Summer...kind of

[Wayne Lomman]

Following on from my last thread about the wonderful smell of the earth after rain came to break our hot spell, it doesn't end there. Within the space of 30 hours, the temperature dropped from a run of days around 39C/102F to 9C/48F. And then it dropped the rest of the way and snowed! This is the height of summer. It doesn't snow in February! The snow didn't settle as the soil temp is too high, but the nights are cold now. Autumn is early this year I think. I did wonder why the goats were in season in January. Just a weather WTH. Cheers

[Chuck Wintle]

Following on from my last thread about the wonderful smell of the earth after rain came to break our hot spell, it doesn't end there. Within the space of 30 hours, the temperature dropped from a run of days around 39C/102F to 9C/48F. And then it dropped the rest of the way and snowed! This is the height of summer. It doesn't snow in February! The snow didn't settle as the soil temp is too high, but the nights are cold now. Autumn is early this year I think. I did wonder why the goats were in season in January. Just a weather WTH. Cheers

it must be due to global warming

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm a firm believer in global warming. Take for instance the coral bleaching we had a few years ago, which is due to warmer temperatures than the coral can withstand. Those coral heads were over 300 years old, so for 300 years everything was fine. Now we have had two coral bleachings in recent years. Also we used to always have what I call "soldier clouds"- the puffy, cottony cumulus clouds that march in unison across the sky- but now we get a lot more upper atmosphere clouds and stratus clouds. Why? I suspect more moisture being carried in the air. Don't even get me started on the hurricanes, which are driven by warmer water temps. I have kept tabs on the Caribbean and Atlantic weather patterns for many, many years. I see the subtle changes, like sea temperatures rising.

I'm not one of these tinfoil hat wearers. I don't believe they are spraying us with "chemtrails" or that the government is using HAARP to control the weather. I do, however, believe that burning billions of gallons of fossil fuels every year, and all those little heaters (cars) driving around, and air conditioners making homes comfy but spitting hot air out the other end... all have a negative impact on the environment. Also, living on an island, I see the little things like the coral bleaching, the drop in numbers of fish on the reef, and subtle changes in weather patterns that only a weather geek like myself might notice.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Another +1 for global warming. And global cooling too (aka 'ice ages', 'glaciation', 'snowball earth').

Virtually all things (especially human endeavors) have a cost and a benefit. Sometimes we ignore one or the other at our peril. ...Let's make sure we know what we're asking for.

[Wayne Lomman]

Science has give a name to what is happening with our climate but I have plenty of my own observations. While I am FMAO on my southern Island, our northern Australian islands in Torres Strait are flooding. The sea walls can't keep the high tides out anymore. My cold snap does not alter the fact that our average temperature over the year is up. It's just the wild swings that do my head in. My son is just back from a fishing trip at the extreme southern tip of Tasmania. He sat there looking at Antarctica over the horizon while catching king fish which normally inhabit waters 1000km to the north. Tasmanian quarantine authorities are dealing with pest incursions that our latitude used to protect us from. I was in the fruit and vegetable market yesterday and I can now buy locally grown Tasmanian avocados. They are not hothouse grown. Our goats beginning to breed this early in the year is a trend we have been observing for many years. They breed to coincide with the end of the serious cold weather so I am looking toward an early end to winter. Off to work on that happy note! Cheers

[Jim Koepke]

This is the height of summer. It doesn't snow in February!

Here on the opposite side of the Equator we do often have snow in February. So far not much this year. One thing that is odd here for February is the daffodils are starting to pop up.

Maybe we will have an early spring.

Have to see what the groundhog does tomorrow.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

I much prefer the old season dates using the cross quarter days ,as it puts the extremes of the seasons more in the center.
It was the system used for hundreds of years. June 21 as start of summer makes no sense when hottist weather is mid July. Now some of the weather guys are using a new system....Meteorlogical Weather Seasons.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I much prefer the old season dates using the cross quarter days ,as it puts the extremes of the seasons more in the center.
It was the system used for hundreds of years. June 21 as start of summer makes no sense when hottist weather is mid July. Now some of the weather guys are using a new system....Meteorlogical Weather Seasons.

I guess it depends what you’re doing. Offshore navigation and forecasting recognizes the summer and winter solstice and spring and autumn equinox. Astronomically it’s when the season starts. I do see where your method would have applications in agriculture.

[Mel Fulks]

Yep,growing food has always been important. From what I've read none of the almanacs used the current popular system until just over a hundred years ago. I think all of them do now. And with first and last frost dates it works fine. But I prefer "mid summers day " to the "summer solstice". The new Meteorlogical weather season system is just cluttering nonsense that they will be explaining to us with every broadcast for the rest of our lives. Fortunately ,I guess, the stations that can sell all of their advertising time will stick to the more traditional nuttiness.

[Wayne Lomman]

Australian seasons don't actually line up very well with the northern hemisphere models. First Australians actually identify as many as 6 seasons that correctly reflect the variability it Australian climate that does not necessarily line up with European imposed calendars. Researching Australian aboriginal seasons is extremely enlightening. Cheers

[Brian Elfert]

I'm not one of these tinfoil hat wearers. I don't believe they are spraying us with "chemtrails" or that the government is using HAARP to control the weather. I do, however, believe that burning billions of gallons of fossil fuels every year, and all those little heaters (cars) driving around, and air conditioners making homes comfy but spitting hot air out the other end... all have a negative impact on the environment. Also, living on an island, I see the little things like the coral bleaching, the drop in numbers of fish on the reef, and subtle changes in weather patterns that only a weather geek like myself might notice.

Air conditioners simply transfer heat from one location to another. I highly doubt that the use of air conditioners are warming the atmosphere. The amount of conditioned space is a fraction of the total volume of the earth's atmosphere.

Now, the electricity to power air conditioners that comes from fossil fuels is a problem. I just turned on my solar system a bit over a week ago so this summer my generation of electricity from solar should offset my power usage for air conditioning.

[Bill McNiel]

While I agree with all of Malcolm's observations and conclusions, I believe that methane produced by cows and the unbelievable pollution (exhaust from using the lowest grade fuels imaginable and dumped sewage) produced by the super large sea going vessels (freighters and cruise ships ) should be acknowledged as well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

While I agree with all of Malcolm's observations and conclusions, I believe that methane produced by cows and the unbelievable pollution (exhaust from using the lowest grade fuels imaginable and dumped sewage) produced by the super large sea going vessels (freighters and cruise ships ) should be acknowledged as well.

We get as many as 7 cruise ships a day during season. Those things burn the lowest grades of fuel oil. We frequently wash our curtains and they turn the water black. They sit at dock and run their generators all day.

[Wayne Lomman]

While I agree with all of Malcolm's observations and conclusions, I believe that methane produced by cows and the unbelievable pollution (exhaust from using the lowest grade fuels imaginable and dumped sewage) produced by the super large sea going vessels (freighters and cruise ships ) should be acknowledged as well.

This is why Australian beef is good. It's grass fed and methane emissions are way less than grain fed!

That being said, it's should be noted that the food chain emissions cycle is short term. What was emitted today's taken up tomorrow by new growth of grass for example. Mining, drilling etc for hydrocarbon energy sources however is disturbing the long term carbon storage cycle. Going vegan doesn't help. Guess which rainforest system has suffered the greatest degradation to grow soy beans? Use mahogany with the greatest respect. Cheers

[Bruce Wrenn]

We have been in global warming since the last ice age! Remember that record hot plus record cold, make record average.