Going by this list the really worrisome period would be the 1920-1940 interval, going by newspaper archives this is corroborated - this is after all the time of the Dust Bowl.
Less spread but noticeably the very hot 1920-1940 interval also gave rise to a relatively high number of record cold temperatures. The 1980-2000 interval sticks out a bit in both record high as well as record low temperatures.
What, if any, conclusion can be drawn from these data? Just going by the numbers the 1920-1940 interval was the hottest on record thus far but in the same period a relatively high number of record cold temperatures were recorded. The same is true for the 1980-2000 interval. The conditions which give rise to record high temperatures also seem to be capable of producing record low temperatures. Elsewhere in this thread I posted an observation on the close relation between insolation and average temperature [1]. The difference in insolation is most likely related to the amount of aerosol pollution (of natural and human origin) in the atmosphere given that an increase in aerosol pollution leads to an increase in cloud cover due to those aerosols functioning as cloud condensation nuclei. It would be interesting to see the data on insolation/SSR (solar surface radiation) for these regions and compare it to those record periods. I would expect to find a correspondence there which would explain both the high as well as the low temperature records - clear skies make for hot summer days and cold winter nights.
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Yes, temperatures, particularly high temperatures have a distribution. Here's a list of record high temperatures for U.S. states and territories:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_and_territory_tempe...
Notice the dates:
Going by this list the really worrisome period would be the 1920-1940 interval, going by newspaper archives this is corroborated - this is after all the time of the Dust Bowl.Now let's look at record low temperatures:
Less spread but noticeably the very hot 1920-1940 interval also gave rise to a relatively high number of record cold temperatures. The 1980-2000 interval sticks out a bit in both record high as well as record low temperatures.What, if any, conclusion can be drawn from these data? Just going by the numbers the 1920-1940 interval was the hottest on record thus far but in the same period a relatively high number of record cold temperatures were recorded. The same is true for the 1980-2000 interval. The conditions which give rise to record high temperatures also seem to be capable of producing record low temperatures. Elsewhere in this thread I posted an observation on the close relation between insolation and average temperature [1]. The difference in insolation is most likely related to the amount of aerosol pollution (of natural and human origin) in the atmosphere given that an increase in aerosol pollution leads to an increase in cloud cover due to those aerosols functioning as cloud condensation nuclei. It would be interesting to see the data on insolation/SSR (solar surface radiation) for these regions and compare it to those record periods. I would expect to find a correspondence there which would explain both the high as well as the low temperature records - clear skies make for hot summer days and cold winter nights.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31556790