Coldest April on Record Satellite over Pacific Northwest – Is it up because of that?
From the Cliff High Volume Weather Blog
Dr. Cliff Mass
Friend known It’s colder than usual over the Pacific Northwest in April.
But the cold isn’t just limited to the surface. Let me show you the cold story in a very new way: using vertical satellite temperature sound.
By measuring the infrared or microwave radiation emitted by the atmosphere, satellites can measure how the temperature changes vertically. Unlike how infrared ear thermometers work by sensing the radiation coming from your eardrum!
Here is the difference from the normal for April temperatures at the lowest 10 km (33,000 ft) of the atmosphere, with the normal being the average from 1991 to 2020.
Blue is cooler than usual and yellow/orange is warmer than usual. This map and related data was provided by Professor John Christy of the University of Alabama, a renowned expert in this work.
The coldest (different from normal) temperature anomalies on the entire planet are found in the Pacific Northwest, with deviations from normal exceeding 2.5 degrees Celsius! (4.5F). One shot for the Northwest is shown below.
Slightly better in eastern WA, with Pasco’s temperatures hitting normal highs twice this month.
And now the really sad news for lovers of warmth. Central Europe’s latest community forecast for the next ten days predicts several times colder than usual temperatures in the region.
No wonder my tomato plants are not happy……