utpmg wrote:weatherdude1108 wrote:Jim Spencer, the local weathercaster in Austin mentioned yesterday that the high was 95 at Camp Mabry ( I think 95?). He mentioned in passing that there's no reason for it to be 95 degrees after the inches of rain we received, and how it shows the effects of warming coming within a degree of the record, or something like that. Can't remember exactly what he said.
I was a little skeptical of what he mentioned, just because it seemed like he jumped to a conclusion based on the main-stream media bias towards warming. Not to say background warming isn't happening to an extent, but I was thinking in my head that Camp Mabry is surrounded by concrete in the area, especially the expanded Mopac thoroughfare, and if the wind blows right, that hotter air could hit the sensors and skew them towards a higher reading.
But playing the other side, I know Bergstrom was about the same temperature, and they tend to be cooler.
It could have been an odd day atmospherically(?). Not denying or playing alarmist, just thought it was an interesting blurb he decided to throw in there. So hard to figure out what's real and what's hyped anymore.
All I know is I'm looking forward to more rain!
Surely the amount of pavement at Bergstrom dwarfs that near Mabry; also isn't the temperature station in the middle? Mabry is a pretty green area, like a big park. Bergstrom is surrounded by pavement.
Actually there are all kinds of problems with what Jim Spencer asserts as the reasoning for the warmth at Camp Mabry. Jim is a very good TV meteorologist but he is also obsessed with climate change and global warming. It is constantly in his comments and online presence. His assertion about the weather Tuesday in Austin is ... well, I couldn’t disagree more with him.
Anyone who lives in Austin and has a good car outside temp gauge and drives up and down Mopac will see daily that the temperature near Camp Mabry is always several degrees warmer than places on Mopac roughly 1-2 miles south or north of Camp Mabry. I have personally witnessed this phenomenon more times than I remember. And the impact is most pronounced during the heating of a sunny day. Furthermore, Mopac has three sides to it that are nothing but buildings, roads, concrete, and steel. Only the areas west of Mabry have some vegetation and not as much urban sprawl. I’ve even gotten confirmation of this “effect” from several well known mets here in town besides our friend Jim.
Bergstrom airport? My friends, the ASOS site there is in a river valley. That is why KAUS often records new low temp records on mornings where the rest of the metro are about 5-8 degrees warmer. Outside of the runways and airport buildings themselves, the general location is in a spot which frequently demonstrates the type of cooling that is maximized on cold, clear evenings. The amount of concrete/steel/buildings is much more dense around Mabry than it is at the airport.