Our Changing Weather Fortunes

Sorry that it has been a little while since the last post. Life gets busy at times and it seems to be ramping up lately. Hopefully, things will slow down a little for the end of the year.

In my last post, I wrote about the hot, dry weather. Well, as you know, we have had rain, plenty of rain. 3 to 6 inches of rain last week alone. Is the drought over? Not exactly, but the heavy rains were a great start to ending it. We just need to get consistent rains for the next 6 months and we'll be in good shape.

Temperatures have been really warm this month, but even that has changed. You can see by the graph that most of the month has seen highs and lows well above average. We'll be lucky to get to 6o today and this morning saw widespread frost in many areas for the first time all season. In spite of the recent chill, this month may very well go down as the warmest October on record.

Getting back to the busy schedule. 2 weekends ago we went to Williamsburg and stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge. This is a great place for families as there is an indoor water park along with a game called MagiQuest that my 7 year old, Philip, really loved. Williamsburg is also a beautiful part of Virginia and just about 35 minutes past Richmond.

We also went to Busch Gardens and ran out of time to do anything more than grab lunch in Colonial Williamsburg. I want to check out Colonial Williamsburg, as I remember my parents taking me when I was little and I kind of feel obligated to show my son this "living history" exhibit. Mom always felt it was important to expose us to some culture and I guess some of that has rubbed off.

In 1985, the family went to Cancun, Mexico. My brother and I were almost 19 and while we enjoyed snorkeling and the fun stuff in Cancun, Mom dragged us to Chitchen Itza, the Mayan city in the middle of the jungles of the Yucatan. It was a long bus ride, 3 hours in each direction, and it was hot, but I remember it to this day. I climbed the pyramid, both inside and out, and I marveled at the ruins. Mom didn't have to take me and my brother to this amazing place, but she felt it would be good for us. She was right!

A Dubious Record

Today, October 18th, marks the 34th day since measurable rain has been recorded at Reagan National Airport. While we have had a few trace reports, we have failed to measure at least .01" for over a month. If we do not see any rain today, this will break the record which was set between August 6th and September 8th 1995.

Across the region, communities have been enacting water restrictions with parts of Loudoun County and Frederick, Maryland the latest to join in the limits on water use.

According to the US Drought Monitor, much of Maryland and Virginia (along with DC) are experiencing Severe Drought Conditions.

Drought which has destroyed many crops and homeowners yards and gardens. Drought which has been exacerbated by unseasonably warm temperatures and a depressing lack of rainfall.

The fall and winter are the time of the year that we recharge our water sources. The trees and plants aren't using nearly the levels of water they do when they are full of leaves and are producing flowers and fruit. So, the next 6 months are critically important for all of us. if we do not get the reservoirs and the aquifers filled up by Springtime, we could be in a much worse drought in 2008.

I don't know about you, but we've had more than our fair share of "nice" days and I'd welcome some "nice" rainy days for a change.

Al Gore's Peace Prize, etc....

Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize(sharing it with the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change) for his work on raising the awareness of the world to global climate change. The former Vice President has also won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, for his movie "An Inconvenient Truth". To his credit, more and more people are talking about "Global Warming" and many individuals are taking steps to do what they can to be more energy efficient and reduce their "carbon footprint".

I'm one of those who has compact fluorescent lights in my house and I now drive a fuel efficient Honda Civic.

But, and you knew a BUT was coming, I have some doubts about the accuracy of the claims of the global warming alarmists. Without getting to detailed about this claim or that claim, I just am skeptical because the amount of time that we have detailed data is minimal compared to the life of the planet. Also, computer models are only as good as the data that goes into them.

Yes, we seem to be warming and yes, we have higher levels of greenhouse gases than we used to. But we don't know for sure if there are some underlying planetary cycles that may also be going on here that could have a much greater impact than we could ever imagine.

I was just reading an article at WorldClimateReport.com that discusses the increase in the amount of snow and ice pack on the Antarctic Continent. It makes sense that if we are warming, then the atmosphere can hold more moisture and more rain(or snow) can fall.

At the South Pole, which is a landmass unlike the North Pole, it will still be cold enough for snow, but the warming there could actually build the ice pack, due to increase in atmospheric moisture which would increase the snowfall and that in turn could reduce ocean levels. Maybe all those forecasts about rising sea levels might not come true.

I think that reducing pollution and our dependence on foreign oil and developing cleaner energies are all good goals and we should pursue them vigorously. But, I also think it's too early to know what effects human activity will ultimately have on our planet. Whatever happens or doesn't happen, I believe we'll adapt like we always have.

What Do Michael Vick and Free Speech Have in Common?

I heard an interesting story on the radio as I was driving in to work on Wednesday morning. It involves a "tasteless" t-shirt, and a couple of college football teams.

Texas Tech is hosting Texas A&M in Lubbock this Saturday. If you've ever been to Texas, you realize how big football is. By itself, this is a good rivalry, but some of the locals in Lubbock, may have gone too far.

A t-shirt was produced by a business student at Texas Tech, Geoffrey Candia, who saw a potentially profitable endeavour . The shirt says "VICK'EM" on one side and then a likeness of number 7 (Michael Vick's number) hanging a dog that is wearing a doggie sweater with the word "AGGIES" on it. The university did not give permission for him to sell the shirt on campus, so it's being sold off campus.


Understandably, some are upset by this thinking that it's just in bad taste.

An article in the "Texas A&M Battalion" has many of the details and this is where the image of the t-shirt came from.


The article stated that Candia planned to sell the t-shirt through his fraternity and donate 50% of the proceeds to the Animal Defense League in Lubbock.

Candia was just trying to have fun. Did he go too far or is the PC police out of control? I have mixed feelings here.


I think what Michael Vick did to the dogs is despicable and indefensible and I am amazed by the public figures who have tried to make excuses for him. On the other hand, we supposedly have free speech in this country and I am bothered by attempts to shut voices down, just because we may be made uncomfortable by what someone says.


One other thing in the article in The Battalion, the Animal Defense League said that they would refuse any donations from Candia because "we're not taking dirty money". That one just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't see how this is "dirty money".


Will Texas A&M beat up on the Red Raiders on Saturday and bring a victory home? That would be the ultimate response.

Fall is about to Begin

What a weekend. A few clouds hung tough in Saturday, but Sunday lived up to its name and that helped push the high temp at Reagan National to 92. Not a record there, but Dulles hit 91 and that did set a new record. Pretty amazing, especially when you consider the average high over the past 30 years in Washington is now down to 71.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. A cold front will be moving through Tuesday night and that will usher in more "normal" weather. In fact, there are signs that weekend temps may not even get out of the 60s. I know that you've probably been using the air conditioning a lot lately, but I imagine that you'll need the furnace by this weekend with overnight temps down into the 40s.

One thing that we an use is rain. It's been a pathetic year with deficits running between 8 and 19 inches. We're running about 4 inches below normal just since September 1st. Several areas are under water restrictions and if we don't get a decent amount of rainfall this fall and winter, I fear that 2008 could be as bad if not worse than in 2002.

Along with the farmers, landscapers are also hurting as many people have put their landscape plans on hold until the weather changes. Perhaps planting some more hearty and drought resistant varieties is the way to go.

Best Laid Plans.....

It was a very interesting Monday morning. Initially, my photographer, Paul Lester and I were heading to do a "feature" report for the morning news when a 4 alarm fire broke out in the 2600 block of Adams Mill Road NW. This meant that the live truck that we were going to use was needed to help with fire coverage.

I'm not a hard news reporter Jim, I'm a meteorologist! I actually have had some reporting experience in my career, so I was able to help out a bit. I find that just being naturally curious and listening to what people are saying can make a big difference when reporting.

Jan Fox was our reporter on the scene and I did what I could to help her. I tracked down DC Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin for Jan to interview live during the 6 AM news and then I tried to find some tenants of the building that was on fire.

Understandably, many of the newly displaced residents just didn't want to talk to the news people. Off camera I was told some stories. One lady, whose name I did not get, is a nurse. She's used to being up at this time of night.

Another woman, Caroline Goodwhite, and I had quite a conversation. Maybe it was because of her Tulane Sweatshirt and the fact that I lived in New Orleans for 5 years that I felt a connection. Caroline works for the EPA as a water quality expert and this morning her first floor unit was full of water of questionable quality. She's fine and she has family around since she grew up in the area, so I expect that she'll be OK. She'll be needing a new wardrobe and other stuff, but I'm not worrying about Caroline. I did find it somewhat interesting that Caroline was going to graduate school in New Orleans until Katrina came and closed the school. So, this poor woman has been flooded out and now burned out. I just can't imagine what the future holds for her....

One other thought, last week I wrote about the Red Cross and how they help so many in times of need. They were out in full force this morning offering shelter and assistance to those who were affected. I was also reminded of what I learned just last week; home fires are the number 1 disaster threat for Americans. Please make sure that your valuable papers are in a safe deposit box and that your smoke detectors are in working order.