New Zealand’s NIWA says 2020 winter was the warmest on record – was it?

These are the headlines from the Guardian announcing that this year saw the “warmest winter on record”

I kept a record of winter temperatures where I live over July, the coldest month. What was revealed was that temperatures in the middle of the night were as high as 17C and that the differences between nighttime and daytime temperatures were minimal.

This has not happened this year.

Meanwhile, the Tasman Sea had an unprecedented hot blob for three seasons

But by winter, 2020 this has largely dissipated

This story might go some way to explaining how NIWA got it so wrong. In my mind, Jim Salinger is one of the most credible climate scientists in the country