I’m Glad Spring is Finally Here
By Herzog on Jan 10, 2013 in History
I’ve got 61 degrees on the front porch. Any thoughts or memories from native Duluthians, what winter used to be like?
By Herzog on Jan 10, 2013 in History
I’ve got 61 degrees on the front porch. Any thoughts or memories from native Duluthians, what winter used to be like?
In the upper 40s around where I live. As much as I love it, it’s not going to last, the temp is going to drop like a rock by Sunday, single digit lows.
I’m half n’ half when it comes to weather, part of me wants warmer weather, the other gets a bit worried when it’s warmer it is not normally. But then too, the Earth is not a static thing, whether it’s influenced by us or just the natural flow of things, weather changes, it’s scary, but we’re adaptable, at least that’s my optimistic view, (and that does not mean we should shrug off environmental concerns either mind you!) Yet another thing that strikes me, is sometimes the record high was from 50, 80, 100 years ago & it was kinda’ crazy high, like 70s in February. What goes around comes around, lets just hope what comes around again isn’t severely debilitating, that’s my pessimistic view I guess.
It used to be that by mid-winter your average snow bank was so high you had a hard time seeing around them at intersections. And sidewalks that had actually been carved out had walls on either side comprised of 2+ feet of snow…now I’m just hoping to go cross country skiing once or twice without having to remain hyper-vigilant for dirt patches/pine cones/debris, etc…
There used to be a week or more every winter when the temp. didn’t get above zero. People put bright orange balls and flags on the antennas of their cars so you could see them over the snowbanks at intersections. And it didn’t rain in the Winter.
DECk37, where the heck did you find that it was “like 70s in Feb” 50, 80, 100 years ago? I guess I’m pretty skeptical about that. Even if there has been anomalous weather previously, it doesn’t explain the consistency of today’s global weirding. Yes, let’s hope we are adaptable as a species. Too bad about all the other, less adaptable, species that don’t stand a chance. It’s not just a natural flow of things, no the earth wasn’t created in 7 days, yes we evolved from “lesser” primates (who didn’t have the wonderful ability to f-up the entire planet), and we even actually landed on the moon despite the fact that my wife likes (jokingly, I think/hope) to say that it was all a big hoax. It’s a nice winter here in Duluth, if you like dirty snow and sunny days (ok, I do like the sun). The planet-at-large has some larger issues to worry about, such as insane hurricanes, drought, flooding, heat waves… I grew up in rural, central MN. I guess this is the “lake affect” that I’m experiencing here, since it sure doesn’t seem like the MN winters I grew up with.
The highest temperature ever recorded in January in Minnesota is 69F, in Montevideo, in 1981.
Personally, I’m most worried about all the weird illnesses and strange bugs that aren’t being killed off by the usual extreme cold. How long until the weird brain-eating amoebae are in Island Lake? What kind of new tick-borne illnesses can we expect?
Picked up my onion sets this week! Johnnys catalog order all set to be mailed.
Quirtep, did you even read the Deck37′s post, or did you decide to just go off on a rant? They clearly mention it being influenced by us, says we shouldn’t shrug off environmental concerns, and mentions trying to be optimistic that we are adaptable. You are arguing points no one brought up like evolution, and being kind of an asshole about it. This is a weird winter, being mean for no reason won’t change or fix anything.
I’ll admit that I got a bit off topic, but I didn’t mean to be an asshole about it. If I was, I apologize. Still, to suggest that what the world is experiencing now is just part of the natural cycle is plain wrong, and that’s what I was responding to. My admittedly off-comment points about evolution, landing on the moon, etc were just to show that we as humans have a tendency to ignore good science and obvious facts.
By the way, he didn’t “clearly” mention it being influenced by us. He said that whether or not it was influenced by us or the natural flow of things…and mentioned highs in the 70s in Feb from 50 years ago. I can’t comment on that without coming across as an asshole?
Hey, no name calling.
Hostility contributes to global warming.
It’s not “global warming” -- it’s “global weirding” or “climate change” if you want to get all technical about it and believe in that sciency stuff.
Also, can’t help myself -- “Jadiaz” just as it’s rude to call someone rude, you’re probably being kind of an asshole by calling me “kind of an asshole”. I wasn’t attacking Deck37 at all, at least not intentionally, but he put his message out there, so I responded to it. I thought that’s what this space was for.
Every thinking person knows that Global Warming is being caused by the decreasing number of Pirates!
The FSM says it is so, so it must be true, and to suggest otherwise is blasphemy!
I grew up in Duluth and lived here until 1978. Winters were full of snow, good ice for skating and at least two weeks or more of sub zero temps. I moved back in 1996 (just after the snowiest winter on record). I can count on one hand the number of ‘good’ winters we have had here since 1996. What concerns me more is that each winter season has progressively gotten warmer and wimpier each year. The degree to which the next winter season has gotten warmer and wimpier has accelerated the past three years. I used to be a global warming skeptic. I am no longer. There is simply too much evidence and global weather pattern change that supports global warming.
Does anybody know what climate change will mean for Duluth? Are there any projections out there?
We watched Bing Crosby’s White Christmas this year, never seen it, the premise, was that as they got to Vermont circa 1944, it was a freakishly warm unsnowy mid-December. The difference there was that a week after that, probably went down to minus 10 for two weeks, I’ll bet anyone a crisp hundred dollar bill we won’t have a straight week of subzero again this winter or any other. We’ll have this upcoming cold snap that tapers the mercury upward toward summer, maybe a big late slush storm in March that melts in two days, it’ll be nice while it lasts.
It’s the tossing around of conspiracy theory or not, and passion towards whichever side of the fence you are on/big money influencing you how to believe on it, that’s kinda weird. Just another thing for people to argue about.
I heard the moose population is being decimated because of the rise of ticks. It’s amazing how the DNR responded to that, hunting wise.
It’s good to hear the stories about orange balls and stuff though. An old-school winter like that is simply not possible now. I never thought global weirding would go this far this fast, Quirtep. All I know is that 42 degrees two weeks after x-mas isn’t normal, whatever normal is. And given it used to snow tons, weird that when it does snow, just kind of passes over Duluth now and hits the outlaying areas. I’m expecting another superstorm like clockwork June 21, too bad it won’t be below freezing.
Listening to the radio now, Bob Dylan sings, “don’tcha know, the sun can burn your brains out.”
Hopefully we don’t get anymore flooding. I don’t know if my foundation could handle that.
Quirtep,
Here’s a link to a report created by the Union of Concerned Scientists about the projected impact of climate change (or weirding, or whatever else you want to call it) on the Great Lakes.
http://www.ucsusa.org/greatlakes/
According to some models, our region might expect something like a Kansas like climate by end of the century. Lots of other interesting material in the report.
And more flooding seems pretty likely EvilResident.
I live in rural South Shore. Here’s a video I made about last summer’s high water out here:
It’s funny, last week I was looking at the red-and-white striped poles sticking up 3 feet high from the fire hydrants, and thought, nope, won’t be needing those anymore. I can’t believe how much warmer and less snowy it is here, and has been for several years.
MPR had a segment recently about the continuing extreme drought conditions. As the earth has dried out so dramatically here, house foundations are shifting, and people are noticing cracks in their walls, especially in old houses. So my 85-year-old house and I are looking forward to that.
@davids, thanks for posting that video. The beavers might survive better than we.
I’m not worried about the tree beavers.
every time you global warming, god kills a kitten.
The world has been warming/cooling for eons. The whiners of the world have just latched on to it in the last 5- 10 years. The world will continue it’s heating cooling cycle long after these “Greenies” are buried.
Sure helps the pocket book. My heating/propane consumption will be 1/2 of what it was in the past!
Love that aspect!
A friend of mine got a touch of Erlichiosis while picking blueberries just two years ago. He was in the hospital for a couple of days. I personally can’t wait until Babesiosis becomes common. That will give us something to talk about.
Babesiosis is like Lymes on crack…and Lymes cases in the region have exploded in the 8 years since I picked it up.
I am by no means a meteorological expert and I’m merely a causal observer that is concerned, but tries to be optimistic too. It’s just something that pops up on the weather from time to time, and I raise an eyebrow. I’d like to find a simple list for Duluth, but for now here’s Minnesota as a whole records, granted, some of these are in southern Minnesota, but still, this is Minnesota, butt of many winter jokes by out-of-state folks, you’d think we’re Alaska!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_weather_records
A couple that are over 100 years ago that seem way too high for that time of year in MN!
February 26, 1896 Highest Temp: 73 °F (23 °C), Pleasant Mound.
March 23, 1910 Highest Temp: 88 °F (31 °C) Montevideo.
Then i like how some folks chime in with their latest jewels of wisdom they got from the Sarah Palin show where they heard the earth has always had cycles of warming and cooling… like they’ve personally spanned time to pass on this grandfatherly knowledge to us, when in fact they get all their info from a snowblind bimbo in horn rimmed glasses who worships at the temple of baby Jesus.
Just remember Zedhead, you cross that bad bitch on a Sunday, they’ll find your balls in a pile of wolf scat on the Alaskan tundra, cept they’ll be thawing in January.
It’s been know since 1859 that carbon dioxide traps heat. There is now 30% more of it in the atmosphere than there was 150 years ago. 98% of climate scientists agree on human-caused global warming.
Not to throw gas on the fire, but my degree is in Geology and yes, the earth has gone through countless cycles of warming and cooling, and will continue to do so.
Climate does change! It changes all the time and always will! Are we as a species causing it? I don’t think so. Are we as a species effecting it? Maybe, to some small extent, perhaps, on a really bad day, by some small amount.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m as green as any out there. I am a leader in my company in applying sustainable initiatives. I am passionate about sustainability, because I feel it is the right thing to do. But because the issue of what’s driving climate change has become sooooooo political, even religious, I am skeptical of the science and data.
Of course, your mileage may vary, offer not available in all stores, see fine print for more detail….. And be prepared to be touched by His noodlely appendage!
Pass me another snocone…
The way I see it, by the time I am ready to retire, we’ll have the climate of Florida and I’m already invested in my retirement property. Let’s just hope the big lake doesn’t dry up by then.
I grew up here and my memories of winters gone by are sledding, shoveling, building snow forts, and skating on the pleasure rink at Glen Avon while my brothers played hockey.
The first year I joined the nordic ski team for East, we had no snow and we skiied on little tracks of snow on golf courses and up the bunny hill at Spirit Mt. I think it was 1997-98.
Joel, there is no actual scientific debate on the matter any more. Yes, we are causing it. Congratulations on your degree in geology, but don’t pretend to speak for science since there is no legitimate debate on the topic in the scientific community. It’s real.
Joel, can you get me any of that shit? It must be awesome. I want to take back any of this bitching about the warm weather I’ve done before the cold snap hits. Is it too late? Tomorrow when it’s cold again, I won’t believe in global warming until the next thaw.
We know carbon dioxide traps heat.
We know humanity has released an massive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
If humans aren’t responsible for global warming than carbon dioxide doesn’t actually trap heat and everything we know about physics is completely wrong.
But let me try to follow your logic through and correct me where necessary.
Because the extreme right believes the earth was created in a week, and therefore whatever ways man wrecks the planet, must be part of His ‘plan,’ then, manmade global warming isn’t real, because we’ll be saved in the rapture which won’t happen if we try to stop it with science, and the fact that the other half of the population is upset about having ‘to be saved’ means there is too much arguing, and that makes you angry, which is why you don’t believe the science, but you’re sustainable anyway?
I have some expensive embossed paper in my house too, it’s called Charmin. Politic$ and Religion$.
+1 herzog
Touchy touchy touchy!
I don’t deny climate change. I have studied it at the University level.
I also know that a single major volcanic event can produce more CO2 than man can in a century or more.
I’m not a creationist or other type of idiot. I value our environment and I actively work to conserve our resources.
I just don’t want to freeze in the dark!
Not a native, been here 12 years — and I really would like more snow!!!
The thing I don’t get about the religous groups denying climate change is that if God created the Earth for them to live in, then why would you not want to take care of that gift given to you?
Obviously, I’m not one to believe in a 6,000 year old Earth, so I don’t really get their whole side of the story there…
Just to set things straight, climate change is a well thought out word that was found to be less “scary” to test groups and was jumped on. I say global warming since that is the type of change that is currently occurring.
Joel, I hope you are getting paid to spout this nonsense.
The “volcanos emit more CO2 than humans” is a classic misinformation line. For one of many explanations of why that is completely wrong, see grist.org.
A good bellwether for us is the stunning polar trends in sea ice -- 2012 smashed all records. See nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews for some informative graphs.
@joel- This is not a political debate. It is not a religious debate. It is a scientific debate, and 98% of climate scientists disagree with you.
“I’m not a creationist or other type of idiot.” We’re all one sort of idiot or another -- I certainly am. Not to be personal about it, but it is idiotic to ignore the OVERWHELMING consensus and clear facts. Climate change is real, and it’s the fault of humans. We should move on from that discussion. It’s so 2000s. The earth is not flat, and the sun does not revolve around us.
My last word on this topic.
(I don’t like the tone of many of the posters. I like to keep things lighter)
I am working on several sustainability projects. One is the conversion of a 100 truck fleet to compressed natural gas, reducing pollution by about ~80%!
I am a champion of our environment! I reduce, reuse and recycle.
And while we may not agree on the cause of climate change, we do agree that it is changing! And I am actively working to mitigate that change.
So while you may not agree with my motivation, I do hope you will at least respect my efforts and actions.
Yes, Joel. Let’s all lighten up. You, sir, have my respect.
PS: I just wanted to clarify that my previous post was real, no irony or sarcasm intended…
“The impact of concrete upon the modern world is large. The usage of concrete, world wide, is twice as much as steel, wood, plastics, and aluminum combined.”
If you’ve ever flown in a jet airplane, or looked out over the lake and seen how the earth curves, you’ll discover the earth really isn’t that large. It’s 8,000 miles across. Every piece of concrete that is made uses limestone that must be heated to 1200 degrees, concrete is one of the many hidden causes of greenhouse gases, one of the largest.
If you fly in the plane, you see millions of tiny little cars driving around. Domesticated animals release something like 20 billion liters of methane per day, let alone people, let alone the deforestation required to sustain them, let alone deforestation of rainforests etc visible from space. But forget warming, how about pollution?
It amazes me there are people who call themselves scientists who, in spite of the fact the earth is a tiny little ball, packed with billions of cars and flatulating people, go on believing foolishly, we have no collective impact on the planet, when even beavers do. More amazing is the fact accredited institutions issue them degrees (even though this only requires money.) I’m sorry my tone upsets you Joel, but your naivety baffles me. At least we agree the earth has always had cycles of change. And people are just another one of those cycles. It all comes out in the wash.
Here are some more fart numbers for you scientists out there.
http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2
This is just one intsy-wintzy little piece of Homo Erectus’ role in globular warming. Even if this ‘warming’ is just a part of a ‘natural cycle,’ to suggest that we aren’t adding to it at all, to cut yourself out of the equation based on what your ego tells you to think, or because you are a maverick who is contradicting what you think is merely a trendy belief, is IMNSHO, childish and insane…
But, it’s good for relieving yourself and whoever listens to you of any feelings of personal responsibility. Because that’s mostly what we all really want anyway, isn’t it?
Herzog--you rule.
Thank you Herzog, Ramos, and everyone who posts here what they so adamantly and intelligently believe. It’s a pleasure to read your thoughts.
Thanks E-dog, it’s a thankless job. People are worried about offending the likes of the NRA and Jimmy Seville. That’s how we get into this mess in the first place. Let’s respect the prospect of real common sense, and thinking outside the plastic box for a change. Maybe we’ll defang a bastard or two.
We are all God’s little Dixie Cups here on a 7,924-mile wide ball of water and clay. Our days are numbered at best. We breathe god-given clean air, and expel dirty carbon dioxide along with every other animal. The trees on your lawn are the only friends you got.
This is what happens when I can’t even ski in January. I get like the rest of world and start taking myself way too seriously. I become that which I loathe, kind of a Tolkien theme in there somewhere.
All this talk of selfish people destroying the planet has me really thinking about adopting a few Syrian kids, probably girls as they tend away from violence, and I like their energy better…or at least trying to figure out how to send them some sleeping bags and shoes. Can anyone tie in global warming and greedy rich people destroying the planet to why the world isn’t responding fast enough to the giant crisis in Damascus?
Oh. My. God.
Real, live, baby snow crystals, on January 18, my lucky number.
It’s got to be my Jesus!
Hmm, lets base all of our knowledge of climate change to just the last 100 years or so. That’s gonna be accurate enough to sway the numbers to our benefit. Yeah, that’ll work!
-22F at my house, brrr.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Phanerozoic_Climate_Change.png
…and the article that *explains* the graph?
Here, I found it for you … and it explains very little in support of your views.
We like supporting evidence, Zed. Pick-and-choose graphs from Google search do little to impress us.
It’s all relative ainit? Whether people or Yellowstone cause climate change. Eventually the earth is going to shit us all out like the bad bug we are. The mercury from the cell phone you just dumped in the rivers/lakes probably causes much more immediate damage to us than climate change ever will, and despoils the fish you like to catch and eat. The plastic in the food you buy gives your wife breast cancer.
It was the Regan era when I knew if I could taste plastic in bottled water it probably wasn’t good for me or the planet, it took the world another 30 years to come upon the same discovery. Global warming is only one small part of a giant manmade Shitnammi Zeddelin. You’re so small you don’t even matter, but when you add up all the hot wind you blow out with everyone elses, it adds up.
Zeddybeddy, if you like charts and graphs and lots and lots of pictures with words and paragraphs that actually explain what those neat pictures and graphs mean, I highly suggest you visit NASA’s Earth Observatory website.
Like I said, they’ve got pretty pictures that you can print out and hang on your refrigerator or your window AC unit … while giving you all sorts of easy to read reference links for you to follow and stuff … cause, you know … you’re gonna have a lot of time on your hands in a few years when you should be sitting out in your deer stand or tracking that moose … unless you intend to migrate northward with them.
But with the higher temps goes the watershed, and with increased mining and fracking, so goes the water table. That turdy point buck’s either gonna leave or die off … because its environment can’t be supported without a viable and clean watershed.
By the time that happens though, you’ll be dead, so fuck it, right? After all, it’s all about you.
Well, I’m so happy real winter is back for the first time in what feels like four years, I’m going to be an honorary global warming denier dipshit for the remainder of the time I remain awake tonight.
Also I’d like to thank all you other rednecks out there for believing so hard, you brought winter back. But if I catch any of you dickheads riding on my ski trail again, I’ll beat you so hard you’ll soil your Skidoo snowsuit and go home crying.