More 'rare' late April snows, but warmer days are ahead into early May

It's been an extremely long winter season across North Idaho and the surrounding regions. We began with the snowiest November on record since at least 1895 in Coeur d'Alene at a whopping 38.3 inches.

Spo-kane measured a record 2 feet of the white stuff. Five feet of snow was measured at Lookout Pass during Nov-ember. Big Mountain in Whitefish, Mont., picked up 58 inches in November.

Currently the Big Mountain supports a snowpack that's 150 percent of normal as of April 21. Ironically, the Twin Lakes 'snowbelt area' had only slightly more snow than normal this winter as many storms went to the south near I-90.

Our seasonal snowfall in Coeur d'Alene stood at 117.7 inches as of noon, April 21, 47.9 inches above our normal for an entire winter season ending June 30 of 69.8 inches. We've measured an incredible 99.3 inches more snow this 'La Nina' winter than last year's puny 18.4 inches at the same location during the warm, dry 'El Nino' event. Spokane has gauged nearly 70 inches of snow this season, well above the usual normal of 48 inches or so.

Since our 'Sun went silent' in 2007, we have seen five spring seasons in a row with cooler-than-normal temperatures and wetter-than-usual weather patterns.

According to my friend Bob Hollingsworth of Wolf Lodge, a 40-year resident of North Idaho, our trees in the region appear as if it's mid-March and are "far behind in leafing out." He doesn't see blossoms developing for "at least two more weeks until about May 3-7, or even later in some cases."

Between 2007 and 2010, most deciduous trees were not fully leafed out until May 1 or later in our area. This compares to the normal pre-2007 leafing-out period of between late March and mid April.

Last year, in 2010, we had frequent frosts into early July in the coldest areas away from the warming effects of the lakes. Gardeners were ready "to lynch the weatherman" last spring.

Bob could not get his garden planted until after July 4, much too late for corn, tomatoes and other vegetables. We were still ripening tomatoes on the kitchen window sills in early to mid November on Player Drive. Sharon wasn't happy.

But, there's still hope for a bountiful harvest in 2011 across the region.

Again, according to Bob, during the spring of 2008, the leaves did not become fully leafed out until early May and he still saw bumper crops of pears, plums and some apples. One tree alone produced "38 gallons of pears!"

By comparison, in 2010, Bob harvested "only three pears off a total of three trees," his worst harvest ever.

Since 2007, it's either been too wet or too cold to plant early. Even the summer seasons have been generally much cooler than usual in the North Country. (Where's that dumb 'global warming' when you need it?)

As Dr. Iben Browning Jr. said back in the chilly 1970s before the latest cycle of warming, "global cooling cuts world supplies of food resulting in skyrocketing agricultural prices and widespread famines." This is what we're now seeing in the marketplace on a global scale.

Much of the political unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere is directly related to starving families. "Desperate people take desperate measures to survive," especially when their leaders are living in the lap of luxury," like Gaddafi, Mubarak annd others.

But, both climate changes and the resulting political changes have affected the affairs of Mankind for thousands of years. Remember, there is literally 'nothing new under the sun.' Cycles of war and peace come and go, with cycles of prosperity and depression.

Also, history tells us that the warm periods are far more beneficial to agriculture and businesses than the cold, harsh cycles. Give me global warming any day over our current colder weather phase!

NORTH IDAHO

LONG-RANGE WEATHER OUTLOOKS

Temperatures were in the chilly mid 30s this Thursday morning, April 21, and it was 'snowing like crazy' during the morning hours ahead of a later-than-normal Easter weekend.

We haven't seen a day above 60 degrees on Player Drive since Oct. 17, 2010, when the mercury reached 62 degrees. (It was 59.6 degrees on November 6, 2010.)

During the past six months, thanks to 'La Nina,' we've seen temperatures averaging 4.3 degrees below normal in town. The first three weeks of April were the coldest on record at 8.9 degrees below normal, more typical of the month of March than April. It was a near-record 24 degrees on April 20 on Player Drive with a hard freeze.

Our April snowfall total, as of noon on Thursday, stood at 4.3 inches, very close to the 4.8 inches that normally falls during the first three weeks of March. Our normal April snowfall for an entire month since 1895 is just 0.7 inches. Last April in 2010, during the warm 'El Nino,' we gauged 0.6 inches of snow. Our all-time record April snowfall of 8.2 inches in Coeur d'Alene was set nearly a century ago in 1920, likewise during a chilly 'La Nina' event.

If we don't reach 60 degrees this Easter weekend, I don't see any warmer-than-normal weather until early May. But, at least afternoon highs should be in the milder 50s with morning lows in the mid to upper 30s rather than the mid to upper 20s of this past week. It was 29 degrees the morning of April 21 on Player Drive.

Longer term, Randy Mann and I are still hopeful that we'll see a warm and dry summer season in 2011 as 'La Nina' finally dies off in the tepid waters of the Pacific.

A very strong stationary ridge of high pressure could begin in June lasting through July, August and at least early September. This should mean lots of 'Sholeh Days' this summer with afternoon highs near or above 90 degrees. At least three or four days may see afternoon maximum readings near or above the century mark in the Inland Empire.

But, if we do see unusually hot, dry and windy weather this summer, it could spell BIG TROUBLE for this region's parched grasslands and forests. Fires could rage over wide areas of the Far West later in the season. Stay tuned.

ADDED NOTE

This week, it was reported that "SOOT from Russia's forest fires and elsewhere may be the cause of the Arctic's warming." The dark particles may be "absorbing sunlight, rather than reflecting it back into space."

The mid-latitudes have been cooler since 2007, in most areas, especially during the winter and spring seasons, when we've frequently seen unusually strong storm systems caused by the violent collisions of the wide-opposing air masses.

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