On February 27, 2017, the DWD German National Weather Service concluded in its February report:

February 2017 was much too warm and with only average sunshine

Offenbach, 27 February 2017– At the beginning of February 2017, it was still cold in the north-east due to the influence of high pressure. However, low pressure troughs bringing milder air were already reaching into the south and west of the country. Then, from the middle of the month onwards, all parts of the country were exposed to a powerful westerly airflow that brought much precipitation. These conditions culminated on 23 February with storm gusts, particularly in the west, and spring-like temperatures in the south. Overall, February was much too warm and precipitation and sunshine were almost balanced. This is what the initial analysis by the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) of data from its around 2,000 weather stations shows.”

Continue reading at DWD.

The recent February was much too warm! One can easily imagine as follows: A wild temperature peak standing out well above the otherwise usual temperatures. Once again more proof that for years things have been going in only one direction: only hotter and hotter and hotter.

However the DWD does not provide any chart along with its press release. Wouldn’t many people certainly like to see the February heat trend as a chart? It’s a pity that the DWD chooses not to show charts here.

Thankfully Josef Kowatsch stepped in for the DWD and produced a chart using the official DWD data to show the February mean temperature curve for the last 30 years:

Figure: Chart of the February mean temperature over the past 30 years in Germany, data from the DWD, chart: Josef Kowatsch.

The sense of wonder is large: What do they mean by “much too warm”? The climate trend over the past 30 years for February shows a clear downward movement. This year’s uptick is nothing unusual and has happened regularly over the past 3 decades. nach.

This is truly a poor showing by the DWD, which misled the citizens. There is absolutely no reference made to the last 30 years, no chart, no context. This is a most dubious politicization of the weather report…

Moreover what follows is the trend of the North Atlantic oceanic heat, which shows a very clear cooling trend has taken hold since 2007:

Figure: Trend of the North Atlantic heat down to a depth of 700 meters over the past 60 years. Chart: Climate4You