I tell you that one year of data is meaningless in this context, and you respond with a graph showing two years compared?

That's not what I meant!

I love the way you have annotated it with so, so, very relevant events.

You are making me repeat my arguments, and I find that very, very annoying.

Cooling: false.

Ice: false.

Snow: irrelevant.

You confusing weather with climate (yet again): priceless!

These graphs indicate 1 more thing. Between January and March there has never been such a swing in a single year since 1966.... am I misreading that for that is a very bad sign to me.

Dont know if it was Dave's Opus Magnum as he's gone silent. What I know just grabbing one piece ""We have just had the worst Northern Hemisphere Winter for 42 Years http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/index.php with January 2008 having the greatest amount of snow cover since records began in 1966"" and pulling the dataset from Rutger's over and adding a bunch of formula and curves is to see the expected, but starker than thought.

Here a few "42 year records" and none agree with the '2008 Worst Winter' observation:

A. Whilst the loss according the anomalies projections was 7 million square km in 2 months, in actuality between January and March, 12.4 million km2 vanished, a record for Q1 of any year since 1966.

B. Just from Feb. to March 2008 9.4 mil.km2 disappeared.

C. The lowest snow cover was Aug-2007 with 2.04 mil.km2 on the NH, right in the midst of the global cooling interlude.

D. Q1-1978 from a km2 quarter perspective had the biggest average of 48.39 mil.km2, so if there was a worst winter, that's when it held longer.

E. The biggest snow surface was Feb.'78 with 51.35mil.km2, not the 50.13 of Jan.2008. 'Just' 1.22 million square miles more.

Personally, I think it to be pretty embarrassing to throw a statement of 'worst winter' in 42 years, when per the data it was not and besides, I remember the winter of 1963, far far worse than 1978 and 2008 does not come close, by miles.... it was the 6th softest on record of a (Continental) Royal Meteoric Institute.

So, today the dear MET office with royal seal too and The Times report that a hot summer is predicted for 2008, in the UK.... does that tie with the global cooling promoters perceptions? Since things will be a bit more arid, it's recommended to plant Palm and Olive trees in English gardens. The Scottish seem still to get enough precipitation to keep that tidy lawn densely green with grass to lay a bowls court (live in the fast lane).

Here a picture from Amsterdammed, AD 2008, just yesterday.... a mere short Chunnel ride from the inglese mainland, where that most terrible winter was hiding.



The Dutch, Germans, Danes, Italians, Scandinavians , specially the Finns have a different opinion on that worst winter in 42 years.... the Minnesotans will and the Chinese who got the worst effect of La Nina on their heads, but it was happening in places where normally it does not. It's referred to as "Climate Chaos" and "Climate Shift"

I tried the Rutgers map site to see if April data was released. It felt slightly cooler, so who knows has the worst spring since 42 years just started.

What i do remember of the summer after that and most other tough winters was that it was followed by a hot summer. Will the 2.04 mil.km2 low record of 2007 stand. Expect it not, but if the most northern snowman is not going to hold it's ground at this extended solar low i wont be shock, yet shiffer.

PS: I did not quite catch what these 'still' spotless suns were about, but the seasonal data do no suggest that earth was all that impressed with the impact.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/10jan_solarcycle24.htm
. There is this old adage of silence before the storm and in the eye of the storm that's true too. The coming cycle is predicted to be 30-50 % stronger, but hope is it is not, as it makes the climate model verification more difficult, which will of course suite a few from the "told you so" department. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/science/space/07solar.html

Anyway, from all my power walks I've already incurred a good suntan and atop a serious dose of vitamin D. It's said to be good for the mental state too.

42, is this how old young and furious Dave is by any chance? Is that a number from the Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy as well? Any time I line up my telescope I travel parsecs with the flick of a switch in search of that Red Dwarf.

[Added: I just realised, me pons, UK winters only lasts 1 month and for those who like to be mis-led, here my take of snow cover on the Rutgers Uni Data. The Second Y axis gives the annual 12 month average million km2. The year 2008 is not included as the 'snow' season starts in September.... this is when we look for the Capellino on our local mountains]



(1968, 1969, and 1971 have 1, 5, and 3 missing months respectively in all x-verified sources)