Weekly Weather Report for West Pasco’s
Urban Agriculture Community
A Service Of
Friendship Farms & Fare
http://www.fffsite.org/
Hot and Dry Last Week
Tropical System May Impact Area
74 degrees at 2:00 AM, August 29, 2015
Historic Average (for 8/31): 90 HIGH, 76 LOW Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/
See the complete weekly weather report later in the Farm Report.
Historically, the average high temperature is now 90 degrees (twenty degrees higher than the lowest average high of the year [70] ), and the highest average high of the year [90]). Our average low is now 76 degrees, our highest average low of the year, which is twenty-five degrees higher than lowest average low [51].
Average highs and lows have reached their peaks and will remain constant (at 90/76) until early September (the 10th to be exact), when the annual decline begins.
Note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that July was the hottest month in recorded history. 2014 was the hottest year on record (since records have been kept, 1880). Ocean and land temperatures were at their all time highs. This was also the warmest winter on record in the Arctic, and May 2015 was the hottest May on record.
Know the Science:
This is no great surprise to us. Temperatures have been running well above normal most of the year 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 (8/22-8/28): WU’s forecast was a bit off last week. Rather than near normal temperatures, we were well above for five days, and then a bit below for two. We had no rain. The above normal days were very hot: one day’s high was 95, another was 94 and three were at 93.
This Week (8/31-9/5): WU’s forecast is for temperatures near or slightly below normal. WU forecasts no days reaching 90 degrees. Rain is possible most days.
Forecasts are a little vague on the tropical system near Hispaniola as of this composition (August 29). Some move it into the Gulf with a close pass to the Springs Coast, others move it further east, including some charting it directly over our area. Most reports are forecasting a weakening in the system, and some forecast an increase in strength as it moves over warm Gulf waters.
Readers should be attentive to updates from the media. Weather Underground has good coverage: http://www.wunderground.com/
Looking Ahead: Summer is coming to a close. We’ll still have plenty of very hot days, regular rains (and some downpours), and high humidity, but the peak of summer has passed. Late day shadows are changing; hints of coolness can be felt late at night and early in the morning. These are just hints, but they are noticeable.
Days are shortening. The days are getting shorter. Technically, the period of sunlight is shortening. This began with the coming of summer, on June 21. This is the day with the longest period of time between sunup and sunset during the year – “the longest day of the year.”
From here on, until the first day of winter, the duration of daylight will become shorter each day.
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PO Box 596 ● New Port Richey, Florida 34656-0596
Friendship Farms & Fare affirms and advances agrarian ideals to reestablish a sustainable culture
Ecology Florida advances the harmonious integration of healthy natural, cultural, and economic ecologies to regenerate a sustainable world
PO Box 596 ● New Port Richey, Florida 34656-0596
