BOM Hypes - And Hypes

On Monday, 7th January, 2013 in a Post entitled "So - July 2012 Was NOT Hottest Month In US History:" I made reference to our very own Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) possibly/probably/likely to play loosely with the truth
when matters of CAGW are at the fore.  Gravy-trains, funding security playing
a role - perchance?

Behold!  Exhibit A for 2013

Please click the link to see the pretty little pictures accompanying this article.

If next Sunday and/or Monday, national temperatures exceed the norm,  I will apologise to BOM on this Blog, provided I am satisfied the figures haven't been fiddled with - and that may present a bit of a challenge to BOM..

I am sure it doesn't escape the more intelligent readers that Australia by her very nature can be blisteringly hot during January and February.  What is annoying - and misleading - is hyping up this fact as something unusual, out of the ordinary.  It isn't.

At the moment, a compliant MSM seems to be hyperventilating themselves into what should be permanently affixed brown paper bags.  Yes, it's been hot and yes, Australia is again afflicted with bushfires.  It happens just about every year.  Perhaps most MSM journalists reporting on bushfires and the state of the Nation's thermometre via radio, television and print should be sent to Research Re-education Camp for a few months.  Foaming at the mouth and scaring the poultry is not nice!
......................................................


Now you see it, now you don't: weather bureau backtracks from 50-plus forecast
Date
January 9, 2013 - 11:47AM
775 reading nowRead later

Peter Hannam
Carbon economy editor

Birdsville heat is 'just incredible'
Thongs melt to the bitumen in Birdsville in far-west Queensland with temperatures approaching 48 degrees making it feel like "sticking your head in a fan forced oven".

Blistering heatwaves are here to stay
Sticky night turns to cool morning
'Severe' fire warnings for Hunter region
Deep purple’s run on the weather charts may have been short-lived.

Just a day after the Bureau of Meteorology extended its palette range to cope with the country’s unprecedented heatwave, the zones of purple – representing 50-52 degrees – have disappeared from forecast charts for the next few days.

Purple vanishes in the haze ... the new Bureau of Meteorology's interactive weather forecasting.
Weather projections made more than a few days out are, by their nature, less reliable, said Aaron Coutts-Smith, NSW manager for climate services at the bureau.

Predictions on Tuesday by the bureau’s model that parts of the inland would exceed 50 degrees next Sunday and Monday were "a little too emphatic", he said on Wednesday.

That’s not to say Australia’s massive heatwave is showing much sign of cresting - and the colour scheme remains an option if the mercury breaks the 50-degree point at any of the bureau's sites.


Deep purple ... the Bureau of Meteorology's interactive weather forecasting chart added new colours but they have since disappeared. Photo: Bureau of Meteorology
The country posted a record average maximum on Monday of 40.33 degrees and although the latest indications suggest Tuesday’s tally may have fallen short of setting a new peak, it will likely be among the top handful of hottest days on record.

And while coastal areas, particularly in the south-east will see some relief to the extreme heat and fire conditions, the giant heat cell over central Australia has days to run.

“We’re not anticipating any significant clearing of that hot air,” Dr Coutts-Smith said.

Forecasters expect Sunday and Monday to provide the next chance of 50-plus degrees – and for the possible appearance of that new purple shade to the country’s observed weather charts, not just the forecast maps.

Ben McBurney, a meteorologist at Weatherzone, says outback towns ranging from Bourke and Cobar in NSW to Moomba, Oodnadatta and Marree in South Australia are all candidates to reach 50 degrees in coming days.

“There’s potential for Bourke to reach 48-49 degrees and may get to 50 degrees on Sunday or Monday,” Mr McBurney said, “which is quite scary when you think of it.”

For now, the weather bureau is taking a more conservative approach, with Bourke predicted to hit 45, 46, and 46 degrees on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before easing back to a maximum of 42 on Monday.

Other high temperature forecasts from the bureau  include 48 on Sunday for Moomba and Marree.

Australia's record maximum is 50.7 degrees reached at Oodnadatta Airport on January 2, 1960, while the highest for NSW was set at Menindee Post Office on January 10, 1939 at 49.7 degrees.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-weather-bureau-backtracks-from-50plus-forecast-20130109-2cfm5.html#ixzz2HR4vmGgu