammany... upper Jefferson... upper Plaquemines... upper St.
Bernard and Washington. In southern Mississippi... Hancock...
Harrison... Jackson... Pearl River... Pike and Walthall.
* Through Friday evening
* efficient tropical type rains will be capable of producing
rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour at times this afternoon
and evening. A similar scenario is expected to develop once
again Friday. General rainfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches is
expected with locally higher amounts of 6 to 8 inches possible
through Friday evening in the watch area.
* Torrential heavy rains will produce rapid ponding of water.
Drainage canals and ditches may fill to bankfull during periods
of torrential rains. Some roadways will come impassible.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
A Flash Flood Watch means that conditions may develop that lead
to flash flooding. Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation.
You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action
should flash flood warnings be issued.
Do not drive into areas where water covers the roadway. Do not
drive around any barricades posted by local officials.
Just mess'in with you Pat.
Fouled up my image links. Didn't miss much: skipped the biting political/oil/environmental messages.
My taste in humor bends toward the absurdist.
inre 796 WxGeekVA: More HERE
HIGHLY recommended reading for everybody.
903 CaicosRetiredSailor: If ya can't take the heat, stay outa the kitchen...
Throughout Earth's history, Co2 and greenhouse particulates have covered us causing ice formation, ice meltdown. Asteroids, volcanoes, sea methane bubble-ups, everything that could be thrown at our atmosphere has been. This change has been ~beneficial for the mammals, less so for the rest.
What has not EVER happened is the loss of water in Earth's water cycle. That's a new (~75 yr) phenomenom.
Or, rather, our water being entrapped in human infrastructure - concrete, housing, people, crops, cars, lawns, septic tanks, ponds, sewage treatment plants, you get the idea.
The Earth has less water to work with, and less to snow down on the Arctic and Antarctic.
Who plans to create more water out of our hydrogen and oxygen atmosphere?
"The authors conclude that climate change has become perceived as a form of cultural affiliation for most people: their acceptance of it is mostly a way of reinforcing their ties to the political and ideological communities they belong to."
Kind of explains how people who claim that climate is not important spend so much time posting about it.
Hmmm, hmmm?
Chucktown said it and yoboi agreed.
Unfortunately, the rainfall near the Slidell area was under-estimated by the radar, which is common for areas within the nearest 30-40 miles or so. There should probably be a decent swath of 3-4" with isolated higher amounts centered over Slidell.
From now on we will see if this wave can remain strong or it caves to the Sal. What it may do is to clean the path for the waves that will come behind.
120 hours in
No, but I'm sure all the employee's at Burger King, Dominoes, and Sports Authority are thankful for their employment.
Probably the second, if a another wave were closer to it inland I would be like, dude! The one behind it has a chance! XD
And how much water do you think that might be?
Oh, and a Pair o dem Nike's Size 10 to go please?
TFP fell off the map for that moisture heading our way.
No worries. I know when the GOM's going to do something just in time to roll up my truck's windows.
Click for larger image:
...or a breadbasket case, if you will...
sure thing that will be $20,000 at the next window plzs
Dunno - look at any landmass on the planet and figure what populations therein have recently done to lockup water out of their atmosphere in infrastructure.
Hint: start with developing nations.
I don't see any racist comments?
By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger | Shine Food Wed, Jul 18, 2012 12:37 PM EDT
Ever feel like nothing is secret any more because of the Internet? You may be right. It took 4Chan users only 15 minutes to track down and bust the Cleveland-area Burger King employee who stood on top of two containers of shredded lettuce and then posted a picture of the gross act. 4Chan is a bulletin board-type website where members post images and comments.
"This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King," wrote the unnamed employee on the evening of July 16. Guess he thought that was funny. Other users weren't laughing: according to Hypervocal.com, Anonymous, the notorious vigilante hacking group, used GPS data embedded in the photo to locate the fast food restaurant's address and reportedly contacted the franchise and FoxNews8. "Whoever this is is getting fired," a morning shift manager named Andrea, told the Cleveland Scene.
My son is in Missouri ...has been blistering there! And he's a Houston boy!
I like it coming this way redwagon ...been in a rainy mood lately
Something is wrong on your prediction :) the sentence is in double sense lol
Makes me real sit and wonder about what we are morally becoming as a nation. Seriously ...someone thought this was funny? And we sit around and wonder why jobs are going elsewhere (not that you can export BK jobs) but what has happened to integrity and pride??? Shaking my head in shame
nah, my fault..I saw something but it was later clarified..trust..I dont like implications made even in subtlety..
?
000
ABNT20 KNHC 191738
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
200 PM EDT THU JUL 19 2012
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
$$
FORECASTER AVILA/SISKO
Nobody's answered me, can we create more precipitable water in our troposphere using hydrogen and oxygen?
Sorry. Grothar's gonna hafta translate that from Scandahoovian.
Amen washington ...my kids werent raised like this either. But it is so frustrating to watch this happening ...we are are own worst enemy
Wish that I had an answer for ya
?
Indeed.
All you need is 3 SSME's, or Space Shuttle Main Engines..
And oh, 500,000 gals of LOX and Hydrogen and a 8 Min depletion rate and bingo, a Shower or Thunderstorm can be produced.
We use to see that all the time at Stennis Space Center where every shuttle engine was test fired.
Anything else?
Final Space Shuttle Main Engine Test @ Stennis Space Center
i remember seeing some nasty stuff when i worked in a few grease spoons in my younger days
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