Here comes the sun ... and the fair!
Considering the fact that I'll be visiting my 'Gems' readers once again in the Coeur d'Alene Press booth at the North Idaho Fair this Thursday between 4 and 6 p.m., it's probably a good idea to answer some questions that I've received lately concerning what I really believe weatherwise and otherwise, plus some details requested about my family.
As far as the climate issue is concerned, it remains my firm opinion that it's the SUN that is the driving force of our frequent weather changes. They come and go like 'clockwork.' Mankind's puny efforts certainly cannot alter these solar cycles that are a critical part of the God-given natural realm.
Man, however - with his ever-polluting ways, his urban 'heat islands' and his poor stewardship of the planet's environment and its resources - is making these solar-related weather changes more difficult to bear. I'm afraid that it's a case of GREED conquering COMMON SENSE.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Andrew Barrowman's recent "My Turn" column in the Press. He made some good points, which I agreed made sense.
Andrew stated:
"What does matter is whether the amounts of heat received and released from our little planet are, on the average, equal."
As a firm believer in climate changes, I believe that God has equipped the Earth with a natural 'thermostat,' the OCEANS.
Andrew went on to state:
"But, don't be fooled. Just because the Earth gets 'hotter,' it doesn't mean that temperatures will immediately zoom up. Our oceans are gigantic 'heat sinks' that are capable of capturing enormous amounts of thermal (heat) energy from the atmosphere while sea-surface temperatures do not dramatically increase."
I couldn't have said it better myself, Andrew.
As I've claimed for decades now, I believe that we are in the most volatile cycle of WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREMES' in at least 1,000 years, since the days of Leif Ericsson, the mighty Viking chieftain.
For example, the current winter season in South America has been the coldest, and in some cases, the snowiest period in the past century. It's likewise been extremely chilly, thanks to a series of Antarctic coldwaves, in parts of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Europe had another very cold and snowy winter season in 2012-13. Even the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) admits that there hasn't been any significant warming of the lands or oceans in at least 15 years since 1998, except in parts of the Arctic.
But, the summer of 2013 has been the hottest in decades in South Korea, Japan and much of China. Temperatures recently have reached 44 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) in eastern China. Crops like corn, soybeans and cotton have suffered "moderate losses." Just this past week, China purchased an all-time record 713,000 tons of soybeans from the U.S., where the summer has been unusually cool and wet east of the Rockies.
To answer another question, yes, I do believe that we should 'go green' whenever possible, but not at the risk of losing millions of jobs. By the way, I watch CNN and the BBC News more than Fox News.
To answer another question, what I write for the Coeur d'Alene Press is just a small part of my 70-hour-per-week workload. I've been writing for this paper for more than 23 years since early 1990.
I've also been writing weather and commodity columns on a daily basis for networks such as C.N.S., Farm Dayta and DTN for more than 35 years. I issue long-range weather outlooks for most physical commodity-producing nations around the globe every week. This includes countries producing corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, livestock, cotton, rice, sugar, cocoa, canola, coffee, orange juice, etc., etc., etc.
I probably know more about the individual types of climate around the world than any person alive on the planet. I'm not bragging. This is a fact! I've done hundreds of radio interviews on climate over the years, many of these interviews have been featured globally on the Internet. I've also done frequent two-hour shows on Christian Radio in the past several years, mainly covering my favorite subject of "Weather and End-Time Bible Prophecies." I've been a devout 'born-again Christian' since age 12.
As far as politics are concerned, in answering numerous questions on the controversial subject, I tend to vote for the 'person,' not the 'party.' I want to see people elected, male or female, that I can TRUST! I'm thoroughly tired of all the lies and 'doubletalk.' We seem to be losing our precious freedoms, our privacy, as the years progress. And, I'm not just talking about 'drones' or 'artificial clouds' that our government has finally owned-up to thanks to the 'secret leakers.'
In answering questions concerning my family, my beautiful wife Sharon and I have been happily married for more than 52 years now ever since we were hitched in Caldwell, Idaho, on March 23, 1961. We have two sons, Brian and Brent. Brian was born exactly on our first anniversary on March 23, 1962. Brent was born a year later. We have three grandchildren, Logan, Nicole and Kim.
We are proud parents of two toy poodles, 'Genny' and 'Sholeh,' named for Press columnist Sholeh Patrick, the wife of our esteemed editor, Mike Patrick. They are two little 'firecrackers' born on July 4, 2009. We love them to death! See ya at the Fair.
North Idaho weather review
As we expected, this sweltering summer of 2013 has been the hottest since 2009, when we had our last afternoon at or above 100 degrees on Aug. 20, just prior to the annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo. There were 30 'Sholeh Days' in 2009 at or above 90 degrees. The summers of 2010, 2011 and 2012 each had a total of 22 Sholeh Days, a bit below the 118-year normal of 24 such hot afternoons.
Thus far, as of Thursday, Aug. 15, we had observed 28 Sholeh Days this summer since late June. July 2's 99 degrees in town was our hottest day yet this summer. We had a streak of 11 afternoons in a row between July 16 and July 26. As of this writing, we had reached 10 days in a row this August with 90 degree plus temperatures.
Also as predicted, we have seen some brief thunderstorms at times following the record 1.31-inch coldbursts of Aug. 2-3 that helped ease the extremely high local fire danger levels.
Randy Mann and I see more scattered showers and thunderstorms possibly developing at the very end of August into early September. But, the 'good news' is that the weather should be mostly dry and warm, but not too hot, for the annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo between Aug. 20 and 25.
Remember, I'll be in the Coeur d'Alene Press booth between 4 and 6 p.m. this Thursday. Hope to see you there ... Cliff Harris.
A special 'thank you' note:
Randy and Sally Mann and Sharon and I wish to express our greatest appreciation to Fred and Diane Finney for giving us the 'grand tour' this past Sunday of their 'work of art' $4.2 million house boat on the shores of the Spokane River. This boat will soon be featured on the Travel Channel. Fred is working on another beautiful cruise boat for Lake Pleasant in Arizona that will be delivered this January. Fred has built many such boats in his long career, including those on Lake Coeur d'Alene.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com
CliffHarris
Weather Gems
Weekly Weather Almanac
• Week's warmest temperature: 92 degrees on Aug. 15
• Week's coldest temperature: 57 degrees on Aug. 14
• Weekly precipitation: 0.02 inches
• Precipitation month to date: 1.39 inches
• Normal precipitation month to date: 0.71 inches
• Precipitation month to date last year: 0.00 inches
• Precipitation year to date: 16.55 inches
• Normal precipitation year to date: 15.58 inches
• Precipitation last year to date: 29.09 inches
• Normal annual precipitation: 26.77 inches
• Total precipitation last year: 43.27 inches
• Precipitation predicted this year: 28.40 inches
• Wettest month on record (since 1895): 9.91 inches in December 1933
• Record annual precipitation: 43.27 inches in 2012
• All-time least annual precipitation: 15.18 inches in 1929
Readings taken week ending Sunday, 3 p.m., Aug. 18