More encounters with strange 'ball lightning'

This past week, I had several calls from readers of my column of Sept. 2 that mentioned the 'rare' occurrences of what is called BALL LIGHTNING.

One Press subscriber, who didn't want his name given, told me that he saw ball lightning while he was vacationing on a beach in Cancun, Mexico, in 1992. He said that "it rotated very slowly from the beach into the water some 200 feet east of the spot where he was standing." It was reddish-green and the size of a large watermelon. It took about a minute or so for the ball of lightning, about four to six feet above the ground, to disappear.

Another man saw a ball of lightning while fishing in a boat on a Minnesota lake in the 1970s. It was "the size of a car tire" and "moved very slowly as it rotated into the woods offshore."

But, the most detailed report of ball lightning came from Esther Webb of Coeur d'Alene. She even has an idea of what possibly caused the rare phenomenon.

Esther told me this past Tuesday by phone that while she was raising her family back in the 1960s in the small town of Burke just above Wallace, Idaho, one afternoon she saw lightning strike a transformer near her home. From that transformer came "a greenish-white, basketball-sized ball of lightning that slowly pulsated across the yard and through a narrow opening in a window. It then traveled down a hallway and into the living room where it destroyed a television set. The ball lightning then exited through a slit in the woodshed door that had been left partially ajar," according to Mrs. Webb.

Esther believes that the ball lightning, which stayed between three and six feet above the ground," followed the electric wiring of the house that was buried beneath the home.

She could be right. It makes sense to me. But, I've never personally seen ball lightning. Most meteorologists say that it's still an "unsolved mystery" to them.

OUR WEAK "LA NINA" SEEMS TO BE GETTING WEAKER

By Meteorologist Randy Mann

As of early September, sea-surface temperatures near the West Coast of South America were still about 1-2 degrees below normal, indicating that we have a very weak La Nina event. Within the last several weeks, it appears that La Nina has been slightly weakening as many computer models predicted would be the case by the fall season.

Looking toward the end of this year, if La Nina were to hold on through the late fall or early winter season, then the chances for colder and snowier weather across the northern U.S., including the Inland Empire, would likely increase. During past strong La Nina events, much of the northern portions of the country have had to deal with record snowfalls and much colder than normal temperatures since at least 2007. But, we don't think there would be repeat of those heavy snows, even if La Nina hangs around, but it will probably see a bit colder than normal winter season.

SOLAR STORMS HAVE BEEN DECREASING ONCE AGAIN

By Meteorologist Randy Mann

Many scientists say that our sun is still in the midst of its "maxima" cycle as our star fired off several intense solar storms toward our planet last month.

The sun is likely in the peak of it's current solar 'maxima' cycle, which occurs every 11 years. On Aug.19, the sun's numbers increased to a relatively high 161 storms before dropping back to 35 sunspots on Aug. 26. The latest figure is about 75 sunspots, which is still a relatively low number considering the sun is in it's 'peak' phase.

During the late 1990s when the Earth's temperature was at its highest, the sun was at the height of its "maxima" cycle and producing an average of 200 to 300 sunspots per day.

Starting in 2014, our sun will start to head toward another solar 'minima' cycle. During the last 'minima' phase from 2007 to early 2010, our sun went almost completely quiet as very few, if any, sunspots were seen. During that time, the Earth's temperature did cool and much above normal snowfalls were seen across parts of the northern U.S., including North Idaho.

It's quite possible that the mid 2010's will see a repeat of a cold and snowy period across the northern U.S., especially if a strong cooler La Nina sea-surface temperature pattern forms around the same time. If our current long-standing cycle of Wide Weather 'Extremes,' ANYTHING is possible.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

By Climatologist Cliff Harris

Another loud thunderstorm crashed through the Inland Empire late Thursday evening. Strong winds and scattered hail were reported. We received .37 inches of rain in less than 40 minutes on Player Drive in Coeur d'Alene between 9:50 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Our monthly precipitation total by 10 a.m. on Friday had climbed to .79 inches. Our normal for an entire September since 1895 has been 1.48 inches. Last September, in 2012, we only gauged a 'trace' of rain, tying seven other Septembers for extreme dryness.

Longer-term, the rest of this month looks fairly dry with the return of warmer than normal temperatures as high pressure builds back in from the eastern Pacific Ocean. It's possible that we'll see a scattered shower or thunderstorm, but any rains should be of short duration. I doubt that we'll see any additional 90-degree plus afternoons this summer season. We had our 32nd 'Sholeh Day' on Wednesday, Sept. 4, just ahead of the strong thunderstorms and cooler temperatures.

The October through December period should be a wetter story weatherwise, however, especially if our current 'La Nina' cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event doesn't fall apart prematurely in the Pacific Ocean regions to the west of us.

It's possible that the upcoming winter of 2013-14 will be both colder and snowier than normal across the Inland Northwest, but we need a 'La Nina' or at least an in-between 'La Nada' sea-surface temperature event for that to happen. Stay tuned for further developments.

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