Last February was ninth warmest

Last February was ninth warmest month on record

By: Mike Leiby, The Independent
03/17/2009

Last February was the ninth warmest in 129 years of record keeping, according to information from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Preliminary data from an analysis by the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., indicates the combined global land and ocean surface temperature of 54.80 F degrees was nearly a full degree warmer than the 20th century mean temperature of 53.9.
Proof of a warmer than average February is clearly evident here in Arizona's high country. A drive to the nearby Mogollon Rim promises to greet visitors with numerous "lakes" and ponds that have sprouted up all across the rim due to early snow melt.
Bruce Sitko, Arizona Game and Fish Department information and education manager for the Pinetop region, said that while warmer February temperatures may be responsible for the ponds and small lakes popping up on the rim, the higher numbers of deer and elk motorists have been seeing along the highways is a leftover effect of the Rodeo-Chediski fire.
He said that the fire burned off some of the old-growth canopy that was inhibiting growth of the types of vegetation eaten by deer and elk. Since those areas formerly robbed of sunlight are now producing the foods deer and elk eat, it has resulted in a population increase of numbers unseen by AZGFD in 25 years.
Sitko said spring is typically the time of year motorists see and sometimes collide with deer and elk and the increased populations mean people need to be even more aware. He said key areas are from Heber/Forest Lakes to Payson, as well as from Show Low to Vernon.
"That area north of the highway from Show Low to Vernon has a lot of juniper growth that the elk like and they will cross from side to side in search of that food," Sitko said.
He said the area from Heber/Forest Lakes to Payson on State Route 260 is another area where deer (and some elk) find food sources and that is why the posted speed limit is between 45 and 55 miles per hour.
Motorists need to slow down in those areas to avoid hitting and either seriously injuring or killing wildlife that may be crossing or standing on the side of the road.
"When something like that happens, it's just a bad day for everyone," he said.
As for a record high average global temperature for February, Sitko said it has little to do with wildlife populations or movements in Arizona's high country.
The average global temperature on land alone in February was 39.38 degrees, nearly two degrees above the average during the previous 100 years.
The average temperature of the world's oceans was also nearly a full degree higher in February than during the 20th century, according to analysis data.
Satellite observations show that more than a quarter million square miles less snow cover fell in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 43 years.
Widely acknowledged as a major indicator of global weather trends, ice coverage in the Arctic sea during February, 2009 was at its fourth lowest extent since records began being kept in 1979.
Temperatures below the equator also indicated a warmer than average beginning of the year.
"Very hot, dry conditions affected southern Australia during the end of January and beginning of February. An intense heat wave Feb. 6 to 8 resulted in a high temperature of 119.8 degrees F at Hopetoun, Victoria, on Feb. 7, surpassing the previous record of 117.0 degrees F set in January, 1939.
"This is a state record and perhaps the highest temperature ever recorded for such a southerly latitude. The hot, dry conditions contributed to the development of Australia's deadliest wildfires in history," read a March 13 press release from NOAA.
Eight provinces in China suffered from the worst drought conditions in 50 years affecting more than four million people and more than 24 million acres of crops.
NOAA added that a strong winter storm dumped the most widespread heavy snows in the last 18 years on the United Kingdom (up to 12 inches in some places) on Feb. 2 causing such problems that it brought London to a virtual standstill.

* Reach the reporter at mleiby@wmicentral.com