■It was the warmest March on record for the contiguous United States, a record that dates back to 1895.
■The average temperature of 51.1 degrees F was 8.6 degrees F above the 20th century average for March and 0.5 degrees F warmer than the previous warmest March in 1910.
■Of the more than 1,400 months that have passed since the U.S. record began, only one month, January 2006, saw a larger departure from its average temperature than March 2012.
The March craziness was due to a persistent weather pattern that put a kink in the jet stream and kept cold away from the eastern two-thirds of the Lower 48. This pattern formed a cut-off low: an atmospheric eddy, like an oxbow in a river, visible in the swirl of winds around Dallas.
Nature's exuberant smashing of daily high temperature records in recent weeks can only be described as "Meteorological March Madness". Conditions more fitting of June than March prevailed east of the Rocky Mountains since the start of the month. The numbers are stunning.... NOAA's National Climate Data Center reported that over 7000 daily record high temperatures were broken over the U.S. from 1 March thru 27 March.
The same pattern brought cooler-than-average conditions to the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Nevertheless:
■Every state in the nation experienced a record warm daily temperature during March.
■Preliminary data show 15,272 warm temperature records broken (7,755 daytime records, 7,517 nighttime records).
■Hundreds of locations across the country broke their all-time March records.
■There were an unbelievable 21 instances of nighttime temperatures being as warm, or warmer, than the existing record daytime temperature for that date.
It wasn't only about temperature either. Precipitation was anomalous throughout much of the country too - really wet or really dry compared to the 1981-2010 average, with not a whole lot in between. In fact the entirety of the so-called cold season that spanned October 2011 to March 2012 was whack. According to NOAA's US Climate Extremes Index (USCEI) — which tracks the highest and lowest 10 percent of extremes in temperature, precipitation, drought, and tropical cyclones across the contiguous US — 38 percent of the contiguous US racked up the second highest USCEI rank on record:
■A record 100 percent of the Northeast and Upper Midwest regions were walloped by extremes in both warm maximum and warm minimum temperatures.
■Between 90 and 100 percent of the Ohio Valley and the Southeast experience record extreme temperatures between October 2011 and March 2102.
and that can be sort of marvelous.**
Julian Fellowes
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday -
4/11/12 -
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.2 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.2 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
8.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.4 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.4 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
8.6 OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
6.3 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.8 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.5 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.2 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.2 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.2 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.3 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.7 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.3 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
7.0 MICHOACAN, MEXICO
5.5 OFF COAST OF OREGON
5.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.3 BANDA SEA
5.0 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
Massive Indonesian quakes cause global panic, but no tsunami - Indonesia said it was checking for damage and casualties but remarkably, no such reports had been received for several hours after the quakes, including in Aceh, the closest province and the area decimated by the 2004 disaster eight years ago.
Two massive earthquakes triggered back-to-back tsunami warnings for Indonesia on Wednesday, sending panicked residents fleeing to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. The US Geological Survey said the first 8.6-magnitude quake was a shallow 22 kilometers (14 miles), hitting in the sea 270 miles (435 kilometers) from Aceh's provincial capital.
The quake was in roughly in the same area as a December 26, 2004, quake of 9.1 magnitude, which sent huge tsunami waves crashing into Sumatra and across the Indian Ocean. In all, the 2004 tsunami killed about 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. One expert said the Wednesday quake was a "strike-slip" fault, meaning a more horizontal shift of the ground under the sea as opposed to a sudden vertical shift, and less risk of a large displacement of water triggering a tsunami.
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon on Wednesday and was followed a minute later by a smaller quake off the coast of central California.
Strong quake shakes Mexico, no major damage - The US Geological Survey said the 6.5 magnitude quake struck in the western state of Michoacan at a depth of 12.4 miles. The epicenter was 238 miles west-southwest of Mexico City.
Today in Earthquake History - April 12, 1998 - 5.7, Slovenia – One person died of a heart attack at Bovec, Slovenia. In the Bovec-Kobarid area, Slovenia, damage to buildings and landslides left 700 people homeless. Minor damage at Arnoldstein, Austria. Felt strongly throughout Slovenia and northeastern Italy. Felt throughout Austria and in parts of Croatia, Germany and Hungary.
VOLCANOES -
Red alert over possible eruption of central Colombia Nevado del Ruiz volcano - Authorities declared a red alert in areas downstream the central Colombia Nevado del Ruiz volcano Sunday amid growing concerns an eruption is imminent.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Sea level 'rising fastest in SW Pacific' - Southern Australia and nearby Pacific nations are likely to be the most seriously affected in the world by the continuing rise in sea levels, according to new research. Since the late 19th century the sea level in the southwest Pacific has risen about 20 centimetres with the fastest rate occurring in the early decades of the 20th century. Sea levels around the world rose at an average rate of 1.5 millimetres a year since 1880, but studies of tidal marshes in Tasmania show a rise of 4.2mm a year between 1900 and 1950.
"Sea levels in Tasmania remained relatively stable for much of the past 6000 years, but around 1880 they started rising drastically." A jump in sea levels occurred after 1990. "The rise in 1910 probably reflects the end of the little ice age, when temperatures were about one to two degrees cooler in the northern hemisphere than today. The 1990s peak is most likely indicative of human-induced climate change." Debate exists over whether the increasing depths of the oceans is a result of thermal expansion of existing water or the melting of ice.
Research suggests the earth has been free of ice at various periods during its existence, at which times sea levels could have been as much as 90-100 metres higher than today. The comparatively higher levels in the southwest Pacific are the result of melting ice in the northern hemisphere. "A large ice-melt is like a fingerprint. When such a significant mass shifts around the earth's surface we can detect its movement. Based on this, it appears likely that the primary source of sea level rise in the southern hemisphere is the Greenland Ice Sheet, but also mountain glaciers in Alaska, western North America and the Canadian Arctic."
