meteorologist Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/30/bitter-cold-records-broken-in-alaska-all-time-coldest-record-nearly-broken-but-murphys-law-intervenes/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 http://wattsupwithth...law-intervenes/ Technically, a record can not be set with an electronic sensor as far as the WNO is concerned. You need to use a Mercury in glass maximum for high temperature records and an alcohol in glass thermometer for records below -40F ©. WRT to the comments following the article-the cold in Alaska has NOTHING to do with the existence or lack of AGW. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Technically, a record can not be set with an electronic sensor as far as the WNO is concerned. You need to use a Mercury in glass maximum for high temperature records and an alcohol in glass thermometer for records below -40F ©. WRT to the comments following the article-the cold in Alaska has NOTHING to do with the existence or lack of AGW. Steve Why can't they test an electronic sensor after the fact and determine what the actual air temperature was that produced the corresponding reading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsutherland1 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 From the NWS' statement, the thermometer in question was not suited for measuring readings below -40°. The dying battery likely led to its very low reading. That no other locations in Alaska reported temperatures even approaching the -79° reading is a strong indication that the thermometer's reading is very unlikely to have been accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewave Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Not an all time record low temperature but the coldest January on record in several locations. http://pafg.arh.noaa...AFG&type=public Betttles made it below -60 though. . Record low temperature set at Bettles AK... A record low temperature of -61 degrees was set at Bettles AK yesterday. This breaks the old record of -53 set in 1989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowman21 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Why can't they test an electronic sensor after the fact and determine what the actual air temperature was that produced the corresponding reading? They can use electronic sensors and test them after the fact. The NCDC and Maine state climatologist did just that after Maine set its state record low of -50 a few years ago. Electronic sensors do count since most reporting stations in the world are electronic/automated in some way. Even the co-ops are electronic now and have been for a while in many places to implement the auto-reset at midnight which is only practical with an electronic system. I believe the sensors used at ASOS stations are rated down to -112 (though ASOS software may reject a temperature that low and mark it as "missing" even if measured accurately), though I'm not 100% sure which sensors they are using these days, I assume they are one of the Vaisala models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sub_Zero Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Old Crow, Yukon, had a low of -63F a few nights ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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