Weather Blues

You see this?

This is a picture of State Route 28 in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York.  This picture was taken not in January of February but yesterday - May 9, 2020.   It only shows how much the weather is out of whack thanks to the irregular jet stream, which was no doubt altered by climate change.

This has been a very depressing spring even leaving aside COVID-19 and the events I was looking forward to all getting cancelled or postponed as a result.  Not only was there more social activity this past winter, the weather was better?  It was practically snowless and we had mostly tranquil days.  Now after an excessively wet April, there's snow.  In May.  It even snowed in flurries where I am, and after a very chilly rain - the type of weather more associated with March.

Oh yeah, just because air pollution has been dramatically cut by the lockdowns, that doesn't mean climate change is lessening.  Climate change is still on track to radically alter our weather patterns for the worse in the years and decades to come. I heard somewhere that if we went to stop emitting carbon in the air and get our climate back to normal, we have to remain on lockdown for thirty years.

And, given that Trump is screwing up the COVID-19 response, that might actually happen. 

And a chilly spring doesn't mean a temperate summer.  Not only is it still expected to be hot this summer - and the heat won't kill the COVID virus - the hurricane season is expected to be busier than normal, and the almanacs' predictions still stand . . . the Northeast could get hit by a major storm this fall.

And if I may add one last thing . . .

Easter Monday Snow

We thought we'd been spared.  After a bitter, stormy and snowy March that left many people at the end of their tethers - that would include me - we thought April showers would come our way, but instead we got April snow for today, Easter Monday.  And a couple of amateur forecasters on social media - not all of whom are sloppy novices - keep warning us about a major snowstorm of emergency proportions approaching for this coming weekend.  That is less likely to happen at this point - computer projections have been retreating from that prediction somewhat - but the prospect of any April snow shouldn't be taken lightly.  April snow usually melts quickly, but it can stick around long enough if it comes down hard and fast enough . . . and stay cold long enough thereafter.  If that sounds ludicrous, check the weather records for the American Northeast for April 1982 and see how much snow fell on April 6 . . . and how long it stayed cold thereafter.

But then who needs a big snowstorm this coming weekend when today's snow turned out to be worse than expected?  Originally forecast tow be two or three inches, it's almost six inches deep.  The good news is it will be gone in couple of days.  The bad news is that we're going to get a heavy rain, which means a lot of flooding due to rainfall on top of the melting snow.  Meanwhile, I can also assume that the scheduled pickup of yard debris from the March 7 storm in my town has been canceled.  Until further notice.

We're being told five or six days out from the next system not to worry about a repeat of 1982, except for this one guy who gives weather forecasts for my area on social media.  Of course, we were also told not to worry about Hurricane Sandy five or six days out.  As for this weekend's snow maker, well, I'm crossing my fingers.

Spring Unawakening

Spring began at 7:21 PM yesterday, but the balmy weather that northern New Jersey had on Friday has since disappeared. Today we got enough snow to cover the ground (the roads are just wet), suggesting that spring is nowhere nearly around the corner. A mix of rain and snow is forecast for Wednesday despite temperatures expected to be above freezing. (The forecast low is 38; the forecast high, 41.) It's expected to get no warmer than the mid-to-upper 40s for the rest of the week.

It's always depressing when winter weather acts up at this time of year, but hey, that's March for you. It's a meteorologically temperamental month. One day it can be warm and sunny, the next day a blizzard dumps four feet of snow on you. I brought my bicycle in to the local bike shop for tuning for the riding season; I think I may have been premature in doing so.

I don't know how, if at all, the lunar cycle plays in the weather. But it's worth noting that the first full moon of spring - the Sunday after which is Easter - doesn't arrive for nearly a month. That's why Easter is on April 24 - the second latest day on which it can fall - this year.

Speaking of which, that was some supermoon Saturday night, wasn't it? :-)

Back with more later.