Global cooling to intensify in the next 15-20 years

Since the extremely snowy winter of 2007-08, we've seen a series of harsh winters in both hemispheres. Despite the warm El Nino event in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, we are currently enduring one of the coldest, and in some cases, snowiest, early to mid November periods on record across the North American continent.

Sub-zero readings have been observed in the north-central U.S. and south-central Canada with single digits as far south as Kansas and Missouri. Corn, soybeans and other crops still left in the fields of the Upper Midwest have been damaged by the extreme cold. Every "full moon" cycle each month since August has observed record cold and crop-damaging freezes north of U.S. Highway 20 in Iowa and points north into Canada.

It's the opinion of this climatologist and many other climate scientists around the world that we've entered a prolonged period of INTENSE GLOBAL COOLING that should persist for at least another 15-20 years until the return of MUCH WARMER weather in the early to mid 2030s. Remember, folks, both Randy Mann and I believe in climate changes on a regular predictable basis in defined cyclical patterns dating back thousands of years.

Due to the fact that the SUN goes into HIBERNATION every 200 years in what we call a 'BICENTENNIAL CYCLE,' we see much less solar activity (sunspots) after the current cycle peaks in the next few months.

The combination of less solar energy, a 'dimming' of the sun, and a new strong, cold 'La Nina' developing in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, should result in all-time record snows at the end of this decade across the Inland Northwest, including North Idaho, where I expect that Coeur d'Alene will see a winter season that will measure an astounding 200 inches or more of snow easily smashing the previous all-time record snowfall of 172.9 inches in 2007-08, when many buildings locally collapsed under the weight of too much of the white stuff.

Next week in 'Gems,' I'll issue my warnings of GLOBAL FAMINE developing sometime between September of 2015 and October of 2018. Stay tuned.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

What has been so unusual about this early to mid November cold snap has been its 'longevity.' As of this writing at 10 a.m. on Friday, we had been below the freezing mark of 32 degrees in Coeur d'Alene for nearly four full days since late Monday afternoon, very unusual for so early in the season.

Thursday morning was the coldest of the week with lows of 2 degrees at Spirit Lake, 9 degrees at my station on Player Drive in Coeur d'Alene, 11 degrees at Hayden, 12 degrees at Fernan Lake and 13 degrees at Post Falls.

Oddly enough, this week's extreme cold produced our first hard freeze of a previously warmer than usual fall season, some two degrees above normal, typical of a warm 'El Nino' in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Likewise typical of El Nino, most of this week's snows associated with the Arctic invasion went to the south of us through Oregon, extreme southern Washington, southern Idaho, northern Nevada, northern Utah and parts of Wyoming. We did see a 'trace' of the white stuff early Monday morning with the arrival of the cold wave across North Idaho.

I should also mention that it's been much colder this past week east of the Rockies. The minus 14 degrees at Denver, Colo., on Thursday was the coldest reading there ever observed so early in the season. Rapid City, S.D., likewise had a record low temperature early Thursday of minus 14 degrees. Some stations in Minnesota and Upper Michigan gauged upwards of 2 feet of snow. Corn, soybeans, emerging winter wheat and other crops were damaged by the record early season Arctic chill, a new 'Polar Vortex.'

Our next chance for measurable precipitation across the Inland Northwest should arrive later this week as the strong ridge of high pressure ridge over us gradually breaks down. We should also see warmer temperatures with morning lows in the lower 30s and afternoon highs in the lower 40s. This could mean RAIN rather than SNOW at elevations below 2,500 feet, also typical of El Nino.

We should see some light snows developing, however, as earlier predicted around Thanksgiving into early December, even at the lower elevations. But, we're still looking for less snowfall than normal this winter overall due to the mild El Nino in the Pacific Ocean. Many storms, like the last one, will push into areas to the south of us. That's probably GOOD NEWS for drought-parched California. But, once again, only time will tell.

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