2010: A record breaking year?

At Ascension Island the “dry season” is from June until mid-August when the drizzly showers start. Clearly the weather is not playing ball in comparison with this idealised scenario. In fact, as you can see in the table above, the 14.6 mm of rain at the airhead this week is the most since November. Clearly not the dry season as expected! It is not only rainfall that is different from the norm, it’s the temperatures too. The mean maximum temperature for each month this year has broken the pervious record (1985-2009 average). In fact, in March this year the highest maximum temperature ever recorded was 31.5 C, breaking the pervious record of 31.1 C set in 1988, 1996, 2005 and 2009, although we had a 31.2 in April this year. The highest minimum temperatures are also record-breaking too. Why is this case though? Why is 2010 so special? I can’t tell you the answer as it’s (very probably) too complex (and I have no idea!). It is probably something to do with the oceans and el Niño. Natural variation and slight changes in sea temperatures can sometimes have an affect. On the flip side 1992/3 saw 9 consecutive months with record breaking lowest maximum temperatures. It is like a mirror image of this years record-breaking high temperatures. Another potential reason is climate change…but that’s a whole other story!......

Compiled by  I. C. Gale

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Met Office Ascension Island base