- Appendix A1-
I. The U.S. Heat Wave of July 2010:
President Obama's frequent exhortation, "We must pass energy legislation to fight climate change," is hyperbole.
Humans can do nothing to change Earth's climate. Charlatans, hucksters, politicians and the media point to
extreme weather events and new climate records as evidence that man's activities influence climate. Damage and
loss of life caused by weather is directly related to increasing population densities and encroachment on flood
plains. Climate records are being broken constantly. A recent example is the East Coast heat wave of July
2010:
Temperatures were much above normal for the eastern U.S. Rhode Island, Delaware and several major East Coast
cities experienced warmest July temperatures on record. New York City measured the highest July temperature
ever recorded on the day that Queen Elizabeth paid her respects at the 9-11 Memorial. In frustration, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg complained, "Global warming has the potential to kill everybody." Mayor Bloomberg is one of
the most successful financier, businessman, politicians of all time. How could he be so wrong? If he can be
duped by climate change lunatics, anyone can. The mayor was not alone in blaming manmade carbon for the
extreme temperatures. The media promoted the same fallacy. All were wrong. Global warming had nothing to do
with rewriting the climate records for New York City. An unusual combination of typical weather events caused
the record temperatures.
NOAA/NASA imagery and cloud motion computations reveal the sequence of events responsible for the East Coast
heat wave of July 2010:
A. Hurricane Alex-
1. Hurricane Alex, a Category 2 storm, made landfall in Mexico on June 30, 2010. Gale force and stronger
surface winds over unusually warm water caused vast amounts of moisture to evaporate from the Gulf of Mexico
and Caribbean Sea. Surface moisture, when lifted by upward flowingl winds, became ice, snow and rain in the
clouds color coded red, orange and yellow (Cloud tops are color coded by height). Heat from condensation
accumulated over the storm at high altitudes. As a result, massive amounts of heat were transferred from the
surface to high altitudes.
2. At high altitude, a huge dome of tropical warm air, generated by Hurricane Alex, outlined by W, is traced by
winds flowing clockwise around the storm from the Pacific Ocean to Cuba.
(Wind vectors are computed from cloud motions. Details of the wind chart are not important here, but for the
sake of interest, blue wind velocities are derived from cloud motions between 5 and 10 miles high. Green wind
velocities are from 2 to 5 miles high. Red vectors are from the surface to 2 miles high. A single wind barb
represents 10 kts. A single pennant is 50 kts.)
3. A cold front moves into position to transfer Alex's warm air Poleward. Cold fronts are boundaries between cold
and warm air. Air moves upward at the front causing snow, ice and rain to form in precipitating clouds. Air
rising in the front becomes sinking air ahead of the front. Sinking air warms and dries out preventing cloud cover
and precipitation from cooling the land. In clear air, the sun bakes the surface.
4. The temperature contrast at the front creates strong winds over the front. High altitude winds, flowing along
the front, exhaust heat of condensation from cloud tops. These heated winds turn clockwise creating a dome of
warm air ahead of the front. Warm-air from Alex is bulging northeastward and sliding over the cold front's warm
air dome.
5. Surface winds from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, turning clockwise over the U.S., carry unusually
high temperature and high humidity air. The high altitude warm domes formed by the cold front and by Hurricane
Alex allow the sun to shine through and increase the land temperature.
6. The warm air, exhausted from Hurricane Alex, at high altitude, lies over heated air from cold front cloud tops.
The combination is so much warmer than surrounding air that clockwise flow has doubled back on itself. The
entire air column is compressed and heated. It dries out preventing clouds from forming. The sun bakes the
surface. The heat wave over asphalt and concrete canyons of major east coast cities reaches record-breaking high
temperatures.
B. Tropical Storm Bonnie-
1. Two weeks after the high temperature records were established in East Coast cities more records were set.
Steamy high temperature and high humidity surface winds flow from the Tropics through the Midwest to the East
Coast.
2. Tropical Storm Bonnie's warm tropical air reinforces sinking air from a cold front. The combination is
enclosed by clockwise flow. This warm dome prevents clouds and precipitation from cooling the land. The sun
shines through clear air and bakes the land. Record temperatures are again recorded in major East Coast cities.
- 3. Tropical Storm Bonnie is making landfall over Mississippi as a remnant low. Heat of condensation, from
cloud tops of powerful frontal thunderstorms, is picked up by the front's thermal winds. These warm
winds turn clockwise, double back and surround the warm air dome (See previous panel). What goes up
must come down. So the warm air dome sinks. As air sinks it is compressed, warms further and dries
out. (Note the smooth cloud boundary south of the front.) Cooling cloud cover and precipitation are
suppressed. The sun shines through clear air to the surface where high humidity air has been exported
from the Gulf of Mexico. Another oppressive heat wave results. The cold front moves south and
terminates the heat wave.
- SUMMARY:
Man made global warming was not responsible for the July 2010 heat wave that set high temperature
records in several major East coast cities. An unusual combination of typical weather events (Hurricane
Alex, Tropical Storm Bonnie, high altitude anticyclones warm domes] and a cold front) broke the high
temperature climate records. The warm air that raised record temperatures, originated over the Gulf of
Mexico, Caribbean Sea and West Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream and Gulf Loop Current raised water
temperatures. There are few sources of man made greenhouse gases (GHG) over these waters. Hurricane
Alex would have blown away any GHG in the region.
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