Weekly Weather Report
For Farmers and Others
Week of June 1, 2015
From Friendship Farms & Fare
A Community Service To the Local Farming Community
Weekly Weather Report
Another Hot Week Awaits
71 degrees at 4:30 AM, June 1, 2015
Historic Average (for 6/1): 89 HIGH, 73 LOW–Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/
Historically, the average high temperature is now 89 degrees (nineteen degrees higher than the lowest average high of the year [70], and one degree lower than the highest average high [90]). Our average low is now 73 degrees, which is twenty-two degrees higher than lowest average low [51], and three degrees lower than the highest average low [76]).
The average low and high are increasing at about a degree a week. They will peak in early June for highs and late June for lows, and remain constant (at 90/76) until early September, when the annual decline begins. This means for three months the average high will be 90 degrees, and the average low will be 76. It will also be humid during those months.
Note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that 2014 was the hottest year on record (since records have been kept, 1880). Ocean and land temperatures were at their all time highs. This has also been the warmest winter on record in the Arctic.
This is no great surprise to us. 2014 seemed hotter than usual here at the farms, and the past few years, our highs and lows have typically run a bit higher than historic averages. Last year the trend continued, and so far this year, it is still continuing. Although humans may enjoy unseasonably warm weather, above normal temperatures stress plants and animals.
According to NASA, 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming and resultant climate change is a reality and most likely due to human activity. http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/.
Here is NOAA on the human causes of climate change and global warming. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/pd/climate/factsheets/howhuman.pdf
Last Week (5/23-29): We were above normal every day last week, except one – Friday (5/29). That was also the only day we did not reach or exceed 90 degrees. The climate-change heat we’ve had all spring (and most of the winter) shows no signs of letting up. The Friday high was 88 degrees, and we reached 94 twice. We also received a considerable amount of rain – nearly 5 inches in our rain gauge.
This Week (5/30-6/5): WU is forecasting highs in the 90s most of the week with rain forecast early in the week (through Wednesday). Wednesday, a day with a 60% rain possibility if also forecast to reach a high temperature of 83-85 degrees. That would be remarkable – and most welcome.
We will reach our highest historical average this week, on Thursday June 4, 90 degrees.
Looking Ahead: The rainy season will begin in a few weeks – mid-June. Average temperatures are gradually rising. As noted above, we will reach the highest historical average high for the year (90 degrees) on June 4. The highest historical average low (76 degrees) will be reached on June 24. These average highs and lows will remain unchanged for 3 months – until September.
Summer begins on June 21. This will be the day of the longest period of time between sunup and sunset during the year – “the longest day of the year.”
We are currently running well above historical averages on a consistent basis.
Wild Weather Around the World in May
We were not surprised to read that May was a month of extreme weather around the world. Media reports covered floods, tornados, drought, extreme heat, and powerful typhoons in the Pacific. Here at home, we’ve seen above normal temperatures for the entire year, and dating back into last year. Seldom has a week passed in which most days do not register above normal temperatures. Like the rest of the world, our May has been particularly harsh.
Here is what the Associated Press had to say about May’s extreme weather:
Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon attributes the heavy rainfall to an unusually southern fork in the jet stream, a stuck stationary front and El Nino, and says the downpours have probably been made slightly worse by climate change. For every degree Celsius the air is warmer, it can hold 7 percent more moisture. That, Nielsen-Gammon says, “is supplying more juice to the event.”
While it is too early to connect one single event to man-made warming, scientific literature shows “that when it rains hard, it rains harder than it did 20 to 30 years ago,” says University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
As bad as the Texas flooding has been, the heat wave in India has been far worse — in fact, the world’s fifth-deadliest since 1900, with reports of the 100-degree-plus heat even buckling roads. And it’s a consequence of the stuck jet stream, according to Francis and Weather Underground meteorology director Jeff Masters.
When climate scientists look at what caused extreme events — a complex and time-consuming process that hasn’t been done yet — heat waves are the ones most definitely connected to global warming, Shepherd says.
For the full AP Story, see:
http://tbo.com/ap/national/this-has-been-a-month-of-extreme-weather-around-the-world-ap_national20b4c60765004e77a2d8e48eebb9862f
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