In this week's Beyond the Data blog, Deke Arndt explains the climate behind this spring's prairie fires.
Beyond the Data Blog
A blog by the nation’s official climate record keepers.
Every one of the 357 climate divisions across the contiguous United States and Alaska ended up—at least—in the “warmer than normal” category. In this week's Beyond the Data blog, Deke Arndt explains why that's harder to do than it sounds.
Is El Niño the Marcia Brady of climate variability? In this week's Beyond the Data blog, Jake Crouch talks about whether El Niño played a starring role in this winter's climate.
In this week's Beyond the Data blog, NCEI's Deke Arndt explains how comparing a record-setting warm streak from 2015 to one in 1944 is like comparing the tallest player in the NBA to the tallest kid in 2nd grade.
If you're thinking of bemoaning today's weather, comfort yourself with some history: today's the anniversary of the most severe Northeast snowstorm in the historical record. Guest blogger Mike Squires talks about how the February 22-26, 1969, snowstorm ranks head and shoulders above any other storm to hit the region since records began in 1900.
When deciding if a snow event qualifies as a federal disaster, FEMA considers, among other things, how the event compares to previous snowstorms in the historical record. After spending a week going through those records, NECI's Deke Arndt talks about why snow can be the most difficult kid in the climate schoolroom.
In the midst of the mega snowstorm bearing down on the East, NCEI's Deke Arndt looks longingly back at December's warmth in his latest Beyond the Data blog.
This week, Beyond the Data looks at one of the more well-grounded “rules of thumb” for understanding climate change: cooler "things" are warming more quickly than warmer things.
When it comes to what causes climate to vary over seemingly short distances, few things can compare to the influence of topography. This week in Beyond the Data, Jake Crouch talks about how climate scientists account for topography in interpreting climate patterns and trends.
For those who are still waiting for winter's first snow, Deke Arndt blogs about using historical climate data to ballpark when it might arrive.