Boy On Top Of The News

Somebody at KDSM FOX 17, or WHO TV HD, has some splainin' to do after running a newscast from November 13 during halftime of the Packers - Giants game yesterday.

It made our guy, Dave Price, look bad with this lead story...

FATAL ACCIDENT: Des Moines Officials found a man under a car in an accident Sunday afternoon.

Weather Boy Blunder, Brett McIntyre, looked just as bad with a weather forecast for Monday that predicted a high of 55. Per the National Weather Service the high in Des Moines on Monday November 14 2011 was 62.

That's considered an accurate forecast for TV Weather Wienies.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

Wooly Bully

Gore-BULL Warming?

Tusk, Tusk.

Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

Per the National Weather Service (NWS) we received at least 3 inches of snow yesterday.

It's a wet, heavy, slush type of snow.

The kind that's ripe for giving a heart attack or at the least pulling a muscle

NWS records indicate for the month we've received 21 1/2" and since December 1 we top out at 51.4" .

That's Mammoth and the scientific community is united in that fact!

Wait, it gets better...

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."

And...

And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its "lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.

The ice is back.

Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year.

Finally...

Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off man made climate change as "a drop in the bucket." Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to "stock up on fur coats."

Watching And Waiting

I thought I was doing the smart thing when I bought a weather radio, last year, but the National Weather Service is making me wonder.

Their shrill blaring of an alarm for a severe thunderstorm watch is rude, and the scientific community is united in that fact, especially at 2:54 a.m. for a watch that is in effect until 10 a.m.

It's akin to me getting all worked up about a fart, when I may, or may not, crap hours later.

Watching is what the NWS is paid to do, when the situation warrants, then warn me and I'll act.

Do you know the difference between a watch and a warning?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a watch means I should go about my normal activities.

That's damn difficult to do after being startled awake by the horrendous honking of an alarm whose volume cannot be turned down.

Hot Fun In The Summertime

Hot off the presses is this Ragister Opinion piece by two professors on the Greenhouse Effect, err Global Warming, err Climate Change.

Iowa View: More extremes seen as climate changes

It's not an Iowa View when one of the authors, Don Wuebbles wobble but they don't fall down,  is from Illinois and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The opening paragraph does nothing to make their case -- Summer 2012 is barely a week old, but already Iowans are wondering if we’re headed for a record setting season. Temperatures in Des Moines have flirted with 1934’s record of 102 degrees. It’s been a hot start to 2012.

The record was from 78 years ago, which shows it's not unprecedented.

Not only did Des Moines not hit 102, the warmest it has been this summer is 100.

That's the first time the Capitol City has reached the century mark in nearly 6 years (2006).

The rest of the piece by the Chicken Little's tries to blame climate change for extreme weather and the damage caused by storms.

However, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Extremes, released on March 28 and states, “There is medium evidence and high agreement that long-term trends in normalized [property] losses have not been attributed to natural or anthropogenic climate change.” 

This just in -- June was below normal for tornadoes.

The warning coordination meteorologist for National Weather Service office in Johnston says, We really are below normal. We haven’t had any so far in the state.

Damn you climate change, oh the humanity.

The opinion piece concludes with the usual fiberal talking points -- renewable energy, powering more homes with wind and solar energy; build a Midwest high-speed passenger rail system and make bicycle riding a safer option for commuters.

In lieu of the extreme weather, that last option doesn't appear to be a safe one.

Time For Action?

Speaking in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union at Iowa State University, State Senator Rob "Boss" Hogg promoted his book on the Greenhouse Effect, err Global Warming, err Climate Change.

State senator calls for climate control action

"Boss" Hogg droned on for an hour, contributing to the higher levels of carbon dioxide by expelling copious amounts of CO₂ and the scientific community is united in that fact.

It's a good thing for "Boss" Hogg that there isn’t the slightest evidence that more carbon dioxide has caused more extreme weather.

As for extreme weather, caused by global warming, it is not supported by science.

“General statements about extremes are almost nowhere to be found in the literature but seem to abound in the popular media,” climate scientist Gavin Smith of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies said last month. “It’s this popular perception that global warming means all extremes have to increase all the time, even though if anyone thinks about that for 10 seconds they realize that’s nonsense.”

It turns out that the overall effect of climate change will be positive for humankind and the planet.

Like Tornadoes in Iowa, with this year seeing the fewest such storms since comprehensive tracking began 33 years ago. The National Weather Service said that's one less than the previous low of 16 set in 2012.

Listening For The Weather

To say the least, I was completely stunned when I tuned into a 6 p.m. Saturday TV forecast to find the weather wienies now guestimating up to 9 inches of snow by Monday.

A mere 24 hours earlier these blabbering blowhards balked at any miserable precipitation in Central Iowa.

The Ragister interviewed a government employee, with the National Weather Service, who's advice to commuters Monday morning was -- drivers should pay extra attention to the forecast.

My advice to you is get a freaking forecast right.

And the scientific community is united in that fact!

In the same article, by Ragister reporter(?) Lillian Schrock, it was noted Sheraton and Cedar Rapids have seen the most rain in the state with over an inch.

I'm not sure if they were referring to the Sheraton in Iowa City or West Des Moines.

More likely the third year Drake University student, studying Journalism and Sociology with a concentration in French studies, meant Chariton.

A Change Of Seasons

Ragister reporter Joel Aschbrenner makes an Ash of President Obama, The Pickle and all believers of the Greenhouse Effect, err Global Warming, err Climate Change .

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

After year of dramatic weather shifts, what's next?

Pinning down a specific cause for the dramatic shift in the weather is difficult.

“There’s not a real smoking gun,” said Jim Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Johnston office.

According to State climatologist Harry Hillaker, June wrapped up as one of the more “normal” months we’ve had in some time...as the past month saw both temperatures and precipitation that were nearly dead on.

As for the answer to Aschbrenner's question, Hillaker says Iowa could be in for near-normal temperatures and precipitation during July.

Rhythm Of The Rain

It's amazing how on August 27 the Ragister can run a story that states a wet start to the summer has put rainfall totals in the Des Moines area an inch above normal since June, and nearly 3 inches above normal for the year.

Six days later they have a Third of state parched by drought

Because of two months of dry weather?

Per the National Weather Service, Des Moines received 1.47 inches of precipitation for July and that was down compared to a normal value of 4.18.

The climate normal period for July is considered 1971 to 2000.

In August, Des Moines received 3.18 inches of precipitation and that was down compared to a normal value of 4.13.

The climate normal period for August is considered 1981 to 2010.

One has to wonder where there is no consistency in dates from month to month for a climate normal period and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Texas is having a drought, two months should not a drought make and the weather wienies should be embarrassed to say so.

Especially since the last four years have been above-average rainfall years for Iowa.

White Christmas

It's hard to believe it was two weeks ago when the Ragister reported(?)...

Dreaming of a white Christmas?
Don’t get your hopes up.
While official forecasts don’t predict as far ahead as Dec. 25, it’s unlikely Iowans will wake up to snow on Christmas day, based on history and current weather patterns, a National Weather Service official says.

I hope those racists who wanted a WHITE Christmas are happy.

These idiots who need snow to get them in the Christmas spirit deserve to have it dumped only on them and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The Ragister also noted, Only in your dreams will Des Moines get a foot-and-a-half of snow this Christmas.

13.1 inches is CLOSE!

Surprisingly, it ended up on the ground

Blizzard blankets Iowa in white, more than 13″ of snow on the ground

I'm just pleased that we haven't lost power, so far.

Harry

In interviews that appeared in the Ragister (April 1) and Radio Iowa (April 2), State climatologist Harry Hillaker is reported to have said this about last month's weather --

March 2013 was the coldest March in Iowa since 1975 and the 17th coldest in history.

And

we have to go back all the way to 1984 to find a colder March, and possibly further back once all the data comes in.

As for temperatures -- In March, temperatures were roughly 22 degrees cooler every day than they were last March, Hillaker said. But that didn’t break any records, falling only 6 degrees below the monthly average.

And

“Preliminarily, temperatures averaging about seven degrees colder than usual,” Hillaker says.

Snowfall for March -- “Actually, the snowiest March since 1998 — the state average was about 9.8-inches.

The National Weather Service has it at 9.6 inches.

Close enough for government work and the scientific community is united in that fact.

In The Summertime

It was so hot last week that I think I melted from 6'8" to 5'10".

The Ragister ran an AP piece that wondered

Climate change or just Mother Nature?

Naturally, the CONsensus among the cozen was Climate Change.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

The one person, John Christy, who stated, “The guilty party, in my view, is Mother Nature” was labeled a global warming skeptic and was the only person not identified professionally.


Dr. John R. Christy is the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville where he began studying global climate issues in 1987. Since November 2000 he has been Alabama's State Climatologist.

Must have been some sort of oversight, probably a typo.

Of the four days that Des Moines reached triple digits (7/4-101, 7/5-101, 7/6-102, 7/7-100) not one set a record, although Des Moines tied the 1936 record of 100 on July 7.

On Saturday, Des Moines’ temperature marked the first time a record high in the city was matched or exceeded during the month of July since 1955, according to the National Weather Service.

The other records for those dates, 109 on 7/4 & 106 on 7/5, go back to 1936.

The record on 7/6 was 104 in 1886.

Hardly virgin territory.

It looks like the whole Climate Change caboodle needs to chillax.

Not Wild About Harry

In October I copied down a Ragister article that featured the State Climatologist, Harry Hillaker.

I was hopeful he'd be spot on when he stated...

"the midwinter months of December, January and February, we often have warmer than normal and drier months, which means less snowfall".

BUZZ--WRONG!

It’s official, Des Moines: This December is the snowiest on record.

Des Moines has recorded 27.7 inches for the month, besting the 2000 record of 26.9 inches.

Des Moines could add to its snowfall this week. There’s a 50 percent chance of snow on Wednesday according to the National Weather Service.

This must be what is meant by epic fail and the scientific community is united in that fact.

April Fool

Only an idiot would think winter was done when spring had sprung on the calendar and the scientific community is united in that fact.


Light snow moving into portions of western Iowa this morning may reduce visibility for drivers. The National Weather Service said a dusting to a half inch of snow is possible.

It will be cloudy in Des Moines this morning with isolated light snow.

I've seen it snow during the weekend of the Drake Relays at the end of April.

You Were So Warm?

He doesn't want to get into personally criticizing the rich phonies, like himself, who have a bigger carbon footprint in one year than you and I have in a lifetime.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

However, Al Gore equates you to a racist and homophobe if you don't believe him on Greenhouse Effect, err Global Warming, err Climate Change.

When I mentioned this to my wife, Chris chided Gore as a hypocrite.

I said I thought hypocrite wasn't a strong enough word for someone who has privately jetted around the world.

Someone who leaves a Lincoln Town Car idling, with the air conditioning on, for 20 minutes, so Tipper and his daughter Karenna are cool.

Someone who, in one home, used enough electricity in one year that would have powered 232 homes for a month.

Someone who, sold his Current TV Network to Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, for $500 Million.

Chris suggested HYPERcrite and I thought that was closer to the truth.

Gore has previously stated that the science is settled on global warming and that 97 to 98 percent of the worlds’ scientists attest to its veracity

It must be unsettling to find that scientists are 95 per cent sure that humans are to blame for climate change

Gore also stated, The hurricane scale used to be 1-5 and now they’re adding a 6.

BUZZ--WRONG!

According to Chris Vaccaro, director of the National Weather Service’s office of public affairs --

No, we’re not pursuing any such change. But with his penchant for overstatement, Gore will continue to be a divisive and less than credible voice in climate change discourse.

Because Gore is okay with fudging the facts --

"Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an overrepresentation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is..."  

Some of those 90+ percent of scientists must be confused by facts as to whether the planet is warming or cooling.

On one hand we're told, the Earth steadily continued to heat up, but in the same article we're advised that cloud-dwelling pollutants block the sun's heat, keeping the surface temperature of the Earth from rising.

What difference does it make anyway, NBC tells us that even if we stop producing carbon emissions now, climate change will persist for hundreds of years.

If that's the case, it's past time to start worrying about stopping climate change and change the focus to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.