What follows is a break from my normal routine of pontificating about some subject that has caught my eye or perhaps caused me greater irritation than usual at the websites of the Guardian or the BBC.
Almost three years ago I wrote Whatever the Weather and pointed out that in the UK, all weather, whether normal or abnormal, whether hot or cold, dry or wet, calm or windy, seems to be capable of generating a story in the mainstream media or at the Met Office blaming it on climate change. I have been in the habit of adding comments below the line whenever news stories have arisen in the media that illustrate that point.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t cover the need for somewhere to post stories about anomalous weather that don’t fit the climate crisis narrative or which might even be considered to undermine it.
Today, Cliscep received a request for “a running thread for random bits of climate/weather news and info like this which run counter to the stream of media propaganda. As well as current news items, it would be a good place to post about the tidbits we stumble across in books, documentaries, etc.” I’m happy to oblige, and this is that location. However, I’ve gone with my own title, rather than the one suggested, which was “Climate incidentally”.
To get the ball rolling, we’ll start with the story which prompted the request: “Historic Cold Pushed U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaking Fleet to the Limit in 2026”. That’s certainly not a title which you’re likely to see in the mainstream media, nor is the detail contained in the story itself:
Ice conditions in the Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic waterways were categorized as “significantly above normal” compared to recent decades. Operations wrapped up on Thursday. [That’s Thursday 7th May 2026]. The USCG estimated that more than 50 million tons of ice were broken this winter, which was characterized by “historic cold temperatures and icing conditions.”
“Peak ice coverage in the Chesapeake Bay reached over 35 percent, which is the most since 2014 and greatly exceeds the seasonal average of around 10 percent,” said Lt. Cdr. Blake Bonifas, Atlantic Area Public Affairs Officer…
…Total ice coverage on the Great Lakes reached a seven-year high of 58 percent on February 9, exceeding the long-term average of 52 percent.
Rapid ice accumulation was also a major problem this winter.
Within two weeks, the USCG saw ice coverage expand from 5 percent on January 14 to a whopping 51 percent by January 31. Lake Erie reached 95 percent ice coverage.
“This year’s ice season lasted longer than usual because of severe cold,” said Bonifas….
Please feel free to add similar stories of interest in comments below the line.
Climate Scepticism 
8º here in darkest Kent as I write, log burner doing great service, not quite the ice issue in the USA I admit.
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Obviously, I am a bit obsessive about reporting on weather stations!! There is, however, an ultimate goal for my work which is to reconstruct a GB (none of Ireland) historic temperature record for the last 140 years from only proven good quality and reliable sites. It is a mammoth project and it is 460 reports so far, but a clear picture is definitely emerging and it is not the same as the Met Office version by a long way. One particular aspect of note is just how dire the Met Office has become over the last 40+ years since the start of site automation and change of thermometers from Liquid in Glass traditional ones to modern electronic Platinum Resistance ones. Probably the best one to highlight this issue and how scientifically absurd the Met Office has become is this one. (Sorry not self publicising just trying to add perspective on where and when things started going wrong aka easily manipulated.
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lordelate, that’s a bit brutal. I’m not sure it’s that cold here in Cumbria, though the central heating is kicking in. I have turned the thermostat down, and by this time of year, that would normally see the central heating staying off, but not so far this year.
Ray Sanders, you’re very welcome to post links here. The more publicity the better regarding the Met Office’s declining standards.
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In a context where any warming event is reported with doomsday ferver, weather stations are an important resource for checking vast claims against facts on the ground, ie. actual observations in local conditions. A recent example was the alarms raised over an unusual heat wave in US Southwest last March. Many headlines included claims that 2026 likely to be the Hottest year ever!
If you’re like me, your response is: That’s not the way it’s going down where I live. Fortunately there is a website that allows anyone to check their personal experience with the weather station data nearby. weatherspark.com provides data summaries for you to judge what’s going on in weather history where you live. In my case a modern weather station is a few miles away March 2026 Weather History at Montréal–Mirabel International Airport. The story about March 2026 is evident below in charts and graphs from this site. There’s a map that allows you to find your locale.
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Thank you Ron. The more links to thorough de-bunking of climate scare stories, the better. Part of that de-bunking certainly involves analysis of local weather stations and dodgy data.
Like you, I often hear or read stories about hottest ever, sunniest ever, droughts etc, and think “not where I live”.
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here in southeastern michigan the weather since thanksgiving has been cooler than usual except for the month of march
this is very disappointing after getting warmer winters since the 1970s
the past two winters were unusually warm with very little snow
this winter was colder and had much more snow than the past two winters combined
nobody here complains about global warming — we love global warming — and i imagine that most people in the UK do too
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Richard Greene, certainly where I live in Cumbria, some warming would be appreciated. Despite official gaslighting to the contrary, it has felt distinctly cool here so far this year. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many nice warm days we have enjoyed in 2026 to date. If my memory serves me right (and it’s always possible it doesn’t) we’ve normally had many more days by now.
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having visited the UK twice i would imagine that people in the UK would celebrate global warming
the best climate on earth for humans would be a warming trend during an interglacial
for the past 50 years earth has had a warming trend during an interglacial
but instead of celebrating our wonderful climate many people act like old men complaining about the weather every day of their life
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Hi from the sunny but cool Isle of Man.
Watched BBC weather today by Tomasz Schafernaker, where he said, to paraphrase, “I’m embarrassed to say the temps are not what they should be in May”.
Tried to find a link, but no luck. If I heard correctly though, the heat bias narrative is obvious.
How could extreme weather affect World Cup 2026? – BBC Weather
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