Record Cold in a Warming World - Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

An impressive blast of Arctic air has toppled more records for all-time March cold over the Eastern U.S., in the wake of the major snowstorm that brought 4 - 8" of snow from Missouri to Maryland.  Fresh snow is very efficient at radiating heat to space, and the 3.8" of snow that fell in Baltimore on Monday helped drive the temperature down to 5°F on Monday night, tying the city's all-time March low temperature record set on March 4, 1873.  The temperature eventually dipped down to 4°F Tuesday morning, breaking the March record.

At least six other cities have set or tied all-time March cold temperature records during the current cold wave.

This week's impressive cold blast brings up the question:  How can a planet undergoing "global warming" experience record cold?  Well, it's a big planet, and the weather has naturally crazy extremes.  We expect to see many locations experience all-time daily and monthly cold records each month.  It's just that the number of these cold records will be outnumbered by all-time heat records, when averaged over the globe, and over decades. It is called Global Warming for good reason!

Record Cold in a Warming World - Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog