General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis is without a doubt the most bizarre weather I have ever seen in my life.
Two days ago, it was 80 degrees. Sunny, flowers blooming, trees budding.
Right now, my thermometer says it is 34 degrees. It has been snowing since 3:30 this afternoon and is not predicted to end until noon tomorrow.
At one point this evening, it was snowing, raining and sleeting at the same time. And I know I heard thunder.
This is INSANE. It's MAY, not February.
And the asshole on local right wing radio had the nerve to tell Al Gore he could kiss his ass. Because I guess he thinks Al Gore is responsible for snow in May in the middle of the country.
haikugal
(6,476 posts)Did you break any? How discouraging...I'm sure all the living things are shocked!
proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)haikugal
(6,476 posts)we wasted over a decade doing nothing. We're pretty much committed. Sometimes it's more than I can stand. I hope everything recovers and warms up for you. We had a blizzard in October year before last...all the trees still had their leaves....what a mess!
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)snowed this much here as long as records have been kept.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Still sorta blah out here. So we can't complain, really.
beveeheart
(1,364 posts)we had 80 degrees Sunday, 7" of snow yesterday and all of it melted today (except for some shaded areas) and completely dry roads.
I agree with you...very bizarre weather. And I love your snowman!
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)I am so over it.
beveeheart
(1,364 posts)is very smart.
wandy
(3,539 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)We got snow yesterday and rain today. I'm sad.
nobodyspecial
(2,286 posts)I guess we need to stop calling them 100-year events.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)TBH, you can thank the mass media for exaggerating this whole thing, by the way. There is indeed some truth to it, but not nearly as much as some have been led to believe(again, thank our corporate-owned MSM).
The truth is, even with the reality of AGW, coincidences & pure anomalies can, and still do happen. This is likely one of the latter. So was the Super Outbreak of '74, btw(this was just before climate change became a real problem, btw).
madamesilverspurs
(15,783 posts)(Somebody else said it, can't remember who. But it's certainly true!)
AnnieBW
(10,350 posts)It's not global warming, it's global weirding.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)to the extent that the unprecedented keeps happening, over and over, all over the place.
Which is exactly what global warming theory predicted.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)In fact, I can't remember the last time there was ever a May cold wave in Texas, or anywhere else outside the far North for that matter.
And to be frank, some of the particular repeating events that have happened in recent years are really nothing more than statistical coincidences: the heat waves in 2011/2012 are a damn good example of this.
To be honest with you, this particular event may indeed possibly a symptom. But the problem is, we aren't going to know for sure for quite some time, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise. Climate change is about trends, not any single particular event or isolated anomalies; yes, it is going to get warmer, for sure. Yes, more droughts, and flooding are possible. And yes, Arctic ice is melting. But a cold wave in May, or back-to-back heatwaves on two consecutive years, while strange, isn't necessarily always a real indicator.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)But the truth is the trend is obvious. If the weather pattern was normal, there would be a roughly equal number of record highs and record lows in a given period of time. There aren't. Yes, there are record lows, such as the recent spate along the western plains, but they are far outweighed by the number of record highs.
Climate change models predict more storms, and more extreme weather (including cold) and we are certainly having that. The sheer number of 100-yr storms ought to be a clue: warmer air holds more moisture, so bigger hurricanes, tornados, rain storms and snow storms are the result. I don't know what part of the country you live in, but those of us from snow country know that the closer the temp is to freezing, the more snow we are likely to get out of a storm. Frigid air, on the other hand, holds next to no moisture...which is why the deniers' oft-repeated claims about the "incredible snow build-up" or massive storms in D.C. or whatever are actually part of the proof that they are wrong.
No particular storm (weather) can be proven to be the result of global warming. The proof is in the trends, and the proof is in.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Even with global warming we've had, it's only about .8*C of an increase, which should have little overall impact on summer average temperatures.
There are real, legitimate trends, and then there are pure anomalies. Not every extreme event that happens is necessarily part of a trend. The 2011/2012 heatwaves were kinda obvious in that regard, and frankly, I don't think this particular event is part of any trend, either. And if it was, we won't know for sure for a very long while, I suspect.
TrogL
(32,818 posts)"Global warming/climate change does not necessarily mean it will be warmer than usual in any one place, it means the weather will be crazier."
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)It's a record low for this time of year. Not that I'm complaining. Soon enough it'll be triple digits.
But it's crazy, man, crazy. I totally believe in global warming (who wouldn't believe 2,000 scientists?).
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)It really felt more like January than May this afternoon, TBH.
(Though, to be honest, though this is a rare event, this isn't totally unprecedented, either, and things like this DID occur long before AGW became a problem.)
chillfactor
(7,566 posts)Wenesday it was 80 where I live..the last two days we have been in the low 50's and last night's low (28) was the lowest in recorded history for this time of the year.....
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Getting ever more difficult to figure what to plant and when.
When the weather gets weird, the weird turn hungry I suppose.
Poor Richard would be very poor indeed these days.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Now it is raining and 40ish. Mind you I am not complaining. Ill take 40 over 100.
Wednesdays
(17,248 posts)I wouldn't be surprised if it goes straight from the winter weather to the 100s and stays there.
There's only three seasons in the southern plains: summer, winter, and tornado.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)though earthquake is random and the other two have some sort of a schedule they only vaguely adhere to.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)LeftInTX
(24,546 posts)I've never had my heater on in May ever. It's usually already hotter than hades. The wind is blowing through the cracks, it feels like winter.
Flocks of vultures were disoriented today. I have no idea why.
But, I'll take cold over hot.
Cha
(295,899 posts)all day here on Kaua'i. It's evening now so cooling down, thankfully!
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)We had thunderstorms and hail last night and I'm pet-sitting my sister's Chihuahua, who's bitten my foot once because she refuses to go out in this weather. That wind is vicious and makes those low forties feel like low thirties.
LeftInTX
(24,546 posts)I can relate to Chihuahuas in cold, wet weather.
raccoon
(31,089 posts)I feel like I've died and gone to Canada.
Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)it was 95 and there was a huge brush fire near the coast. I'm praying for a June gloom.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)70s at 10 PM so I don't see how on earth "cooler" is possible.
Hot night ALWAYS equals hot day the next day.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)Coyotl
(15,262 posts)The temperature climbed 50 degrees today and will drop near that much tonight.
Cha
(295,899 posts)Over winter! lol
that is crazy weather, p2Blib
Skittles
(152,964 posts)it is not THAT hard to understand
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Or to be fair, at least some lack the cognitive skills to grasp it. I've seen it more than once in extended conversations. I had one guy who couldn't see the difference between a 30-year cycle and a 30-year average...It's weird trying to talk to someone like that.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Probably 43°. Today it was overcast, very high winds and 51° Never seen felt anything this low in 43 years of living here.
Melissa G
(10,170 posts)My first 19 years were in San Antonio. Weirdest weather ever in my 53 years in Texas.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)and completely bury the northern Front Range in May of 1978. I remember because I had just found out I had gotten into vet school and a bunch of us had a party. We arrived at the party and a little weather was blowing in. By the time we were ready to go home (2 AM-ish), everybody's cars were completely buried.
Must have been about 3 feet of wet snow. And then the very next day a warm chinook wind arrived and melted it all and flooded everything.
I got home from the party in a 4WD driven by a friend of a friend of a friend, and got a car ride back to it the next day, which was wild because of the flooding.
SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)we're not going to reach the 70's until 2 weeks into May.
Freeze meister at work ya'll.
WheelWalker
(8,943 posts)full seed ahead !!!
DallasNE
(7,392 posts)And you have to go back to 1948 for the time before that. Not unheard of certainly but very rare. The funny thing is that we had another mild winter. March ended a string of about 28 straight months of above normal temperatures and with April we now have a new string of 2 straight months of below normal. Outdoor swimming pools are supposed to open up at the end of the month -- hard to believe looking out the window today.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Other than perhaps the very first week of December, we had a normal winter this year here in D/FW and I don't think it was that much different for most areas up north(was watching the weather for a long while. It definitely wasn't mild in most of the North this year. Even here in D/FW we had a chill)
DallasNE
(7,392 posts)While it was nothing like last year it was still above normal in December, January and February. Had more rain than snow this winter and that is not normal. Kansas City got more snow than we did this winter. We did have a prolonged period of chilly weather but it spanned 2 months so neither month overall was below normal. March and April were both well below normal though.
madokie
(51,076 posts)I don't remember it ever snowing this late in the season before.
The thermometer is showing its 33 degrees so I don't think we'll be getting any accumulation but still its snowing. Big flakes and coming right on down.
Here being 35 miles east of Tulsa Ok.
We planted two peach trees Tuesday when it was 87 degrees out. Hopefully they'll be ok. My wife wanted to cover them and I talked her out of it, said it won't snow. Little do I know.
ETA: Update on our peach trees. I figured If I knew what was good for me I'd better truck on out there and cover them up so thats what I did.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)MFM008
(19,776 posts)imagine the heat when it comes.
LeftInTX
(24,546 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)Of course, it hasn't yet been 80 here, but we can't seem to get out of the 40s, and we've had snow, too, only not enough to accumulate. We are desperately hoping that we get a summer this year. The gray, rainy ones are kind of hard to take after our long winters. A lot of our snow has melted, but we still have big piles in the middle of our yards that are a couple of feet thick.
Glitterati
(3,182 posts)the blackberries are blooming, so we'll get one last frost.
At least I hope so, because without the frost, the blackberries won't set fruit.
It's called Blackberry Winter down here - 1 day, 1 last gasp of winter to set the blackberries.
madokie
(51,076 posts)and its a couple weeks away yet.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)There is a reason that I remember that date although I could be wrong.
I don't know where you are, but it can snow in May. It is very rare, but it can.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)the year my little brother was born.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)The farmers in Tyrol and Styria are having trouble already.
malaise
(267,800 posts)Watching on M$NBComcast right now
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)I believe that the overall weather patterns have been disrupted, and we will see no regular patterns to replace them for quite a while. We are in some period of flux that will continue for some indeterminate amount of time.
Eventually there will be new patterns and norms. I have no idea whether I will live to see them.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)The last time climate changed real fast was at the end of the last Ice Age(from 8*C below today to something like maybe 2*C above today's levels at some point). This isn't quite as dramatic, but still cause for concern, as we can all probably agree.
hatrack
(59,439 posts)The latest I can remember was mid-April, and that was back in the early 1970s.
Sweet Freedom
(3,995 posts)It's 48 degrees with 30 mph winds. I've been here since 1981 and don't recall it ever being so cold this time of year.
And the wind has been crazy for a few years.
RKP5637
(67,030 posts)plants, they went back underground, checking their calendars.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)Louisville had the record for most days above normal last Summer I believe. The air over the Ohio stagnates too and it turns this place into a damn hot house. My city also ranked #3 of worst city for allergy sufferers. It feels like #1 to me.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Though nothing's really for certain, either. Cross your fingers, my friend.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)expecting rain and in the low 60s Monday. Nuts.
raccoon
(31,089 posts)I said it, I said it!
TrogL
(32,818 posts)That's August weather here.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)I did notice that at least a few locales in B.C. are looking to be unusually warm, Kelowna & Kamloops in particular. Even Prince George is looking comfortable right now, and they're normally in the upper 50s, I think.
TrogL
(32,818 posts)haele
(12,581 posts)There won't be many that make it through this spring if there continues to be this many sudden shifts in weather. The momma critters can't keep up.
Haele
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Let's try not to count our chickens before they're hatched.
B2G
(9,766 posts)They'll be just fine. Relax.
derby378
(30,252 posts)It feels more like March 3 than May 3 in Dallas. Is this because the jetstream is stuck? Can we blame Joe Barton for this?
B2G
(9,766 posts)I love it. Lots of rain here in the south. Gorgeous!
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Weather has been pretty pleasant, though. Here in D/FW we were actually a bit below average throughout January and off and on in Feb., and definitely in March.
Still, though, if there's anything that should make people ask serious questions, it's the incredibly low number of tornadoes we've had this year; only about 200 so far. Definitely not normal, TBH.
B2G
(9,766 posts)Stable atmosphere due to lower temps. More of an early spring pattern during late spring. Might be an easy storm season this year. The plains states are probably thrilled.
NickB79
(19,111 posts)I'd be worried about them. As it is, I have a yard full of snow AND dead fruit trees.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,815 posts)was in 1907.
Seems to me that our weather has been running just about two months behind. This storm is a typical March storm.
We normally get our worst winter weather in December & January. This year we got two big snow storms the end of February and one the first of March.
I rmember other cold springs, though. And then one day it turns off 90 and we all die from the heat. We go directly from having the furnace on to having to turn on the air.
kimbutgar
(20,873 posts)One day warm one day cold. Here in San Francisco, we've had 4 straight days of 70+ degree weather. This is highly unusual this type of year. I lost one of my herb garden plants cilantro it got sun burned. I have been watering my herb garden daily instead of the usual 2 times a few because there's usually misty fog this time of year.
shanti
(21,670 posts)I bought tomato starts two weeks ago and they have exploded! All of them have set fruit already and one of them has two tomatoes the size of golfballs. I've never seen that so early, even here in the tomato capitol!
marlakay
(11,370 posts)back and forth from sun to snow and back.
womanofthehills
(8,579 posts)New Mexico is now the most drought-stricken state in the US. It's in the "exceptional drought" category; the worst category. I live out in the country surrounded by hundreds of trees - very scary! The weather has been similar here. A few days ago it was 80 degrees during the day. Last night was in the 20's.