Winter?

[cleatus12r]

We went from 85 degrees a week ago to single digit lows and 20s for highs in about 3 days....

Straight from summer to winter. Heck, the leaves on the trees are still green. I guess they weren't ready either.

[Longshot270]

Yeah we've been in draught so long in central texas we were wondering what all that wet stuff was that kept falling on our heads. lol I'm kinda hoping it doesn't freeze like last year. Had LOTS of wrecks because people who moved down here thought that they could still drive in it.

[88Racing]

We had the coolest summer on record this year with only 2 or 3 days in the 90's.
Hopefully that won't translate into the coldest winter on record either.
That would bite the big one! Really bad!

The way my grandpa would tell if we were in for a long winter was the middle band length on a wooly bear catipillar. If the band was long the winter was long if the band was short so was the winter. The darker the brown the colder the winter and the lighter the brown the warmer it would be.
Of course they spray so much around here you hardly see them anymore.

Lars

[Longshot270]

Originally Posted by 88Racing

We had the coolest summer on record this year with only 2 or 3 days in the 90's.

I think that is really strange, we've had one of the hottest driest summers for the last few years and it sounds like your at the opposite. I think we had over 60 days IN A ROW over 90, or 100 but either way it was kinda warm this summer.

Originally Posted by 88Racing

Hopefully that won't translate into the coldest winter on record either.
That would bite the big one! Really bad!

We can usually tell if its going to be a warm winter if it was a wet summer, and a dry summer turns into a cold winter. In texas we can only look at the long term weather. Thats where our quote for "Dont like the weather? Give it a minute, it'll change." Either that is texas' natural weather or our weathermen are really bad. I think its both

[Jackpine]

I've read, somewhere, sometime, that the overall effect of "global warming" will be to make dry regions "dryer" and wet regions "wetter". We're certainly dryer than normal, and have been for the last 10-15 years. We used to see incredible thunderstorm lightning displays during the summer in what is called our "monsoon" season. I haven't seen one of those for years and years. We are in a severe drought.

At the same time, I note that the southeast has had a pretty good share lately of rain - and it ALWAYS got rain anyway, just not this much. I can't talk about this being a long term trend, but it's been pretty severe this year, hasn't it?

And, of course, scientists say the effects of global warming are not uniform at all. Some places are supposed to be colder than normal. And, some places will just be completely atypical. What I've learned, from everything I've read, is that conditions will simply have "wider" swings and will often become extreme.

My Sister, who lives outside of Colorado Springs, has had several years now of pasture that is too wet to drive through with a truckload of hay for her horses in the late summer when she needs to get the hay in. This is supposed to be an "arid" climate, and it is - they've had droughts that have been VERY hard on the forests but there she is in a "swampy" pastureland.

For what it's worth, I DO believe our climate is changing, and maybe not for our overall benefit.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Jack, that is definitely one of the FEW environmental statements I have heard that makes sence.

[ROB281]

I remember last December we went from 70's one day, to 6" of this weird white stuff the next day

[sam8]

We had one of those weird "summer's over," deals, too.

About 3 weeks ago on a Saturday we were on the lake and the family was doing the watersports.
It was around 90~Water temp had cooled, but still quite tolerable.
The following weekend we had a fire in the woodstove, I was in jeans and a sweatshirt draining the block on the boat so we could tuck it away for the winter.
I would really prefer all four seasons, instead of winter/summer/repeat.
Jack, I would go as far as you have and end to agree that out climate may be changing.
I ain't ready to say 100 years of people burning stuff is the cause of it. As someone recently said, "never let a potential crisis go to waste".
I am an admitted pessimist, and, alsas, find myself distrustful of most people inpositions of politcal power, and other folks in gen'ral.
25 years of wearing a badge and gun does things to you...

[Jackpine]

Sam, I don't know that I trust some of the things I hear from the government either, but I get pretty concerned when ice caps start shrinking like they're doing and, I see the glaciers in Colorado shrinking too.

One thing we have to acknowledge is that the last 100 years have seen a huge increase in pollutants due to the Industrial Revolution.

And, I'd like to see us move away from so much dependence on fossil fuels.

By the way, I noticed a while back that I'm a former neighbor of yours, sort of. I was born in Grass Valley and lived there up until until age two and then again from five to about ten. We moved away so my Father could play in two wars: WWII and Korea. Some day I have to go back there and see what it looks like now.

- Jack

[Power Hungry]

Some may list this as environmentalist propaganda, but the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" was quite enlightening. After being in the automotive industry for 25 years, there are a few facts that pertain the handling of the electric car I can personally attest to and some that I found quite shocking.

If you've seen the movie (recently aired on the "Green" channel), it is something that really makes you think for a minute. If not, and you're the least bit confused about how greedy corporations and an apathetic government work hand in hand to suppress innovation and technology while keep Americans dependent on fossil fuels, then this is an interesting way to spend two hours.

Who Killed the Electric Car?