I thought I would compare TAVG data from the new BEST release to the NOAA data for the state of Alabama.
I got the BEST data here. I got the NOAA data here. The BEST anomalies are as of 1951 to 1980. So I calculated the NOAA anomalies for Alabama using the same time frame. Then I convert NOAA anomalies from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
So, for example, 1950 and 2010 (temperatures are anomalies from the 1951-1980 average):
| Year | Month | NOAA_F | NOAA_C | BEST_C | BEST minus NOAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 661 | 1950.00 | 1.00 | 16.00 | 8.89 | 6.83 | -2.06 |
| 665 | 1950.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 | 3.89 | 2.70 | -1.19 |
| 666 | 1950.00 | 3.00 | -1.30 | -0.72 | -1.05 | -0.33 |
| 667 | 1950.00 | 4.00 | -3.50 | -1.94 | -1.77 | 0.17 |
| 668 | 1950.00 | 5.00 | 3.80 | 2.11 | 1.51 | -0.60 |
| 669 | 1950.00 | 6.00 | 1.30 | 0.72 | 0.39 | -0.34 |
| 670 | 1950.00 | 7.00 | -1.50 | -0.83 | -1.10 | -0.27 |
| 671 | 1950.00 | 8.00 | -1.40 | -0.78 | -0.99 | -0.21 |
| 672 | 1950.00 | 9.00 | -1.60 | -0.89 | -0.81 | 0.07 |
| 662 | 1950.00 | 10.00 | 3.60 | 2.00 | 1.33 | -0.67 |
| 663 | 1950.00 | 11.00 | -3.70 | -2.06 | -2.32 | -0.27 |
| 664 | 1950.00 | 12.00 | -4.40 | -2.44 | -2.48 | -0.03 |
| 1381 | 2010.00 | 1.00 | -4.50 | -2.50 | -2.54 | -0.04 |
| 1385 | 2010.00 | 2.00 | -7.30 | -4.06 | -4.13 | -0.08 |
| 1386 | 2010.00 | 3.00 | -3.60 | -2.00 | -1.59 | 0.41 |
| 1387 | 2010.00 | 4.00 | 0.70 | 0.39 | 1.28 | 0.89 |
| 1388 | 2010.00 | 5.00 | 2.80 | 1.56 | 1.77 | 0.22 |
| 1389 | 2010.00 | 6.00 | 3.80 | 2.11 | 2.52 | 0.41 |
| 1390 | 2010.00 | 7.00 | 3.00 | 1.67 | 1.82 | 0.15 |
| 1391 | 2010.00 | 8.00 | 4.10 | 2.28 | 2.51 | 0.23 |
| 1392 | 2010.00 | 9.00 | 2.80 | 1.56 | 2.15 | 0.59 |
| 1382 | 2010.00 | 10.00 | 1.30 | 0.72 | 0.65 | -0.07 |
| 1383 | 2010.00 | 11.00 | 2.30 | 1.28 | 1.44 | 0.16 |
| 1384 | 2010.00 | 12.00 | -6.40 | -3.56 | -2.98 | 0.58 |
Hmmm. They don’t look too similar. So I double checked. 16 for Jan 1950? Yes, Jan 1950 was the warmest January in Alabama history according to the NOAA. It averaged 60F, which is 16F above the 1951-1980 average.
So, lets graph BEST minus NOAA_C. Whaaatttt! No wonder BEST can claim warming occurred after 1960.
They cooled all the pre-1960 data and warmed all the post-1960 data (compared to NOAA)!!
sunshine hours 
Go back to 1895 for the whole US and it is worse.
http://berkeleyearth.lbl.gov/regions/contiguous-united-states
Compare Berkeley UK to HadCET and it is even worse.
http://berkeleyearth.lbl.gov/regions/united-kingdom
Thanks Bill. I plan to look further. I didn’t think the adjustments would be so blatant.