Overall, for us, this winter has been crazily mild. While, we did have one spell in December that was cold enough to brown much of the ground vegetation that normally stays green in this part of the country, it has been much warmer than normal for most of the season.
Still, it’s not normal to have daffodils in January, but we have the first blossom of the year – and the forecast is for temperatures above 60°F (15.5°C) for the week ahead.
So is winter over? Where is all the cold weather? Is this global warming?
Winter’s probably not over here. Typically, our snowiest month is February, followed by March, and we’ve even had snow in April, though some years we don’t get any snow at all. Last year, on February 9th, we had nearly a foot, and that was the second snow of the week.
On the other hand, spring-like conditions in early February 2008 led to a tornado outbreak that killed 13 in Arkansas (55 in southern US) with widespread damage and power outages. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more big storms or winter weather in the next month, this year.
While it’s been unusually warm here,the reverse is true in other places. Alaska has seen some brutally cold weather, worse than normal, and very heavy snow in places. Sea ice in the Bering Sea is moving south much earlier than normal – and it’s moving fast, threatening to halt the snow-crap harvesting at the peak of the season. Very cold temperatures and strong winds are pushing the ice south at 10 to 15 miles a day, 5 times the normal rate, threatening $8 million worth of crap pots and other gear already in the water.
In my view, our warmer weather and the colder weather in Alaska are just regional climate variations, not global warming or cooling, not a direct manifestation of climate change, though change is coming – it always is.
Globally, temperatures have been relatively stable over the last decade.
While warming alarmists tout the decade as the warmest on record, “relatively stable” for more than 10 years isn’t warming.
As I’ve said in previous posts, my view is that we are on the verge of a significant drop in global temperature. When it starts, if it starts, is anyone’s guess. The loss of heat may have already begun in the waters of the world, without yet being felt in the weather.
One ominous prediction, though, says that the coming cold may move the geographical center of the corn producing region of North America from Iowa south into Kansas.
I’d rather have global warming.
What has the weather been like recently for you?
About nine miles south of Estes Park on Colorado 7, we stopped to take pictures of the Chapel on the Rock – officially St. Catherine of Siena Chapel – on the grounds of Saint Malo Retreat Center. The chapel is built on an large piece of granite that the Colorado highway department once planned to dynamite to widen and straighten the adjacent highway. Dedicated in 1936, the chapel was built from local stone hauled in by mule carts.
Our next stop was a rest area in Glenwood Canyon, a rugged and scenic canyon on the Colorado River. This area is one of the most scenic natural features along the U.S. Interstate Highway System. Foot access is available for hiking a four rest areas in the canyon. The highway through the canyon was one of the final pieces of the system to open to traffic and was one of the most expensive per mile constructed in the United States. In its 12.5 mile length, there are three tunnels, 40 bridges and viaducts, and miles of retaining walls. “Through a significant portion of the canyon, the eastbound lanes extend cantilevered over the Colorado River and the westbound lanes are suspended on a viaduct several feet above the canyon floor.” (Wikipedia)
