How's the weather?

Yabby wrote:.........
I so wish academia, corporate, govt, research etc. was not quite the way it is these days. Seems you have to be fully on board global warming believer to the extreme or you are considered as being against them. That never makes for good science, infact that is not science. Its soo hard these days to cut through all of the politically correct agendas ( some probably have good reason to exist)  to obtain or get a good understanding of the real position........

.........@Admin   If my post is extreme or innapropriate for this thread please delete it. its an issue that winds me up a bit. Honesty in science. And weather is a very serious issue. And needs people to be able to trust science.......

yabby

I completely agree! Being one of the oldsters here, I've seen changes in the weather patterns over the years, generally toward extremes of drought, flooding, storm severity, etc. And, I have friends, whom I respect, that have gone the full-on global warming route. They are almost always members of the same political party -- so, are their positions science based (most are well trained in the sciences) or agenda driven. There's little doubt that our weather is on the move, but when I press them, they have no answer for how much of the change is cycle related and how much can be attributed to human/environment interaction.

I live in the Mississippi River Valley (Kim lives not far, but on the west side of the river). In the past 15 years, we have seen severe flooding several times. However, this year, folks are walking the river bed in places that have not been exposed for a century.

Isn't it funny how even the weather has become political.....and I don't think that Jacob would have a problem with us discussing it here on the weather forum. Most appropriate I would think.

I am a tree hugger first class, and I watch my carbon footprint carefully. I worry about plastic islands existing in the middle of the ocean, and the frogs in the swamps. The "balance of nature" is a fragile thing always teetering on the edge. Nature has survived for billions of years, but will it survive man? We will see..but maybe not. But no doubt, man is sowing the seeds.

Previous posts mention 100 year extremes, one a flood in Australia and another a drought in US.
What happened a century ago? Global warming?

Hi All,

Warm December day here on the west end of Lake Ontario, Canada.
The prevailing winds came from the NW 60yrs ago.
These days, more from the SW.
The Great Lakes are getting warmer every year.
I iceboat. (DN class single seater)
30 yrs ago we got out dozens of times each winter.
The last 5-10yrs rarely got out at all.

The scary part is the upcoming wild swings in the weather.
I keep the eavestroughs clear.
Several stalled rain events here.

Snow, I can shovel.
I cannot shovel out a flooded basement.

Your friend,
Dave

George Carlin, once one gets past his colorful language, seems to make the best sense at this point of climate change.



Sometimes the "fool" makes more sense than the "wise man".

Weather guy promised me some sunshine (maybe) later today...otherwise...just experiencing Missouri winter being Missouri winter.

andrew wrote:

Yabby wrote:I so wish academia, corporate, govt, research etc. was not quite the way it is these days. Seems you have to be fully on board global warming believer to the extreme or you are considered as being against them. That never makes for good science, in fact that is not science. Its so hard these days to cut through all of the politically correct agendas ( some probably have good reason to exist)  to obtain or get a good understanding of the real position.

I completely agree!  Being one of the oldsters here, I've seen changes in the weather patterns over the years, generally toward extremes of drought, flooding, storm severity, etc.  And, I have friends, whom I respect, that have gone the full-on global warming route.  They are almost always members of the same political party -- so, are their positions science based (most are well trained in the sciences) or agenda driven.  There's little doubt that our weather is on the move, but when I press them, they have no answer for how much of the change is cycle related and how much can be attributed to human/environment interaction.

When I was growing up, I learned that discussion was healthy, even entertaining contrary views, and it was a matter of normal discussion to present facts and conclusions based on facts. These discussions were usually reserved for historical topics in social studies and history classes. However several years ago, I took several Spanish language classes at the local community college, and one at Eastern New Mexico University.

How things have changed. Before, any discussions were usually about the culture, the customs, clothing, food, normal everyday life, etc. Now, topics of racism, racial inequality, gender, etc. have been included for class discussion. These, have nothing to do with learning another culture, and do little to help promote the language.

(I almost have a feeling that if one were to talk about this stuff in old Mexico, might get their hide tanned good.)    

I was fortunate when I went the scientific route by enrolling in the engineering curriculum at the University of Hawaii in 1976. I only had to take 2 humanity courses, 2 social sciences courses, and 2 history courses. The rest were all science and technical based. But back then, even the liberal arts side was "woke".

There is definitely a movement afoot to silence normal healthy science and factually based discussion into agenda based. As George Carlin alluded, "You have owners, and they own you", he hit the target. In this video, he talks about education, then moves to the owners.



Again, those not accustomed, he uses colorful language, but I look more at what his thoughts behind what he says. Seems these days, people get wrapped around the axle over certain words and not the thought that goes behind the words. Critical thinking has given way to newspeak, which is nothing more than what we used to call back in the old days, BUL****T  or lies.

I have also learned that certain people have their eyes so glued to the TV narrations and even so called pastors of churches that they accept all that is said hook, line and sinker that they have no critical thinking to be able to get off the beaten path and do your own research. The truth is out there if you are willing to look, some of it is right they before your eyes. As time goes one, even these are being hidden from view by search engines.

Use other search engines not owned by the big-6, and you'll find them. If a book is banned by a big on-line store like Amazon, have you considered why? This especially goes for books that used to be popular for ages, then all of a sudden, silenced. May be there is something about that book, a thread or even a bucket full of truth that they don't want you know about.

I am not afraid to go cross grain off the beaten path and do my own research. My goal in life is not to be a crowd follower or pleaser. So, if I (or a matter of fact anyone else here) says something doesn't seem to ring right with you, please don't react as this commercial suggests.

It didn't look like we were going to get much of a summer out here this year but it's sure hit today, even though a month late.  Christmas day was nice at around 28ºC, with our grandson enjoying squirting his nana and grandpa with his newly acquired (Christmas present from his uncle) squirt guns, but today is heading towards 36ºC for us so I'm staying inside for the day watching the Test Cricket.  Aussies are doing well against the South Africans.

Sorry to see the opposite happening in the weather State-Side.  Hope everyone's keeping safe as the mercury drops over there.

Hi All,
-6C  the NW side of Lake Ontario, Canada.
Weird going outside, it is quiet.
The howling, gusty wind chills of the last few days have passed by.
Our friends in Buffalo (80kms to the south) got hammered by Lake Effect Snow.
Big Time.
Buffalo snow plow truck drivers are the best in the world.
(no disrespect to other snow plow drivers)
When they get stuck, it is very bad.
We wish them well digging out.
It is hard to imagine +3days of relentless snow and wind, piling up drifts.
Non stop, hour by hour.
Day by Day.
Buffalo will do it.

How is your day going?
With respect,
Dave

Used to keep track of historical weather records for the area. It was required of my job at Cannon AFB as the base utilities engineer at Cannon. Had a monthly report in the computer system, how much energy was expended in both cost and quantity for electricity, natural gas and water, along with weather. (We used that to calculate heating and cooling degree days for utilities consumption estimates and explanation narratives.)

It was kind of odd how in 2002, we had an extra cold winter, used considerably more gas to heat. Back then, the energy conservation goals were continued by President Bush after Clinton, we were supposed to reduce by a certain amount. (Utilities budget was in the millions of dollars per year. The base is like a small municipality, given our industrial, airport, business, education and residential buildings, and given the thousands of personnel working and living there.)

The gray matter gets weaker every year on memory, I forget what, but think it was 2% per year. The odd thing about the Federal Government is that it did not take into account weather effects, which was ridiculous as all get up. So, if you implemented say, more efficient heating boilers, chillers, lighting, better insulation, etc., the weather factor could wipe out your energy savings gains.

We lost, but it was a nationwide phenomena. All of Air Combat Command (ACC), of which Cannon was one base of, except for 2 bases (one in Florida, other I think in Arizona) did not meet their energy conservation goals. The Headquarters declared that us energy managers did not know how to do our jobs, we failed miserably. They then sent us to various off-base training classes shortly after, to "improve our efficiency at doing our jobs".

The following year, we hit a really mild winter, weather rebounded. We used far less gas than the previous year. This time, it looked like all our bases exceeded the Air Force's goals by a wide margin. The report from ACC declared that "the energy managers did a much better job, the training they sent us paid off".

I can't make this kind of stuff up. Working both aerospace in the private sector and in various Federal Government agencies and engineering positions, I can say that all those Dilbert cartoons are true! We have our share of pointed hair supervisors, Alices, Wally's, Esan's, the secretary, and etc.

George -
Your story jogged my memory about an event from the sixties.

I grew up on a family dairy farm, before mega-agriculture, where we fed, bred and raised our own cattle. One spring, my father called the local bulk distributor to have 750 gal. of diesel delivered to one of our farm tanks. This was during one of the fuel shortage crises and he was told that he would need to get a permit from the fuel czar in Frankfort (KY capitol) before it could be ordered. Generally, he felt that no one knew his operation better than he did and that politicians possessed only two real skill sets: Lying and feathering their pockets! But, to get the fuel, he had to call.

He spoke with a woman, whom I'm sure, was only doing what she had been told and had nothing to do with the policy. She told him, "Sir, this time last year, you didn't buy this amount of fuel." Paraphrasing for gentle ears: He told her that this time last year, it was still too wet to get into the field.

Another classic example of Robert Burns: The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Too often those making decisions and policy lack the knowledge and skill sets of those with boots on the ground.

That is true, Andrew, and you were blessed to grow up in a farming family.

When I worked for the US Public Health Service, Facilities Management 30 years ago on the Navajo Reservation, it was perhaps one of the best kept secrets of the time. Since the organization didn't have the layers of red tape others did like the War Department (yes I know, now the kinder gentler DOD) we could actually get things done, we were short staffed, lean, mean and efficient.

(There was one PHS officer who got into disrepute with HQ at Rockville, Maryland. They punished him by transferring him to our Navajo Area Office. He was one of the happiest guys around. "What's the worst they could do to me, send me to Navajo?" We'd tell each other that when when something unexpected happened we couldn't fix without a few gyrations. )

Even with the PHS, there were Dilbert moments.

Hi All,
A balmy 6C here.
Our friends in Bufallo are digging out.
Gruesome job.
People went out in the storm. Driving or walking, they did not heed/know the warnings.
The best snow plowers in the world, made the best paths they could.
Zigzagging through stuck vehicles, to make room for Emergency vehicles.
It was impossible.
They did not stop, and are still going today.
Most of the dead people got caught outside. Either walking, fell down, or ran out of gas and froze in their cars.
The drifts were so big, no one knew, they were there...
There was a traffic ban, many, many hours in advance.
If, they had listened to local weather,
They might be alive.
Draw you own conclusions,
Excuse this bad story,
I want you to know,
What you might do,
Dave

Well, it arrived. Just what I have been waiting for. Our annual Polar Vortex!!!!!!

As I posted on another thread.
'We are currently at -11 F, with tonight going down to -33f and -49f with the windchill......'. This is expected to continue throughout the better part of the next week or so, maybe longer as it usually lasts a couple. Extreme windchill warnings, etc..... Just making sure I bundle up before heading out!

NEW222 wrote:Well, it arrived. Just what I have been waiting for. Our annual Polar Vortex!!!!!!

As I posted on another thread.
'We are currently at -11 F, with tonight going down to -33f and -49f with the windchill......'. This is expected to continue throughout the better part of the next week or so, maybe longer as it usually lasts a couple. Extreme windchill warnings, etc..... Just making sure I bundle up before heading out!

Hang in there Chancey. We are knocking on Februarys door. Short month and March offers hope. Winters are too long and summers too short.

As mentioned many time we deliberately retired near fort hood (Cavasos) some what for the VA and medica---l but mostly for the very mild winters.

These deep into the south Alberta clippers, or what every they are called now, are a serious PITA. Today woke to 61 F OAT and over night predicted to be near 20 F and moderate winds.

I have lived quite a few years of my life in northern latitudes and even experienced temps dipping to -50F and the requisite vehicle "winterization" including plug in coolant, battery, and oil heaters as well as diesel non jelling additives.

When I need to go to a doctor appointment tomorrow, I will most certainly appreciate my remote start, seat and steering wheel heaters, features I now deem necessary

I do miss, to some small degree, real snow and trail riding on a ski doo.... but do appreciate not shoveling or snow blowing.

Hope you stayed home today, weather looks brutal in your AO

In the 60s we went to school after a snow storm. Here in Central Texas all schools are closed tomorrow due to freezing temps that may or may not ice the roads or dust with a little snow. Waiting to see it I will or will not need to fire up the fireplace insert. Son and current girl friend came over tonight to drop off Chicken and dumpling (stew/soup) and it was good, leaving after dark ...sleeting...they hit a deer. Fortunately giant assed Chevy 4x4 with grill guard, all safe, and he moved the carcass out of the highway and went home. Sure wished they would not tell deer where to cross....they never seem to pick a safe area...jest sayin

8-gusting to 16 mph North wind here in S.E. Missouri.
19° F, with ice pellets bouncing off the front of the house.

Roads glazed over last night, the van's probably frozen shut.


So, I spent the day in sweats, working on organizing the back room and flying living room missions to the kitchen and back with my little Blade helicopter...hey..."Stick Time Is Stick Time"!

Got the Honda generator and "Big Buddy Heater" staged up to save the water pipes if the power goes.

Good ole winter time.

Freezing rain, ice pellets, or icy highways are never fun.

60F yesterday 48F now at 7.17 AM // cooling off into the week to highs in the 40s and low 20s Nice yesterday but had to split wood so bee ready for later this week .... Told son we need to do something about the heating / cooling around here , my butt is tired of putting all my time into wood !!

Same here Eric, 60 degrees with sun. Beautiful for the end of January.

Took the 350Z for a ride down West Virginia's country roads top up to get gas. 93 octane @ $4.47 per gallon. Got home and pressure washed the salt grime off, top and under chassis. Garaged and covered. Top only goes down at eighty degrees plus.

23° F and overcast, ground is whitish from last night's freezing rain and sleet, everything is wickedly slick.