Extreme weather has led to soaring grain and soybean prices

When record cold runs headlong into record warmth, such violent collisions of widely-opposing air masses often produce deadly tornadoes, large-sized hail, torrential rains, damaging winds and widespread lowland flooding. Such has been the case in wild 2010.

Throughout the Northern Hemisphere this spring and early summer, we've seen millions of acres of crops washed out in at least a dozen counties from Canada and the U.S. eastward through Europe and parts of the former Soviet Union.

In recent days, grain and soybean prices in the U.S. and elsewhere have 'skyrocketed,' as the muddy fields have been turned into 'Egyptian bricks' by triple-digit temperatures, again a prime example of our prolonged cycle of wide weather 'extremes.'

As of this Thursday morning writing, wheat prices in Chicago since late June had rallied nearly $1 a bushel. Corn was up more than 60 cents a bushel. Soybeans (July) topped $10 a bushel early in the day.

During the past couple of months, all-time record rains have swamped much of central and eastern Europe, including portions of the former Soviet Union. Tens of thousands of people have had to be evacuated from their flooded homes.

At one point in mid June, more than 90 percent of the rich farmland in the eastern crop zones of Croatia was under water. People were forced to use boats for travel purposes. A 'state of emergency' was declared that lasted for more than two full weeks.

Later that same month, violent storms in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques regions of southern France dumped more than 15 inches of rain in places, resulting in disastrous flooding and several deaths. Rail services and most roads in the area were washed out for days on end.

In Austria, record flooding disrupted rail services and cut a border-crossing with Germany. The River 'Inn' burst its banks and flooded the northern town of Schaerding. Hundreds of homes were evacuated. Thousands of acres of farmland were flooded, ruining 2010 crops.

The flooding in Slovakia during this past June was described as "the worst in centuries." Thousands of homes were flooded. Virtually all of the lowland farms were under water for much of the month. It's now too late to plant or replant in these flooded regions.

In Hungary, floods in June closed at least 60 roads and left 18 towns cut off from the rest of the country. Some of the richest farmland in all of Europe was inundated. Plantings are down at least 30 percent from 2009 levels. Grain prices have risen sharply.

The June floods in Poland likewise cut deep into 2010 planting operations. Thousands of people near the river lowlands were evacuated from their homes by rising waters.

As we mentioned in previous columns, Manitoba and Saskatchewan farmers suffered through their wettest spring season in at least 110 years. It's been impossible for most farmers to navigate their tractors in the extremely muddy fields in southern Canada. Therefore, it's now too late to plant millions of acres in these two provinces. Spring wheat seedings will be at their lowest levels since at least 1971, in some areas since the 1930s.

Elsewhere, while severe drought and record heat continue to stress 2010 crops in northern and central China, record flooding in the past several weeks has caused more than 140,000 houses to collapse in southern China. Nearly 2 million people were forced to seek higher ground. Water levels in many lakes and rivers were higher than in 1998, when catastrophic flooding along the Yangtze River killed an estimated 4,000 people.

Here in the U.S., we've seen all-time record rains and flooding this spring and early summer in places in the Upper Midwest and the northern and central Great Plains. Harvested acres will be "down significantly across the country," according to the U.S.D.A. That includes wheat, corn and soybeans. Now, we're having to deal with triple-digit temperatures and expanding areas of drought.

As my good friend Robert Felix says, "with a cooling planet and definite trend towards colder, wetter and snowier spring seasons, can GLOBAL FOOD SHORTAGES be far behind?"

Yes, Bob, I agree that the current cycle of WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREMES,' the worst in at least 1,000 years, will probably lead to increasing famines worldwide in late 2011 or early 2012.

Maybe the Mayan Calendar will be right in its rather dire predictions for 2012. But, I'm not scared. As my wife Sharon's tee shirt proclaims, most of us still believe that "GOD is LARGE and IN CHARGE!"

Next week in 'Gems,' we'll look at some of the cold and snow records currently being set this harsh winter of 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere. It actually SNOWED in Capetown, South Africa, this past week. Record FREEZES have chilled both South America and Australia, again more 'EXTREMES.'

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEWS AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

We had our first 'Sholeh Day' (at or above 90 degrees) of the season on Thursday afternoon, July 8, with a high of 93. Summer has definitely arrived, a bit late, but certainly welcomed by those individuals starved for sunshine and heat. The 'beach bunnies' are out in droves.

Between now and mid September, we should see at least 25 more afternoons near the 90-degree mark and a couple of days with triple-digit readings by early August.

Total rainfall for the next 60 to 90 days is likely to be at least 30 percent below normal, as a strong stationary ridge of high pressure camps out for the season across the Inland Northwest.

As things now stand, weather prospects for this year's North Idaho Fair and Rodeo look GREAT! I'll have more details on this delightful forecast as the weeks progress, plus I'll update the outlooks for this upcoming fall and winter period and the likelihood of the return of a chilly La Nina.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. E-mail sfharris@roadrunner.com