This weather scares me...

[FourScore]

I was born and bred in the deep south, but now live in central New York. When I moved here three years ago, that first winter was brutal. I had never experienced cold like that.

But this year...this reminds me of winter in Georgia. Other than a small sprinkling, we haven't had any snow. It's been in the 40's, 50's and 60's almost all month. This is a Georgia winter. But I'm in New York. It just ain't natural.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. It should

this is the first truly cold day in san diego

Usually by this time of year we would not be wearing shorts, and I did in November

[hang a left]

68. I remember it differently.

It is cold here in N. Inland SD county. It took me over 5 minutes with my wiper blades and wash to get the ice off my windshield this morning at 7:30 AM. It has been getting colder here IMO. Also I don't remember having this much rain in December since the last El Nino. Then again I was in Orange County then.

[KT2000]

2. You can have NW Washington

weather. It has been cold and stormy - earlier than usual.
I was thinking we are getting the East Coast weather.

[dipsydoodle]

17. The only two times I've been there,

assuming you mean sort of anywhere near Seattle, I've spent most a week wandering around in tees shirts between Xmas and New Year. That was at swing dance camps in 1995 and 2001 at Fort Worden - Port Townsend. see : http://www.swingoutnorthwest.com/

Before it was retitled SONW, whatever its original name, it was retitled Wild Week the second year because the first time they ran it, early '90s, they were hit with substsantial amounts of snow the second day which knocked out all of the power. As a result they ran it for a day or so using gas heaters and generators to power the CD players.

For the benifit of anyone not aware Fort Worden was the location for the film An Officer and a Gentleman. It's a late 1890's lookout fort with all of the buildings preserved - one of your State Parks : http://www.fortworden.org/

[KT2000]

76. Hey! That's my neighborhood!

I live a bit farther up the Peninsula - across from Victoria, Canada.
This is the second year with this cold, snowy weather before Christmas. I want to give it back to Maine!

[dipsydoodle]

78. Well now

you certainly live in a nice area. If you've never been there then trust me - it's very much like Scotland.

[KT2000]

79. Scotland, huh?

Have not been there but always wanted to go there and to Ireland.

I am always grateful to live where I do. I often think of all the places on this earth that a person could be born into and consider it a wonder that I got to live here. I can see Canada to the North and the Olympic Mountains to the South. It is a humbling view - good for proper persective.

I'm sure where you live is nice too! :hi:

[shadowknows69]

3. I'm from 60 miles north of Syracuse

and I concur. We use to be legendary for our snowfall. Global warming skeptics should check out our stats for the last 15 years.

[FourScore]

34. Hi, neighbor! Ithaca here!

My brother used to be in the green berets and told me he did his winter training in upstate New York. He describes the same kind of winter I experienced here in 2004-5 (remember that? with sub-zero temps every day?) He couldn't do his winter training here now.

Also, I signed my child up for ski lessons this year through his school ski club. It's supposed to start in two weeks...I dunno...I don't think so. They may have to change that to water skiing on the lake.

[GenDem]

64. Between Rochester & Buffalo, here.

We usually get the lake snow off of Erie in December.....no snow here....and we should have had at least 18 - 24" recorded by now. In fact the rose bushes have buds, the lilac trees have brand new leaves, and the tulips are up a 1/2"

My dogs are shedding. :shrug: My female has bad allergies and when the hard frost comes, she usually gets instant relief. She just got off a prednisone taper, because the stuff she is allergic to is still flying around.

Something is definitely not right. I just hope that with our new congress the environment and global warming will be a priority.



:scared:

[blonndee]

4. I'm in Tornado Central

Oklahoma. We had a major drought this year, with lots of wildfires--pretty scary this spring and summer. We never knew when the slightest sparj would set off a 1000-acre (or more) blaze.

We got some moisture, finally, but are still really dry. Honestly I'm concerned about spring and tornadoes. I'm thinking about trying to put off student loans and hospital bills (if possible) so I can afford a safe room (storm shelter). I have no idea how the changed weather will affect this area (aside from wildfires, there seem to have been relatively few major weather events the last couple of years where I live)but I can only imagine the power of storms that may hit next spring.

[EST]

15. a storm shelter should not be very expensive, if you are

willing to do the work yourself.
One item that I highly recommend, from personal experience, is a battery powered sump pump. Standing in cold water for a couple hours while holding a whimpering child is not a fun experience.

The biggest requirement is getting below ground level, to avoid flying debris.

[krispos42]

5. If you think New York is brutal.....

Don't move to the Northland. It was -1 degree here about two weeks ago. Of course, a week later it was 51...

Ah, keeps the state from getting crowded! :-)

<edit> BTW, I was born and raised in Connecticut

[OneBlueSky]

6. the Northeast is becoming the South . . . maybe permanently . . . n/t

.

[zanne]

23. Yup. It's only a week from Christmas...

I put up my tree yesterday and played Christmas music, but I just can't get the feeling. It feels more like Halloween.

[dapper]

50. Funny you should say that...

I said that to my wife last night and we had just come from a neighborhood in which 95% of the houses have lights (we checked out the lights)

I told my wife the same thing. Weather-wize, it seems like it's October, not December.

Dapper

[Virginia Dare]

30. That is true...

I read somewhere that the prediction is that in about 50 years, the weather in New England will be more like that in North Carolina currently.

Scary stuff!!

[tabasco]

35. Here come the bugs!

I bet we have lots of bugs this summer.

[bdamomma]

52. and probably a drought

that snow brings water to our reserviors everything balances out, no snow no surplus of water in supply. another scary thought.

[Mabus]

74. The bugs aren't waiting for summer

Here in the NE Kansas/NW Missouri area we're being invaded by cave crickets (aka camel crickets). I've never seen the little critters before this year but now evlbstrd has one in his (he's in KCMO), my brother's got them in Lenexa, I've got one in my bathroom and, according to a local forum, they are cropping up in bathrooms around here. It is somehting new for all of us.

[Occulus]

7. You don't know the half of it.....

I grew up and now live in SW Michigan. When I was young, about three or so, we had a huge winter storm. It was unbelievably bad- one man I work with told me (tonight, at work, in fact; we were discussing this very subject) he was out of school for two weeks. I was too young to remember many details, but I do remember three things very vividly: a snowdrift which completely covered the living room picture window, which starts even today at about 42" off the ground, my father digging out the front door from the outside- and me making snow tunnels outside the door after he got it cleared away.

That is a brutal winter, and it was MI. But there's one other thing I remember: when I was a kid, up until about my early 20s, there was reliable snow here every winter. It is only in the past few years that we have seen winters in SW Michigan that are largely devoid of snow. Oh, we may get hit hard a day or three, and it may last for a week or so, but then it gets warmer than freezing (sometimes very much so; it has approached 60 degrees twice this month- DECEMBER), everything melts, and all the snow is GONE. We end up not getting much after that.

I'm seeing climate change right before my eyes; the winter precipitation patterns seem to me to be abnormal compared with what I've known for most of my life. This isn't good. I've been watching weather in general all my life, paying attention to it, and I DON'T LIKE THIS WEATHER.

It's not 'right'. Not by a long shot.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. We had our total average annual snowfall

here in Oklahoma in less than a 24 hour period. Past couple of tornado seasons have been very mild here. That was a relief. The snow? Not so much so. We are not prepared to handle those kinds of weather events. Past couple of days have been in the 70's here. But there is talk of possible snowfall by week end - though I think that is a bit of wishful thinking due to the approaching holiday. Wierd weather. Lots of extremes.

[Blu Dahlia]

9. Any scientists around? What does it mean?

I know in biology I found it interesting that all life forms were wiped out at various points in Earth's history. Could we be nearing that point again?

[WindRavenX]

56. not all life has been wiped out-- just a lot.

during mass extinction events, the biodiversity of the planet has thought to have been 95+% eliminated (I can't remember off the top of my head if it has ever gotten near 99%, but I know that it's near that for a few events). These have happened a few times in our life history of the planet.

Global warming is a tricky thing. There is the potential for a runaway greenhouse effect, which woud pretty much fuck the entire planet up, which is why people are attempting to stop this shit NOW while we still can.

But that window is closing rapidly. I've read that we have anywhere from 20-50 years to make a significant difference in co2 output before we're really fucked.

So in short: humans and a lot of the earth's biodiversity is gonna get clobbered if nothing is done *right the fuck now*.

[parasim]

10. No kidding...

I talk on a daily basis with a friend who lives in Phoenix. I live in Ohio. We're always comparing weather because we both grew up in northern Michigan, so endured seven foot snowbanks as kids and now she basks in the heat of Arizona year-round while I, well, live with typical Ohio weather.

Usually, at this time of the year, we have icy cold weather here with nasty ice storms and the occasional snowstorm. Yet, as I write this post, it's 54 degrees here and 52 degrees in Phoenix. At 3 o'clock in the morning! What gives?

[hfojvt]

11. I have notice it for longer than 3 years

I moved to Iowa in 1998 and since I was no longer self employed, I had time to ring bells for the Salvation Army. And I had some pretty nice weather for it (except for the year 2000, that December was cold, as in -10 for a few weeks.)

It has been drier though. We may be in a long drought cycle, or global warming may be making it drier. I am neither a meteorologist nor a climatologist, but as a physicist I can easily see that lack of a snow-pack also makes things markedly warmer. For one, the snow acts like an ice-box, keeping the area cool. For another, the snow also reflects more of the sun's light - the white snow does not warm up as much as the brown ground does. Our civilization with it's paving and snow-plowing also converts more of the earth's surface into black pavement which heats things up more.

Yet I remember that on Feb 1, 1988 it was about 60 degrees in Southern Wisconsin. So warm that I could bicycle 8 miles to make a phone call. And the summer of 1988 was very dry too.

[M155Y_A1CH]

62. What you said...

...may be more intuitive than anyone knows.
We should be paving with concrete and painting everything white;
Right now!

[hfojvt]

12. I have notice it for longer than 3 years

I moved to Iowa in 1998 and since I was no longer self employed, I had time to ring bells for the Salvation Army. And I had some pretty nice weather for it (except for the year 2000, that December was cold, as in -10 for a few weeks.)

It has been drier though. We may be in a long drought cycle, or global warming may be making it drier. I am neither a meteorologist nor a climatologist, but as a physicist I can easily see that lack of a snow-pack also makes things markedly warmer. For one, the snow acts like an ice-box, keeping the area cool. For another, the snow also reflects more of the sun's light - the white snow does not warm up as much as the brown ground does. Our civilization with it's paving and snow-plowing also converts more of the earth's surface into black pavement which heats things up more.

Yet I remember that on Feb 1, 1988 it was about 60 degrees in Southern Wisconsin. So warm that I could bicycle 8 miles to make a phone call. And the summer of 1988 was very dry too.

[The Anti-Neo Con]

13. It's been nutty here in the midwest lately.

Shiver one day, then sweat the next, and then back to shivering again the following day.

[parasim]

14. Ok, this is kinda weird...

Here is a snapshot of Google Earth with the Global Cloud Cover extension, which supposedly superimposes current cloud cover onto the earth. That's cool, but check out the view of Antarctica... Is it just me, or is there five swirling cloud formations surrounding the South Pole? :shrug:





Will somebody turn off the wacky weather machine?



on edit: I took that snapshot about 20 minutes ago.

[luckyleftyme2]

16. GLOBAL WARMING

How can anyone deny the earth is warming? since i have a few years under my belt i think i can speak from exp. we had polar ice melts 50 years ago ,but no where near the rate of melt we have today.we had snow in new england on veterans day that stayed untill spring about every five years.
we're lucky to have snow on the ground at xmas today that stays till spring.this was a rare occasion until recently.
the weather man just stated the temp. right now is warmer at 5a.m. then the avg day time high
for this date.the 9th day in a row.
AFTER READING THIS DO YOU THINK "DUBYA" HAS A CLUE ON LIFE!
I THINK HE SHOULDA RESIGNED 2 YEARS AGO!

[Bobbieo]

19. This weather should scare every human being on this earth!

It seems as if it is a normal part of the geologic cycle gone haywire by human activity. I think we will see more hurricanes in the Pacific NW like the one that was experienced this past week.

[Katzenjammer]

33. Brava! Exactly. This is the wakeup call that we humans are about to be terminated.

Why in hell that's so hard for people to understand is beyond me.

I've driven my car once in the last 3 months. All other trips: bike (which is both good for me and difficult, at age 66). I don't have a single incandescent bulb, I keep my CFLs off when not in the room, and I'm researching LED bulbs. I cook very little on my electric stove, and I wash my clothes by hand if I can (I'm researching getting one of those hand-crank washers). My computers, and in the summer my fans, are my only extravagances, and I'm trying to find smaller power supplies for the computers.

[bdamomma]

53. Global warming should not ignored we are experiencing it

now. This should be not swept under the rug, by our 110th Congress.

[Chulanowa]

22. Looks neat!

But other than that, it's nothing to worry about - most weather systems have a spiral pattern to them. It's simply air following the path of least resistance - Such as when you move a stick through water, and it creates whirlpools in the current.

As for the weather... Yeah, we're all seeing it. I spent a decade in Alaska and witnessed prince William Sound go from a snowy place in winter, to downright balmy. I watched glaciers retreat almost as fast as I can run. Right now it's spring in switzerland. Kilimanjaro is going bals. Antarctica is shedding ice like dandruff. Glacier National Park is just a muddy hole in the ground. No hurricanes this year - none. Freak weather systems in other parts of the world.

We're looking at the end of the environment humanity has evolved to fit. We are a late ice age species, and we are specialized for that environment.

Which reminds me. next time some flatearther hack tells you "this is all cyclical", kindly remind them that the last time the cycle was this warm, the only hominids on earth were four-foot semi-chimpanzees.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

70. That's actually what it should look like.

It's a rather striking example of the coriolis effect.

[parasim]

72. Thanks!

Never heard of it before. Learn something new every day...

Although, I was hoping it was evidence of a Wacky Weather Machine and all we needed to do was send Superman down there to wrest control from Lex Luthor.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

73. I can remember science texts...

that had little cartoons of the earth from polar projections, with little curlique arrows showing the directions of the coriolis winds. It's one of those things were you don't expect real life to look like the diagram, but hey.

:shrug:

[Hardrada]

18. No winter snow in Iowa anymore

or if some appears it as promptly vanishes. Gone are the days I could tunnel under it and build snow forts.

[LizW]

21. My kids barely remember snow

They are 14 and 12. We used to have a nice snow here (north/central Alabama) once or twice a year. Enough that we had a couple of "snow days" built into the school calendar. We have not had a significant snow, more than a tiny dusting on the ground, in six or eight years.

The dogwood trees have died out. The dogwood blossom used to be our city's logo, and they grew wild in the woods. I had about 10 in the back yard. Our last one died this year in the early summer drought.

Huge oaks, 30 ft. tall and 20 years old, died here last summer.

I live in a wooded area, and I start to worry about a fire sweeping through like out west.

[FourScore]

38. Nooooo!!! Don't tell me the dogwoods and old oaks are dying.

That's too sad. When I think of the South, I think of pink and white dogwoods, grand old oaks, magnolia blossoms the size of hubcaps, azalea bushes covered in flowers, hanging moss and ivy growing wild. Those things can't disappear. They just can't. Even the damn ivy needs to stay. I could just cry.

[Cooley Hurd]

20. I live 20 miles north of Albany and the last two winters have been mild...

...you should ask Buffalo DUers about snowfall this year - they were hit bad a couple of months ago.

[FourScore]

39. I remember that, but that snow storm was more normal

than what they are experiencing now. It was a little early, but it wasn't too freaky. This heat though... in New York??? I went Christmas shopping yesterday without a jacket. Just my regular cotton shirt and pants! One week before Christmas and I'm shopping without hat, gloves, coat and snow boots. I'm wearing my early fall clothes. Not good.

[smirkymonkey]

80. What scares me is how hot it's going to get here in the Summer.

I really can't take another blistering summer in the city - it's just inhumane. The cold doesn't worry me nearly as much as the heat.

[GenDem]

65. Yeah, the storm hit on October 13th.

Almost 2 feet of very heavy, wet snow knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people. It was Friday the 13th, and the tree removal is still under way. It also helped to put Tom Reynolds back in office.

And that has been about it for snow in these parts. We usually are in the midst of our early winter lake effect blitz about now. No lake snow...been consistently in the high 40's and 50's for well over a week now. No winter in sight.

[RebelOne]

24. What winter in Georgia? We haven't had any.

Today is going to be a high of 73 degrees here in the North Georgia area.

[H2O Man]

25. Warm Decembers

are not that unusual in upstate New York. I remember being outside in a t-shirt on Christmas day in 1993, and being plenty warm. The cold weather comes in two-week cycles: new moon/full moon/ new moon/ full moon.

A change that does seem more apparent in these parts is in the forms of precipation. We used to have more snow in the winter season. Now, there tends to be an increasing amount of freezing rain, which makes driving less of a pleasure.

The water table is still full here. I have springs on my property that still had water gurgling out in August, and the fields are saturated now. If we get even an average amount of snow this winter, the spring will bring a lot more flooding. A month ago, Binghamton suffered more damage from a single storm. We had roads washed out in this area (Chenango County), which had only recently been repaired after the summer flood.

(My driveway was part of the turnpike that General Hovey built from the old Ft. Stanwix Treaty Line to Ithaca, after the end of the Revolutionary War. I had checked your profile to see where in the "upstate" you live.)

[FourScore]

41. Howdy, neighbor!

I think we should at least be seeing some lake effect snow in the evening. There have only been 2 or 3 nights this winter that we've had that. Normally, it's a daily thing. It's weird. I haven't even bothered to put on my snow tires yet.

The flooding you all have experienced this year has been pretty freaky, too. Owego was hit pretty bad in all that summer flooding as well.

[sarge43]

26. Same here in central New Hampshire

So far we've had night temps in the mid 20's and during the day in the 40's, sometimes 50's. The only snow has been a light dusting which lasted about a day. These are autumn conditions, not winter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. It ain't right in Minnesota, either.

By Christmas we've usually had some snow -- and except for a light dusting that lasted less than a day that we got a couple of weeks ago there hasn't been any. There has been some rain, and it's been getting below freezing at night, but mostly it's been in the 40s. I haven't even put the lining in my coat yet. It should be really cold, but it isn't. Although I like not freezing my ass and not spending a fortune heating my house, it's still kinda creeping me out.

[Eurobabe]

28. It's everywhere, it's everywhere!

This is my second winter in Germany, in 2001, it got cold in November and never got warmer. Snow, etc. Freezing cold.

Fast forward to 2006. Light snowfall on 11/2-3. Warmest November on record, temps last week near 60F. Not many ski areas open near me, not cold enough to even MAKE snow. Temps hovering around freezing today, but nothing like 5 years ago.

Klima Katastrophe!!

[FourScore]

42. I used to live in Berlin in the 80's and 90's.

It always snowed on my birthday in mid-November. But even back then, the residents would describe winters when they were younger that were much colder than the ones I experienced.

The germans have been much better informed of global warming. I remember reading articles about it all the time in Der Spiegel magazine. Then I would come home to America and talk about it and people had no clue what I was talking about. I would tell them all about what was in the german press regarding global warming and mad cow disease (400 cows a day were being burned in England and Americans didn't have a clue. Jeez.) Somehow, though, telling them these stories got me branded as a nut who latches onto end-of-world scenarios. I don't know. I call it proper journalism.

[Eurobabe]

44. Journalism? What is that?

In the US, the SAAV (stupid average American Voter) would rather watch FauxNews for all the news fit to print.

[bdamomma]

55. or they rather not read or watch news at all.

really sad.

[Puglover]

29. I live in Minneapolis

And it's been in the 40's and even got to 50 once this month. No snow. It's very creepy.

[Sydnie]

31. Flies in the house ... in the middle of December

That's just not natural in Massachusetts. But, we have them all the same. It's not gotten cold enough, long enough, to kill off the flying pests as it normally would every year. Fleas and ticks are still easily found as well. That just isn't normal!

[New Earth]

61. there are bees outside in NJ

they seem kinda sleepy, but they are out. :wtf:

[lectrobyte]

32. 67 in Raleigh yesterday. Freaky warm.

[AngryAmish]

36. I played golf yesterday - in Chicago

If this is global warming give me more!

[FourScore]

43. "If this is global warming give me more!"

Those kind of jokes used to be funny, but I don't think they are any more. I'm scared. I have kids. What kind of world are we leaving for them? How will their kids survive? This is scary shit. I can't laugh at it anymore.

[bdamomma]

57. if we do not get our acts together regarding climate changes

our kids and generations to come are screwed.

[nam78_two]

69. ...

:eyes:

[treestar]

37. Every year for the last few years it has seemed to be warmer

here than it was when I was a kid.

The winters were generally colder and there were a few snowstorms. These years we will have one or no major snowstorms and plenty of days you don't really need a heater on.

I'm thinking it would be smart to buy land in Northern Canada! May be cheap now but a good investment for the future.

Or maybe Siberia. Nobody wants it now, but who knows in 20 years?

[Junkdrawer]

40. Just because 2006 was the warmest year ever, that doesn't mean...

that the effects you are seeing are abnormal. I'm sure if you check the weather archives, you can find warmer days...just not that many in a row...year after year...

[Recursion]

45. Here in the midatlantic, there's record heat

It's December 18th and it's going to be over 70 in DC today. The weather just doesn't feel "right" anymore.

[Speck Tater]

46. I spent a week in Manhattan in Jan. 1972

or maybe it was 1973. I don't recall for sure. But it was shirtsleeve weather. Warm with a few sprinkles and certainly no snow.

As a child in Michigan in 1950 I remember people talking about how strange and violent the weather was getting lately.

Yes, global warming is happening, BUT it is overlaid with natural variations and cycles, most of which seem to be just a shade longer than the average human memory with the result that everyone, in all times, is always thinking that this year's weather is abnormal. Every year's weather is abnormal. It's always been that way.

[VTMechEngr]

47. Totally Agree

I grew up up in South East Virginia, and now I live in Connecticut. I was expecting brutal cold, not this.

[TexasLady]

48. In TX, Ive noticed some things

obviously we bake in the summer and have mild winters. But the Spring is what I have noticed. We simply don't have the severe weather as often. As a kid, we would have tornado watches constantly. Thunderstorms all the time. Each year there seems to be less and less of them. We are very dry here too, like Oklahoma.
Fall used to be quite a bit of rain. Now, hardly any. Tomorrow we have a 70 percent chance of rain. Itll barely put a dent in what we need, and the last time they said that high of a chance of rain, it sprinkled some.

[Morgana LaFey]

49. I hear ya, but winter ain't over

Jan, Feb, even March can bring you lots of winter weather -- not to say that the warm winter so far you're experiencing isn't fully related to global warming.

[dapper]

51. Indy/NY Checking in

I grew up in NY. I remember about 10? years ago we had somewhat of a snow storm, maybe 2 feet of snow, the next day it was 61 degrees, that was odd.

I remember a good deal of snow in the 70's and 80's but I see hardly any anymore. I moved to Indy last year, was warned about the lake effect snow by local residents... but so far we haven't had much of anything. Where is the snow?

Heat Miser and Snow Miser better get their acts together.


Dapper

[wiggs]

54. we're headed for Mammoth tomorrow...worst snow in 30 years

for this time of year. Can't get out of rental.

Main runs should be OK because of man-made snow, but there won't be any tree or trail runs open.

[BlueEyedSon]

58. 60 in NJ today.... now i dont have to move to So/central CA

[New Earth]

60. lol i was just thinking that today

ever since I went to CA back in October, I have been saying I want to move there because I hate the winter weather on the east coast (I'm in NJ too). I was just outside and realized how warm it was, and said to myself that now I guess I don't have to move to California :crazy:

[BlueEyedSon]

85. 8^)

[Giant Robot]

59. Living in Northern Michigan

And I have grown up here as well. Last year and this year both have been very weird, creepy weather years. Right now it is pushing 40, no snow on the ground, or in sight for that matter. We have had some snow but it melted in a matter of days. It is not right! Last year was about the same....but all winter! Little snow and warmish temps. I hate cold, so that is not a problem, but it just...feels wrong. I have no other way to say it. I remember as a kid easily having 7-8 snow banks on our property growing up back in the 70's. Now...I don't know, it's just wrong.

[roamer65]

88. It is very strange in MI. Worse part is the Great Lakes aren't freezing over.

When they freeze over, it protects against wintertime evaporation. But they're not and the water levels will fall even further. Less snowfall means even less water for the lakes. Lake Superior is already at its lowest in decades. Not good.

[roamer65]

89. ...and here's very strong evidence of global warming.

My dad used to be able to only plant 85-90 "day" corn in the area of Michigan that I grew up in. I asked him recent what "day" corn they were planting now. They're just about all using 110 day corn and having no problems. When you can shift the type of "day" corn you can plant, it is NOT just a one year "spike". It's a long term trend. The growing season has increased by about 20 days in MI. Same thing that Al Gore found in his movie where a certain type insect had shifted part of its lifecycle from June to May 15th. About 20 days.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

63. And out in the West...

We have much lower precipitation this year, but I do not know if it is a pettern, as I was outta town for a couple of years. Nevertheless, roses are still blooming in Sactown, and Mosquitos are still breeding in standing water - in December!!! Now THAT is an anomaly!

I think we may be seeing an "El Nino" effect.

[kineneb]

81. and meanwhile, out in the Coast Range

I had to melt ice off of my car windows this morning at 4:30 am, so I could drive friends to the Sac. Airport. Darn cold here right now, have had serious frost for the last two nights; ok, serious for California, at 1330' elevation.

When the frost does not melt until right before noon, I calls it cold.

[lebkuchen]

66. Lavender still holding its own on a balcony in Germany

I fertilized it yesterday, not that it needed it.

[Little Wing]

67. I thought there was one of those weird El Nino things going on this fall

which is keeping unusually high temperature winds over the US

[tammywammy]

83. I read the same thing as well

Here's an article fron NOAA

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2753.htm

EL NIÑO GAINS STRENGTH

Dec. 7, 2006 — The latest El Niño/Southern Oscillation Diagnostic Discussion, produced by scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, indicates El Niño conditions are now evident in the tropical Pacific and should intensify during the next one to three months. However, this episode is expected to be much weaker than the very strong 1997-1998 El Niño event.

“Evolving current conditions in the equatorial Pacific are likely to cause a substantial increase in sea surface temperature along the west coast of South America in late December 2006 and January 2007,” said Vernon Kousky, Ph.D., NOAA’s lead El Niño forecaster. “At about the same time, rainfall is expected to increase over the warm waters in the central equatorial Pacific, thus setting the stage for typical El Niño effects over the U.S. during January through March 2007,” he added.

El Niño events influence the predominate position and strength of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean, which in turn affect winter precipitation and temperature patterns across the country. During El Niño events, the jet stream is stronger than normal across the southern U.S. As a result, increased storminess and wetter-than-average conditions occur across the southern tier of the U.S. from central and southern California across the Southwest to Texas and across the Gulf Coast to Florida and the Southeast. Meanwhile, drier-than-average conditions are experienced in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and in the northern Rockies.

“NOAA’s investment in climate models is paying off,” said Jim Laver, director of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Statistical and coupled model forecasts, including the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System, show El Niño conditions peaking during the northern hemisphere winter (December 2006 through February 2007) and then weakening during the northern hemisphere spring (March through May 2007). “This event may be with us for a while, and we will be closely monitoring how the atmosphere reacts,” he said.

-snip- more at link

[Firespirit]

71. The Gulf Coast had better hope for another El Nino to kill the hurricanes

They don't usually occur two years in a row, though. In fact the last one was in the latter part of 2004, which is why that hurricane season was cut off abruptly. And we all know what followed that.

What truly terrifies me is the prospect of the Atlantic conveyor belt system (the current) shutting down. The hot tropical water would accumulate in the Gulf of Mexico rather than being shunted out, and up the Atlantic Coast, through the Gulf Stream. That would royally screw up East Coast weather, while providing perfect conditions for multiple Katrina-type hurricanes to develop in the Gulf every year. The East Coast would still be inhabitable (at least those parts that weren't sent underwater by the rising sea levels), but that would all but destroy the Gulf Coast as a population center.

[gasperc]

75. it'll come in January

I think global climate change will be shorter, brutal winters and maybe someday no winter at all.

[bikebloke]

77. Low 70's here in DC

A lucky day to burn vacation time I can't carry over. I went pedally in sandals. Then stopped and took my shirt off to catch a few ( albeit weak) rays, so I can say I did it in late December.

Though I remember as a kid in the 60's we had a mild winter, wearing nothing more than sweaters outside. I think it was the winter of the Cuban misile crisis.

[depakid]

82. Come to the NorthWest

We're having a gem of a winter....

[morningglory]

84. N. Florida here. Yesterday, I went out to check on my milkweed patchand

The milkweed plants were eaten to nubs by monarch caterpillars. They usually migrate through here in October. Big fat caterpillars.

[MorningGlow]

86. Rochester checking in!

This is SO not right. I am well and truly freaked out by this "southern winter". And I don't like it one little bit! (What can I say? I'm a snow bunny.) DH is cavalier about it and says these things have their cycles. He even put his snow tires on this weekend. I haven't. I don't believe him, not this time--this feels like it's permanent. But gods I hope he's right, for all our sakes.

On a purely selfish note, I am glad we moved to a village with town water after three years with a temperamental well at our previous house in the Back o' Beyond. The well water tasted great, but with this little precipitation I would have been beating the laundry on rocks and praying that each time I turned on the tap I didn't get the dry-well "rrrrrr" noise as the pump struggled.

[ellie]

87. I don't think it should

worry you. I have been running outside for 31 years and I pay attention to the weather. In my experience, it is always warm in early to late December (I live in NW Ohio). It usually gets very cold around Christmas and stays cold until the end of March/April. The cold is coming. I would be worried if January and February were balmy.