Here we again see one of the Idsos' weekly selection of a
location from the RAW U.S. HCN data which fits their notion
that there is no global warming.

http://www.co2science.org/ushcn/stationoftheweek.htm
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USHCN Temperature Record of the Week: Alfred, New York

* To bolster our claim that "There Has Been No Net Global
* Warming for the Past 70 Years," each week we highlight
* the temperature record of one of the 1221 U.S. Historical
* Climatology Network (USHCN) stations from 1930-2000.

* This issue's temperature record of the week is from
* Alfred, New York. During the period of most significant
* greenhouse gas buildup over the past century, i.e., 1930
* and onward,Alfred's mean annual temperature has cooled
* by 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit. Not much global warming
* here!
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Alfred, NY 42.26N, 77.79W, 539M (1762 feet)

From the Idsos' data base, one finds:
Annual trend -0.046 deg F/dec, 66 yrs available
Note that 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 are left out,

Winter trend +0.037 deg F/dec, 70 yrs
Spring trend +0.118 deg F/dec, 68 yrs
Summer trend -0.127 deg F/dec, 69 yrs
Fall trend -0.177 deg F/dec, 71 yrs

Alfred is a college town located in south western New York
built along a valley between steep hills. There are 3
colleges, the first being a small liberal arts school, known
as Alfred University, founded in 1857. Alfred State College
(official name, State University of New York, College of
Technology at Alfred) was founded in the 1948 as a separate
institution which was split off of the original Alfred
University. There is a 750 acre farm associated with the
college. Enrollment at AU went from several hundred before WW
II to 2,000 today. Enrollment at Alfred State went from zero in
1948 to about 3,500 today with 12 residence halls, dining hall,
classrooms and administrative buildings, 2 libraries, track and gym.

The topography of the area exhibits elevation changes which
are quite sharp, with a ridge top on one side of the valley
of 2180 feet and the opposite ridge top at 2260 feet. The
distance between ridge tops across the valley is about 1
mile. There is an old ski slope located across the road
from the farm. There is an old train station in town, but
the USGS map does not show a rail line, so it was likely
removed along with the transition away from rail passenger
to highway transport. There is a rail line in the next
valley to the east.

According to the station history between 1930 and 1995 there
were several station moves, with one observer in 1977
lasting only 8 months. From 1977 to 1987, the station was
located about 100 feet above the town, which appears to have
been where most of the other observers were located. All
measurements were taken at about 6 PM local time, thus there
should be no bias due to differences in the time of day of
observations.

There is no obvious bias in the data as near as I can tell.
One might expect that there were major changes in land use
in the general area, as the limited area along the valley
floor was built upon while the college expanded. The
agricultural station close by may have been another source
of bias due to land use changes. As was often the case with
many older agricultural areas in the U.S., the tree cover
was probably removed in the 1800's, but much of it has now
returned.

The fact that the missing years are amongst the warmest in
the 20th century on a global basis is curious. Most of
these missing years were the responsibility of one observer.

--
Eric Swanson --- E-mail address: e_swanson(at)skybest.com :-)
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