Mid-40s in mid-December, home of "Over the River and Through the Woods"

[Katzenjammer]

The next 10 days it's to be in the 40s and 50s.

The song about going to Thanksgiving dinner at grannie's house by sleigh over "white and drifted snow" was written in and about eastern Massachusetts only 160 years ago. Medford Mass, now a suburb of Boston, is about 100 miles away from here and typically warmer because of the moderating effects of the ocean.

And climate change isn't real?

What's the weather where you are?

[acmavm]

1. I'm in Nebraska. I am no fan of cold weather but I gotta say,

this really sucks. We should have snow on the ground. Instead, I wore a light jacket to work.

When Frosty the Snowman came on the radio on the way to work, it was just too surreal and I had to shut it off.

[Katzenjammer]

4. Yeah, I'm originally from the midwest and Nebraska should be feet-deep

in snow right now because of being so far inland, with temps down around freezing.

I can't believe there are people who can experience what's happening but still not get it that we're in deep trouble.

[lisby]

2. 60s here in Frederick, Co. Maryland

I just sent my kid to school with bare legs and a light jean jacket. We ought to be in the 30s, or at the most, 40s.

Lisby

[deepthought42]

5. Have you had a lot of fog lately there?

Cuz here in A.A. County, it's been foggy for the past couple days straight. I think it was actually in the 30s this morning, but it won't last... Something's not right, that's for sure...

[leftyclimber]

3. High 50s in north-central WV

Supposed to be 64 on Sunday. While it's nice to be able to get outside on the weekend, I'd really like to see some winter here.

What's really odd about this is that all of the livestock around here put on super-thick winter coats starting in about September this year. Maybe we're going to get clobbered in February or something...

[HereSince1628]

6. Wouldn't 160 years ago take us back to near the end of a cold

period for North America? This cold apparently deepened in the early 1800's (possibly impacted by volcanic activity) but it was something that existed for several hundred years known as "the little ice age." Wasn't it?

Even if the cold was waning at the time, the cold's impact on holiday weather could well have been the basis for a nostalgic song writer.

That might bias your comparison of this year's weather to then as it would be a comparison of a year during the warming and the end of an unusually cold period.

BTW I do believe in global warming and I do believe it is a consequence of climate altering human activity.

[Katzenjammer]

12. Yes, that's true...but the difference was only 1.5C

"So, while the coldest decades of the 19th century appear to have been approximately 0.6 to 0.7°C colder than the latter decades of the 20th century in the hemispheric mean (Mann et al., 1998), the coldest decades for the North American continent were closer to 1.5°C colder (Mann et al., 2000b)."
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/070.htm

I have to presume that what we're seeing now is a helluva lot more than a 1.5C difference. When I first moved to Mass in the mid '80s, there was plenty of snow every winter and it was quite cold, though nothing to match the midwest where I grew up.

[HereSince1628]

19. But I believe that during the early 1800's there was the year without summer

which produced for New England freezing weahter in every month of the year. And though not in NA, it caused things like the Thames freezing completely over in London. The 1.5 C average changes over decades that don't reveal the weather extremes which accompanied that seemingly small change.

I've no doubt that we are well into a period of accelerated warming which is characterized by things like milder, shorter winters. I have no reason to doubt that you've experienced recent warmer winters with less snow than those you experienced in the '80s. I have no doubt that the global climate is changing.

My original point was that the period of time in which the "over the river and through the woods" song was written was in living memory of a time of somewhat profoundly colder temperatures and was also a the end of a colder than usual period that had lasted a handful of hundreds of years. That makes the comparison more profound.

[Katzenjammer]

20. I don't think I ever heard about that, except as a myth. But I take your point, and agree

that the contrast between now and 160 years ago might be posterized by the colder-than-normal temperatures of the time.

I yet have to wonder, though, whether we might not still be in that colder time were it not for industrialization. I note that the Petroleum Period began around that time (oil use documented in the 1820s in W. Va.; the Drake well sunk in Penn. in 1856), and Whitney's interchangeable musket parts had ushered in the Industrial Age around 1800.

[Katzenjammer]

24. (moved)

(I posted into this subthread by mistake)

[acmejack]

7. 80 here yesterday new record.

60 right now, will probably reach 80 again. Austin, TX.

[Dinger]

8. Northern Wisconsin - Decemeber 15th - Mid 40's For A While Now

Rainy too.

[hobbit709]

9. Supposed to get to the low 80s

here in Austin. About 10-15° warmer than normal.Of course the weather here changes every 5 minutes. One year we had 100° one day in Feb and a week later had an inch of snow.

[lse7581011]

10. Supposed to be 60 on Sunday in Southern Maine-n/t!

[rainbow4321]

11. 80 degrees this week in Dallas...20 degrees 2 weeks ago

There's a reason we never pack away our seasonal clothes..cuz we go from shorts and tank tops to sweaters/coats and then back again all within a month.
On a serious note, though, our hospital is so filled with patients that our ICU has no beds available..we had to beg for one this morning for a patient who was septic and on the verge of coding. Hoping the delay in transfering him there has not harmed him to a point of no return.
The regular floors are overflowing, also. Too many patients, not enough nurses.
Drastic weather changes like this are hell on the elderly/others with chronic illnesses.

[Frustratedlady]

13. Unseasonably warm in Iowa...60s, today

Then, we're headed back down to the 40s for highs and upper 20s for lows. We had quite a few Robins stay behind, this year. In fact, I can hear them chirping at this moment. The squirrels have pretty heavy coats, so I'm expecting much colder weather after the end of the year. We've only had a few days of hard freeze, so far, but the ground is presently thawed out. My perennials are popping through...the daisies are a couple inches high, and the grass is greening up again. Crazy.

[SAXMAR]

14. Philly Suburbs hitting 60's today/fakesnow/global warming

I am paying local kids to stand on my roof and sprinkle instant mashed potatoes flakes out of the box in front of my windows on Christmas Eves.

Coconut shavings look better but are more expensive than Instant mashed potato flakes.

Global Warming may help make coconut products cheaper soon.

[Roland99]

15. 69F here this weekend. But, I remember some Christmas breaks as a kid...

running around in shorts (this would have been early- to mid-70s).

[Red Zelda]

16. Almost 70 on Monday

yay!!!!

[mod mom]

17. It felt weird handing out presents to my children's teachers wearing only a

blazer. My daughter wore a skirt to school w crocs and no socks (in Central Ohio).

[Javaman]

18. Make sure your supply of Hawaiian shirts are up todate...

You'll be needing them there soon.

[MountainLaurel]

21. Almost 50 degrees in coastal Maine

I was talking to the ancient postmistress yesterday, who was recalling times when she'd have to call the town to dig her out of the post office there was so much snow.

[newyawker99]

22. In the 50s in NYC for this weekend.

Last year at this time it was freezing.

[LWolf]

23. Two days ago it was balmy.

Raining. Muddy. I heard a frog singing. This, where single digit lows are the norm for this time of year. This morning a storm moved in, knocked power out over a wide area (mine is obviously back on!) closed some schools, and dumped a big load of snow. At one point, I looked out the window and couldn't see anything at all through the wind-driven snow pouring down.

50 miles away, I have family with downed trees blocking driveway and street, no power, and downed power lines laying around in the yard after the same storm.

[Philosoraptor]

25. sposed to be 65 in KC today

[Katzenjammer]

26. 41F at 5.30 in the morning. High today will be upper 40s, sunny

There was rain yestday...rather warm rain, too. We've had one fall of snow so far, and it melted within a day. And we've had 3-4 days down around zero, but the rest of the time has been well above freezing so far.

I had to have the bedroom window open all night last night, and the heat turned off. It was just too warm to sleep, otherwise.