Florida Cold Winter Of 2009-2010

The NOAA press release on the past winter in central Florida is of interest, as it was an extreme climate event.  The new release is titled

ONE OF THE COLDEST ASTRONOMICAL WINTERS SINCE RECORDS BEGAN

The article starts with the text (they present in capital letters)

“FOR MUCH OF THE ASTRONOMICAL WINTER (DEC 21-MAR 19) THE REGION EXPERIENCED MUCH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THESE COOL READINGS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO THE ARCTIC OSCILLATION (AO)…WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE A BIG INFLUENCE ON TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. FOR MUCH OF LATE DECEMBER INTO EARLY MARCH THE AO WAS IN THE NEGATIVE PHASE AS SEEN IN FIGURE 1 BELOW. THIS MEANS THERE IS HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL PRESSURE OVER THE POLAR REGION AND LOWER-THAN-NORMAL PRESSURE AT ABOUT 45 DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE. WHEN THIS OCCURS COLD AIR TENDS TO PLUNGE SOUTHWARD INTO THE MIDWESTERN/EASTERN UNITED STATES…WHICH WE DID SEE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS DURING THE WINTER AS COLD FRONTS SWEPT SOUTHWARD ACROSS FLORIDA AT LEAST ONCE IF NOT TWICE EACH WEEK.”

I recommend reading the entire NOAA summary.

This report by NOAA highlights two issues that have been frequently reported on in my weblog:

1. Regional atmospheric-ocean circulations matter much more than any global average temperature anomaly (e.g. see).

2. In terms of vegetation, there was considerable damage(and even mortality)  to ornammental shrubs and trees, wildlife and agriculture (e.g. see). This is a climate effect, as this damage will effect the ecosystem and economy of the region for several years.