JURE 1963 MONTHLY WEA-THER REVIEW 307 Correspondence THE UNUSUAL WEATHER OF JANUARY 1963
The unusual winter weather of 1962-63 has already found considerable comment. As always, when densely popiilated areas are struck by adverse weather conditions, there has been much speculation about climatic trends. Generally, however, the commentators Iorget to look at the broader picture. Often un...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1963
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.395.2830 http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/091/mwr-091-06-0307.pdf |
| Summary: | The unusual winter weather of 1962-63 has already found considerable comment. As always, when densely popiilated areas are struck by adverse weather conditions, there has been much speculation about climatic trends. Generally, however, the commentators Iorget to look at the broader picture. Often unusual anonialies are restricted to relatively small areas. In this connection it should be remembered that the area of the United States itself is only about 2 percent of the total surface of the earth. If one looks at the anomalies of individual months or seasons on a heinispherie or global basis, one generally finds a very marked tendency for compensation. If one area is too warm there will be equal or larger areas being too cold and vice versa. During the winter of 1962-63, January had the most unusual aspects of weather [I]. It would, therefore, seem appropriate to place into the scientific record an anomaly chart of temperatures ( " C.) (fig. 1). This shows the world-wide distribution of temperature departures from the 1931-60 normal. As has already been described, the central and eastern United States and most parts of central and western Europe had very notable negative temperature anomalies during this month. On the other hand, there were even larger areas which showed positive anomalies. Particularlj7 remarkable are the positive departures in the eastern Greenland-Baffin Strait area, the high positive values in central Russia and in the area of Kamchatka. Nearly the whole of the Pvrorth Pacific Ocean and considerable parts of the North Mantic also had positive anonialies. Jn the Southern Hemisphere, where data are sctme, the picture over the oceans is undoubtedly quite uncertain. No particularly notable anomalies were observed there; the chart ratslier presents the usual picture of a suiiimer month. |
|---|