44 F. high temperature in St. Cloud Wednesday.
40 F. average high on March 18.
32 F. high on March 18, 2014.
March 19, 1977: The energy emergency finally ends in Minnesota. It was caused by the extended cold.
A Seasonal Celebration
"Except.
What is normal at any given time? We change just as the seasons change,
and each spring brings new growth. So nothing is ever quite the same”
wrote Sherwood Smith.
Kyla at Wells Fargo in Excelsior just
reminded me how much she NEEDS the changing seasons. If the weather was
the same day after day there would be no need for meteorologists!
I
just returned from such a place near San Diego, a lush spit of land
called Coronado. Every day was sunny. The big mystery: what time would
the fog burn off? Will the mercury hit 80F or 90F?
"I don't
think I've used a jacket once since I've been out here, my Navy
helicopter pilot-son told me. "But I do miss the seasons. I miss
Minnesota." I love the seasons - but I'd love to be bored for a year or
two. That would be a welcome sensation.
The current pattern is
quite dull for March with a series of scrawny clippers. I still don't
see any big, moisture-rich storms pushing across the Plains, capable of
heavy rain or snow. A light mix is possible Sunday night; the atmosphere
mild enough for rain showers next Tuesday.
No drama. No big warm
fronts either. Expect highs mostly in the 40s and 50s, followed by more
jacket weather late next week as we make the long, slow turn toward
spring.
Accumulating Snow Potential.
Frankly I'll be happy when I don't feel the need to show this graphic,
as colorful as it may be. A little slushy snow can't be ruled out late
Sunday into early Monday, but right now we don't expect anything too
horrific for morning rush hour Monday. Montreal may wind up with 10-12"
of snow. It can always be worse. GFS guidance (.25 degrees) courtesy of
NOAA and Ham Weather.
On-Again, Off-Again Spring.
This is hardly unusual for March, big swings in temperature. Although I
don't see any more 60s or 70s we should top 50F today and Friday before
cooling down over the weekend. European guidance brings a little
rain/snow mix into Minnesota late Sunday into Monday morning, and I
wouldn't be shocked to wake up to some slush Monday. The thing about
snow in March: it melts very rapidly, the sun is simply too high in the
sky for it to linger in your yard for long. By the middle of next week
the lowest mile of the atmosphere is well above 32F with just rain
showers; next Wednesday the windiest day in sight with sustained winds
close to 20 mph.
Jackets and T-Shirts.
By the time we see 50s many people (under the age of 30) are wandering
around in shorts and t-shirts. That may be pushing it a bit, but long
range guidance from NOAA's GFS model shows highs generally in the 40s
and 50s from late March into early April. Big storms? Insert laugh track
here.
The Scientific Case for Cold Showers. A fascinating article at
Fast Company
argues that cold showers increase blood circulation, releases
endorphins and can make you a more productive human being - if you can
survive it! Here's a clip: "...
Cold water has all sorts of tangible health benefits, as long as you can stand it. Katharine Hepburn spent a lifetime preaching its advantages.
Similarly, brave oceangoers who partake in polar bear plunges in New
Year claim it gives them a shot of adrenaline, leaving them feeling
renewed and fresh. (Although doctors warn
that drastic temperature shocks can be bad for people with underlying
heart conditions.) And Russian Orthodox Christians have been known to go
cold-water swimming for religious purposes every January to purify
their souls..."
March 18 Was The 90 Year Anniversary Of America's Deadliest Tornado.
The famous Tri-State Tornado may have been a family of tornadoes,
forming one after another, dropping out of the same massive, supercell
thunderstorm. John Belski has a good recap and links to more resources
at
WLKY.com: "
The
Tri-State tornado first touched down in southeast Missouri then
traveled across southern Illinois and did not lift up until it was over
southwest Indiana. The twister was on the ground for 295 miles. 695
people died and over 2,000 were injured..."
California Targets Wrong Water-Wasters. Almonds anyone?
East Bay Express
in the Bay Area takes a look at California's perpetual drought and who
is using the most water. You will be as surprised as I was. Here's an
excerpt: "
As the state's water supply plummets to scary levels,
officials are going after people who overwater their lawns. That's a
good idea. But they're not the worst culprits.
More bullet points from the article (thanks to Hunter Cutting)
"
California's
agricultural interests use 80 percent of the available water in the
state each year, even though they represent just 2 percent of
California's economy."
"
California's almond crop now consumes more water than all outdoor watering combined."
"
At
least 70 percent of the state's almond crop is now exported — much of
it to China. In other words, we're essentially exporting our water to
China."
"
In the past decade, the number of almond
orchards in the state has grown by roughly 50 percent — primarily
because tree nuts are highly profitable for farmers."
Five Weird Ways Cold Weather Affects Your Psyche. File this under TMI, but a story at
Yahoo News made me do a double-take. You've been warned: "...
Different types of creativity
can emerge when a person feels hot or cold, researchers found. In a
series of experiments, researchers found that people who were given a
heated therapeutic pad, a hot cup of tea or who were in a warm room were
better at creative drawing, categorizing objects and thinking of gift
ideas for others. But when they were cold, the participants were better
at recognizing metaphors, thinking of new pasta names and planning
abstract gift ideas..."
This Thing Called MJO Is Spitting Out Nasty Weather Across the Globe. El Nino, La Nina, Arctic Oscillations and now the MJO - it's a lot ot keep track of. Here's an excerpt from Bloomberg and
Yahoo Finance: "...
When
twin storms form like this, it’s often in response to a strong pulse in
the Madden-Julian Oscillation, Masters said. The MJO is a burst of
energy that moves through the atmosphere the way a ripple will run
through a snapped bed sheet. “This MJO will be one of the four strongest
going back to 1974,” Masters said. The same phenomenon will help
strengthen a high-pressure ridge near Alaska that will egg on a
low-pressure trough across central North America, dumping cold air into
the U.S. next week..."
File image credit:
UCAR.
The Science of Near-Death Experiences.
Can science shed light on what happens when we die? Drug-induced
hallucinations or tantalizing glimpses of The Divine? Here's an excerpt
of an article at
The Atlantic: "..
.However,
Corcoran emphasized, the long-term effects of an NDE are as important
an indicator of whether you’ve had one as the experience itself. Many
people, she said, don’t realize for years that they’ve had an NDE, and
piece it together only after they notice the effects. These include
heightened sensitivity to light, sound, and certain chemicals; becoming
more caring and generous, sometimes to a fault; having trouble with
timekeeping and finances; feeling unconditional love for everyone, which
can be taxing on relatives and friends; and having a strange influence
on electrical equipment..."
TODAY: Mostly cloudy & breezy. Winds: S 10-15. High: 50
THURSDAY NIGHT: Lingering clouds. Low: 35
FRIDAY: More clouds, few showers north. High: 56
SATURDAY: Partly sunny and cooler. Wake-up: 31. High: 43
SUNDAY: Clouds increase. Light mix late? Wake-up: 26. High: 38
MONDAY: Early slush? Still gray and damp. Wake-up: 29. High: near 40
TUESDAY: Milder breeze, PM rain showers. Wake-up: 31. High: 50
WEDNESDAY: Wet start, partial clearing, cooler. Wake-up: 36. High: 48
Climate Stories...
Republicans Push Climate Change Cuts at CIA, Defense Department. Yes, by all means let's ignore the problem so we can spend 10x or 100x within 5-10 years. That sounds like a good idea.
Defense One has the story; here's the intro: "
If Republicans get their way, the CIA and the Defense Department could soon have a lot less cash for climate research. The House GOP budget unveiled on Tuesday calls for cuts to CIA and DOD
programs devoted to the study of global warming, despite the fact that
the military has identified climate change as a major national security
threat and a key priority. “The Department of
Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency, two of the most important
agencies in our national security apparatus, currently spend part of
their budget studying climate change,” the budget states..."
Image credit:
NASA/Kathryn Hansen
Republicans Seeks To Push Climate Change Off National Security Agenda. Here's a slightly different perspective on the story referenced above; an excerpt from Mashable: "...The Pentagon produced a climate change “road map"
in 2014 that laid out the case for viewing global warming impacts as a
threat multiplier and, in some cases, as an immediate threat. The
Pentagon is concerned, for example, that sea level rise could flood its
largest naval bases, such as the massive installations in Norfolk,
Virginia, and make it more challenging to operate in already hot and dry
places that could become more expensive to operate in, like the
American Southwest..." (File photo: Hassan Ammar, AP).
The Right Warms Up To Climate Change. Here's an excerpt from a story at
The Daily Beast: "
Their
pace is, well, glacial, but conservatives are definitely moving in the
direction of endorsing climate change. Just don’t ask them to blame
humans yet. Four years ago UC-Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller
began releasing the results of a sweeping two-year climate study. It
confirmed what the overwhelming majority of other climate studies had
also found: that the Earth was warming and humans were almost entirely
responsible. But what set Muller’s study apart was that prior to the
release of his report, he had been known as a leading climate-change
skeptic..."
Photo Illustration by Emil Lendof/The Daily Beast.
Black Pastors Go Green? Church Leaders Team Up To Fight Climate Change.
Madame Noire has the article; here's the introduction: "
Who
wants to praise the Lord while suffocating in greenhouse gases and
other pollutants? Not I — and certainly not the nation’s top church
leaders. A thousand Black churches across the U.S. are teaming up with
the U.S. Green Building Council and Green for All to combat climate
change. They call it the “Green the Church” movement. When the Black
church has got your back, you’re going places. “No major movement in
this nation has been successful without power and leadership of black church,” said Ambrose Carroll, founder of Green The Church..."
What Can a Mom Do When Climate Change Hits Home? Huffington Post has the Op-Ed; here's a snippet: "...
But here are a 3 things I know:
1.
I want to remain optimistic, but not foolishly so -- for there is a
fine line between optimism and wishful thinking, and wishful thinking
will not protect our children.
2. I want to allow myself
to get skillfully angry -- because the alternative is a quiet despair
and inaction, or the kind of talk that tends to get one dismissed as
"shrill" or worse..."
Scientist: Earth Has Passed 4 Of The 9 Boundaries for Hospitable Life.
The Week takes a look at new research; here's the introduction: "
In a paper published in Science, Johan Rockstrom, an Earth resilience strategist, posits that humans have already passed four of the nine limits
for hospitable life. By Rockstrom's estimates, we should maintain 90
percent of Earth's biodiversity, but in some parts of the world,
biodiversity has dropped to 84 percent. And while Rockstrom believes
humans should maintain 75 percent of Earth's original forests, we've
only maintained 62 percent. The other two limits Rockstrom believes
we've passed are because of humanity's increased use of phosphorus and
nitrogen in ecosystems and increased carbon dioxide levels, which have
resulted in climate change..."
The Arctic's Climate Change is Messing With Our Weather. Here's
something I've been observing - and talking about quite publically for
the better part of 15 years. St. Thomas professor and climate scientist
John Abraham has the article at
The Guardian; here's an excerpt: "...
The
authors found that the summer zonal winds have weakened. The reason for
the weakening is that since the Arctic is warming faster than the rest
of the planet, the temperature difference between the Arctic and the
lower latitudes is getting smaller. It is this temperature difference
which maintains the wind speeds. The authors also found that eddy
kinetic energy is decreasing.
So what does all this mean? Well
two things. First, it means that there are either fewer or less intense
summer storms or a combination of both. But secondly, it means that
weather patterns can get “stuck”..."
Expert: American's Acceptance of Climate Change is Increasing. Here's a snippet of a story from the
University of Nebraska - Lincoln: "...
The
number of Americans who think climate change is not real continues to
decline but a well-funded and documented "denial industry" uses
strategies similar to those used to try to discredit the link between
tobacco and human health in which "doubt was the product," he said. One
of the reasons for doubt about global warming is that it is invisible.
"Carbon dioxide is pouring out of buildings, tailpipes and people's
mouths. We are standing in a volcano of carbon dioxide rising out of the
atmosphere," Leiserowitz said. "It is the same in every city but we
can't see it so it is out of sight, out of mind..."
Photo credit above: "
Anthony
Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change
Communication and research scientist in the School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies at Yale, speaks Tuesday, March 10, as part of the
Heuermann Lectures in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln." (Craig Chandler/UNL Communications).
Can Science Find Common Ground With Evangelicals. The short answer appears to be yes. Here's an excerpt from
Scientific American: "...
God
created a sustainable world ... but he also told us to take care of
it," added Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental
Network. Hescox said he often quotes Genesis 2:15, where God orders Adam
to "care for" the Garden of Eden. If he's feeling more confrontational,
he may point to the Book of Isaiah, which includes the line "the earth
is polluted because of its inhabitants, who have transgressed laws [and]
violated statutes." "Human beings are accountable for how they care
about God's creation. ... To not tend to creation, to not steward it as a
shepherd, as a renter, a leaser of the land, is definitively
unbiblical, untheological," he said..."
The Melting of Antarctica Was Already Really Bad. It Just Got Worse. Alarmist hype? I sure hope so. Here's an excerpt of a story from Chris Mooney at
The Washington Post: "...
The findings about East Antarctica emerge from a new paper
just out in Nature Geoscience by an international team of scientists
representing the United States, Britain, France and Australia. They flew
a number of research flights over the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica
— the fastest-thinning sector of the world’s largest ice sheet — and
took a variety of measurements to try to figure out the reasons behind
its retreat. And the news wasn’t good: It appears that Totten, too, is
losing ice because warm ocean water is getting underneath it..."
* More perspective on emerging trends in Antarctica from
The Sydney Morning Herald.
Arctic Sea Ice Closes In On Record Low For The Winter. Andrew Freedman has an update at
Mashable; here's a clip: "
In
another sign of how swiftly global warming is reshaping the Arctic, it
is likely that scientists will declare a record low annual maximum sea
ice extent as early as Thursday. This means that the sea ice cover,
which has been in a steep decline in recent decades, built up to a
record low level this winter. The winter sea ice extent maximum usually
occurs in March, but based on a recent decline in sea ice since the
start of the month, as well as ocean temperatures in areas that
currently lack sea ice cover, scientists are likely to declare that the
maximum actually occurred on or about February 25..."
Image credit: "
Arctic
sea ice extent for 2015 compared to other recent years and the recent
average. The likely winter peak indicated with arrow." National Snow and Ice Data Center and Mashable.
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