Partially inspired by this thread (which is similar, but not quite the same – the GQ there was whether the snow in the west was somehow causing the weather in the east, and the answer appears to be fairly definitively “no”), and partially because I’ve been waiting for the weather nerds on TV to discuss this but so far haven’t seen anything:
What’s causing the extremely mild winter weather this year? Last year was a fairly mild winter by Ohio standards, but by Christmas we’d had at least a couple of major snowfalls and some cold weather. This year I think it’s snowed once, maybe twice, neither time was significant, and there has been zero snow cover on the ground. The daytime highs have been in the 40s-60s. It’s like a pleasant springtime out there. Is this global warming, or is it just a freak occurrence, and if you can say positively which, please explain how you can tell. Also, can we be expecting more mild winters like this? Should I sell the kids’ sleds and snowsuits on ebay to Coloradians? Please enlighten me.
I don’t know, but it’s creeping everyone I know out. In Bancroft, Ontario, it’s supposed to have highs above freezing for the next two weeks. This is in an area that should be getting -20C highs. There is no snow. And my friend told me that a tulip tree is blooming near her sister’s place in Dunnville, Omtario, on the north shore of Lake Erie.
One of the curious things about global warming is that it doesn’t mean that all weather everywhere will be warmer (it doesn’t mean we can look forward to milder winters, for example). So whether or not we are experiencing global warming, a mild winter here in the Upper Midwest this year is not necessarily evidence of it.
It’s been extremely mild in Cleveland this winter, too. Our weather is usually a bit harsher than Columbus’s (esp. to the east of Cleveland, in the “Lake [Erie] effect” snow belt), but has been quite balmy for many weeks. I dunno if this particular run of mild weather is due to global climate change or El Nino, although I did read an article a few years back (in Nature magazine, maybe?) suggesting that Cleveland and other places in its climate belt would actually be beneficiaries of global climate change, with milder summers and winters overall.
There was an article in a paper I read recently wherein it was stated that the current El Niño is not behaving as expected; the weather patterns are quite different this time around.
I’ve learned that I have a fairly high degree of control over the universe that way. Although, it’s all in hindsight…so it’s not really control is it?
If I want the traffic light to change all I have to do is shift my car out of gear. It works 90% of the time. If I want the commercials to end on a particular show I’m watching all I have to do is go to the bathroom for an extended visit (pc way to say POO).
Soooooo, it’s really my fault. See I learned how to ski this year, and so there will be no snow. Just crappy artificial ice-water-slush-stuff.
Just chiming in to say that it’s the same in norther Europe. We usually have mild winters where I live, but someone is playing silly buggers. It’s about 10C higher than usual for this time of year, meaning 10-12C.
People are complaining about pollen allergies. In January.
I would really enjoy this mild winter we’re experiencing here in the D.C. metro area if I could be assured that the miserable heat and humidity of a typical D.C. summer would cease to exist. Or turn up in California, let them whine about the humidity for a while:-)
That’s why scientists generally don’t use the term “Global Warming”, prefering either “Climate Change”, or the more accurate term for what we are concerned about: “Anthropogenic Climate Change”.
So where is the cold air? Is the polar High pressure just sitting inside the arctic circle? Usually if it is extra warm in one northern area it is extra cold in a different northern area. So is it unusually cold in Siberia or Alaska? Or is the artic staying colder than normal? I couldn’t find anything on NOAA’s site but I’m a newbie.
Thanks for the link, Elendil’s Heir. I wish they’d gone into more detail about why that meteorologist doesn’t think this is linked to global warming/climate change, but I guess with a CNN story I’ll take what I can get.
