Editing Singularity (climate) (section)

==Studies==
Although folk tales such as St Swithun's Day generally have little credibility, some of these events have a more solid basis. Early scientific investigation involved the creation of calendars of singularities based on temperature and rainfall anomalies. Later and more successful work by [[Hubert Lamb]] of the [[Climatic Research Unit]] was based on air circulation patterns. Lamb's work analysed the daily frequency of airflow categories between 1898 and 1947.<ref>[[Hubert Lamb|Lamb H.H]] (1950) Types and spells of weather around the year in the British Isles: Annual trends, seasonal structure of the year, singularities. ''Quart. J. Royal Met. Soc.'' 76/330, pp393-438.</ref> Similar work was carried out by [[Hermann Flohn|Flohn]] and Hess<ref>[[Hermann Flohn|Flohn H.]] & Hess P. (1949): Großwetter-Singularitäten im jährlichen Witterungsverlauf Mitteleuropas (Statistisch-synoptische Untersuchungen 2). ''Meteorol. Rdsch.'', 2, pp258-263.</ref> in central Europe based on analysis of air flows from 1881 to 1947.<ref>Lamb H. H. (1972), ''Climate: Present, Past and Future'', Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-416-11530-7}}</ref><ref>Roger G. Barry, Allen H. Perry (1973), ''Synoptic Climatology: Methods and Applications'', London: Methuen</ref>

A 1955 study by [[Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory|Liverpool Observatory and Tidal Institute]] analysed maximum daily temperatures at a single location from 1900 to 1953. This found problems when attempting to demonstrate the statistical significance of apparent temperature anomalies.<ref>Reynolds G. (1955), Short periods of unseasonal warmth or cold in daily mean maximum temperatures at Bidston, ''Quart. J. Royal Met. Soc.'' 81/350, pp613-617</ref>

In the 1950s, [[Edward George Bowen|E.G. Bowen]] suggested that some rainfall calendar cities might be explicable in terms of meteoric particles from cometary orbits acting as ice nuclei in terrestrial clouds;<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The influence of meteoric dust on rainfall|journal=Australian Journal of Physics|year=1953|volume=6|pages=490–497|author=Bowen, E.G.|issue=4 |doi=10.1071/ph530490|bibcode=1953AuJPh...6..490B |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The relation between rainfall and meteor showers|journal=Journal of Meteorology|year=1956|volume=13|pages=142–151|author=Bowen, E.G.|issue=2 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1956)013<0142:trbram>2.0.co;2|bibcode=1956JAtS...13..142B |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=A relation between meteor showers and the rainfall of November and December|journal=Tellus|year=1956|volume=8|pages=394–402|author=Bowen, E.G.|issue=3 |doi=10.1111/j.2153-3490.1956.tb01237.x}}</ref> his theory received support from a number of sources.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Meteor Streams and Rainfall|journal=1980 Yearbook of Astronomy|publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson, London|year=1979|pages=144–154|author=McNaughton, D.L.|isbn=0-283-98565-8|url=http://DLMcN.com/metrain.html}}</ref> However, such work has now fallen out of favour due to modern dynamic modelling techniques, although articles are still being written reflecting an interest in the topic.<ref name=gws>{{Cite journal|title=Is the January Thaw a Statistical Phantom?|journal=Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.|year=2002|volume=83|pages=53–62|author=Godfrey, C.M., Wilks, D.S., & Schultz, D.M.|issue=1 |url=http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~schultz/thaw/thaw.html|doi=10.1175/1520-0477(2002)083<0053:itjtas>2.3.co;2|bibcode=2002BAMS...83...53G |doi-access=free}}</ref>