NDG wrote:psyclone wrote:It's nice to see some local bay area mets are finally beginning to question the obs coming out of Tampa international airport. I've long viewed them as suspect now bordering on absurd. In such an observation rich environment I wonder why persistent statistical outliers were roundly accepted absent question. Now long overdue questions are being asked and hopefully someone digs up some answers and fixes whatever may be inaccurate. If you believe the obs (I'm now firmly in the "don't believe/something's wrong" camp) today's high of 96 breaks the all time high for October.
I wouldn't question it too much, offshore winds usually have the warmest effects closest to a body of water, add to it the heat island effect and it does not sound too way off. Every time I am in Tampa and I stay by the airport I do feel the difference of how warmer or hotter it is compared to areas just east of town. If it is off is probably by a degree or two, IMO.
I think it's more meaningful than that and other obs seem to back that up. it's been during the past 3 years that things seem to have really gone off the rails. whether the sensor was moved or development resulted in it being too close to runway/pavement...something has meaningfully inflated numbers. they simply no longer pass a horse sense test and someone needs to figure out what's going on. It's reached a point where i question the validity of many of the heat records the last 3 years. Even right now KTPA is running well ahead of every other ob in the bay area. Color me unsurprised.