Underreporting Of Temperatures/Data Fudging

Happy New Year, ATS.

I was wondering if anybody else out there in the viewing audience has notice a disparity in what the MSM/weather services are predicting/reporting regards temperatures (highs/lows), and what is actually showing up. Lately in our locale (western Colorado), the NWS (as an example) has been predicting nighttime lows that invariably rest around 0º-2ºF, but the reality has been very different. By our own thermometer, it would seem that the actual low varies from -7ºF to this mornings bone-chilling -17ºF (and this was after the sun had been up for one hour).

Not only that, the indices vary from platform to platform when giving the current temperature (NWS, Mac dashboard, Weather.com, etc.), and not just one or two degrees. Sure, I could understand that if, say, I were living in a major metropolitan area, but I live in a town with a population of 900, and the only meteorological station I know of is at our county airport (roughly 2 miles SW of us.) While out and about (library, gas station, grocery store), I've queried other folks about such, and they've stated that, yeah, it would seem that those reporting weather in the MSM are way off.

Yes, yes, meteorology is an imprecise science, and I'd be have to be hopelessly naive and/or stupid to assume that everything reported on by the media is above board, but this is as obvious as the nose on one's face, as numbers do not lie. What about it, then? Share what you are seeing. I'd wager I am not alone.

A city is a huge heat sink; retains heat long after the source (sun) has passed the horizon. The first time I really became aware of just how much heat the concrete jungle retains was during a night time drive in a convertible. The night was clear, almost cold, yet upon crossing some imaginary line (3 or 4 miles) from the city the temperature jumped several degrees warmer.

Many if not most of the reporting stations for local news stations are located within the cities boundaries which IMO will always report a warmer temp.

I grew up on a small 40 acre farm 7 miles from the closest city and our temps (according to our temp gauge) was always slightly cooler during the summer and colder during the winter.

They are reporting the weather for a wide area. It will vary several degrees within that area.

reply to post by lokomotiv23


obvious question - but can you not access the weather station data directly here ?? [ the UK ] i can get direct live feeds from several weather-stations :

example

admittedly - i have very good acess to weather data as its the dales ntational park - so recreational users depend on good weather forcasts to plan verious outdoor activites safely

but at worst you could ring the airport and ask for the duty officer - he should have at worst the plot from 1 hour ago at his fingertips

reply to post by 727Sky


Agreed, cities are huge heat sinks...but neither our reporting station, nor my location are huge heat sinks. As a matter of fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a more remote setting in the lower 48 than where we are. We live in a town, but the town is very, very small, and resides at an elevation of just under 6,000 feet. The weather reporting station in question is also at just under 6,000 feet, and lies less than two miles from us, on a small mesa (I can see the runway lights and beacon). So, no, no heat sinks here.

reply to post by jjkenobi


Certainly it will vary several degrees, but I'm perplexed as to how they can get it so wildly wrong so consistently. Of course, it could be that myself and the other folk whom live here might all have faulty thermometers...but that seems to be a bit of a stretch, no?

reply to post by ignorant_ape


Something to consider, and I'll probably get on that next morning after this. Much obliged.

I live on Lake Michigan so it's warmer at my house than at the airport a couple of miles inland this time of the year. Then in the spring when the waters cold it'll be colder here than inland

6000 feet is kind of above the tree line isnt it? Alpine?
I have fought forest fires and still awoken to frost in the morning at some heights....
Just saying, the weather is very freaky up there....Not that 2 mi should make a difference, but if the airport is on a mesa
which you can see, does that mean you are on the same mesa?
Deep gorges and such in the mountains may have a marked effect as to prevailing winds etc etc...as well as orientation NSEW facings....
you could be on the "cold side of the mountain....??

6000 feet is kind of above the tree line isnt it? Alpine?
I have fought forest fires and still awoken to frost in the morning at some heights....
Just saying, the weather is very freaky up there....Not that 2 mi should make a difference, but if the airport is on a mesa
which you can see, does that mean you are on the same mesa?
Deep gorges and such in the mountains may have a marked effect as to prevailing winds etc etc...as well as orientation NSEW facings....
you could be on the "cold side of the mountain....??

reply to post by lokomotiv23


This is how you nail down your conspiracy if this may become one:

Record data from all weather stations, learn how to set up a weather station, record your own 2 sets of data, compare and then come back if you find something. Everything else, including your claim is ridiculous

reply to post by stirling


High desert, not alpine (Pinyon, Junipers, various sage, Cottonwoods). We're almost precisely midway between Telluride and the border with Utah on the edge of the Uncomphagre Plateau. There is a dip in elevation between our location and the airport, but the airport itself lies to our southwest on a smallish mesa, directly in line of sight (when the foliage is gone).

Our weather is actually pretty consistent; hot and dry or cold and dry.

reply to post by StareDad


What claim would be ridiculous? That what I (and others) are seeing on our own thermometers does not jibe with the figures being published on a daily basis? How is that ridiculous? Given that the root word of ridiculous is ridicule, do you feel that those whom postulate possible discrepancies are subject to ridicule?

What is more, why would I need a weather station to establish ambient temperature? Isn't that the purpose of a thermometer? What other purpose does a thermometer serve? This has nothing to do with humidity, precipitation, etc.

What conspiracy are you speaking of? Or, more accurately, what conspiracy do you feel I'm alluding to?

"Underreporting Of Temperatures/Data Fudging"
Isn´t that the title?
Doesn´t it suggest someone "underreports temperatures or fudges data".
Underreporting and fudging data is not done by accident -> intend.
Since such a thing could never be done by one person -> group

con·spir·a·cy (kn-spîr-s)
n. pl. con·spir·a·cies
1. An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
2. A group of conspirators.
3. Law An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.
4. A joining or acting together, as if by sinister design: a conspiracy of wind and tide that devastated coastal areas.

Fits at least no. 1, if not no. 2 if you consider holding back scientific data should be a crime.
Beside the fact you posted it here in the forum called "general conspiracies" -.-

To answer your question what claim is ridiculous to me:

The claim, your claim, someone "underreports" or fudges local temperature data is ridiculous to me.

reply to post by lokomotiv23


Sorry I forgot to answer this

What is more, why would I need a weather station to establish ambient temperature? Isn't that the purpose of a thermometer? What other purpose does a thermometer serve? This has nothing to do with humidity, precipitation, etc.

If you learn how to set up a weather station, you know how to mount a thermometer the right way, at the right place to get a true reading of the air temperature. Finally, this might be the whole point around all those "false" temperature "data" you and "the others" get.

At least you could have got into a discussion.
I see you made this thread because you thought you just start one. Don´t be surprised if you get teared apart here if you write stuff without proof. This is not any conspiracy forum where you jump in and make wild claims and they get supported just because of hearsay (well, sometimes).

A really poor show.
applause anyways.