Amos: Why did GISS / NOAA reduce the number of weather stations from 6,000 to 1500? Did they drop the ones reading higher tempertures or was it the lower reading stations?

Weather Station Survey:

Weather Station/Climate Station Site Survey Form
Site Name: Marysville
NASA GISS Site Numerical ID: 425745000030
Site Address: Near 9th and B streets, 1 block east next to RR tracks, 107 9th St, Marysville, CA
Site Curator/Contact, Phone number: Marysville Fire Station, (530) 741-6622
Date and time of survey: 5/25/07 1:20PM PST
Name of person doing the site survey: Anthony Watts
Surveyor contact email or phone number: 530-899-8434
Reported Coordinates and Elevation of site: 39.1 N 121.6 W
Measured GPS Coordinates of site: 39.14577N 121.58585W
Measured Elevation 68 feet
Google Earth Link:

Site description and known history: The site uses an MMTS sensor installed by Sacramento NWS office. The sensor IR shield is placed in a small patch of soil in a planter box on the rear patio. The placement is within 6 feet of a parking space (see pictures) and within 6 feet of an electronics container housing cell phone transmission equipment. The electronics container/portabuilding was placed about 2 years ago along with the cell phone tower whose base is galvanized steel and about 8 feet away.

Curator notes: The entire rear area used to be grass field but was converted to parking lot about 20-25 years ago, the sensor IR shield was moved to its current location when the cell tower was erected. Their used to be a Stevenson Screen shelter at this location but was switched to MMTS.

Site surveyor notes: This is probably the worst temperature measuring location ever seen by this observer in his 30 year history as a meteorologist. The sensor is essentially in the corner of a large parking lot, vehicles with hot radiators can park within 6 feet of the sensor, the sensor itself is with 6 feet of the building housing cell phone electronics, and the cell phone tower base about 8 feet away is of galvanized steel and could be felt reflecting the heat of the sun.

Worse, the sensor is located within 10 feet of the exhaust fan of the air conditioning units for the cell phone porta-building, and hot air from these units could be felt in the vicinity of the sensor. The sensor is within 25 feet of the main building where firefighters quarters are, and they indicate they use a propane fueled barbeque grill on the patio within about 10 feet of the sensor once or twice a week.

It is the opinion of the site surveyor that the data produced by this station is biased in so many ways that it is essentially useless and should be removed from the USHCN list.

GISS Plot