Though in disbelief, many Lawrence residents pleased with cooler-than-average summer / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Karen Kerin ventures out in the recent chilly weather with her daughter, Summyr, and their dog, Carebear. According to Mary Knapp, state climatologist, this has been the fourth-coolest summer — June, July and August — in Lawrence in 70 years.

By Karrey Britt

September 1, 2009

“Unbelievable,” is how Bill Wood, director of Douglas County’s K-State Research & Extension office, summed up this summer’s weather.

He said the cool, wet summer could yield a record corn crop this year. Pastures and lawns have been greener and the annual Douglas County Fair, which was the first week of August, was actually tolerable.

“We were going into fair time and it’s like, ‘Man, we haven’t had a week of heat yet and it’s probably going to nail us,’ but it didn’t,” Wood said. “Usually, you get at least a week of hot weather in August.”

Dirk Wedd, head football coach at Lawrence High School, thinks Mother Nature still might drop the ball.

“I think everybody is wondering when payback is going to come,” he said, laughing. “Is it going to be 30 inches of snow? Or next summer, 10 days of 100-degree weather? I think we are kind of holding our breath about what Mother Nature is going to do.”

Usually, this time of year, coaches are monitoring the heat and how much time athletes can spend on the field.

“It’s been very enjoyable,” he said. “We lift and condition in the mornings, and there’s been a few times where we had to wear long sleeves to workouts,” he said. A couple of coaches even broke out their jackets on Monday.

According to Mary Knapp, state climatologist, it was the fourth-coolest summer — June, July and August — in Lawrence in 70 years. The average temperature was 74.2, just 2.4 degrees higher than the coolest summer in 1993.

Normally, Lawrence has seven days of temperatures that are over 100 degrees. This year, there was just one and it was in June, when the average temperature was 75.8 degrees — about on par with the norm.

July and August were cooler than usual. In July, the average temperature was 73.5 degrees or 6.7 degrees cooler than normal. The average temperature in August was 73.2, which was 5.5 degrees cooler.

“They are not what you would quite expect for summer,” Knapp said.

Lawrence also has received 19.65 inches of rain during the past three months, 6.2 inches more than the 30-year average. The periodic rainfall has been welcome by almost everyone, unless you talk to construction workers or hay farmers.

“Trying to find three or four days in a row where it doesn’t rain is very difficult,” Wood said. “But, we have a lot hay because it grew and grew and grew.”

So, will there be payback?

Knapp doesn’t think so. She said it’s an El Niño year, which typically translates to warmer-than-normal temperatures and milder winters.

“That doesn’t mean you aren’t going to see cold, nasty weather, but overall it could be milder than what we would typically see,” she said.

Discussion

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1 September 2009
at 6:17 p.m.

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mr_right_wing (Anonymous) says…

Ha ha ha! We did it! The right-wing was able to infiltrate this one little tiny area in the media…it was in fact on average 6 degrees warmer (not cooler) than last summer. George Bush (of course, who else!?) came up with the idea, we just carried it out for him! We've made global warming a lie, and what are you gonna do about it, lefties? The right was able to pull the wool over your eyes again! Take that Gore!
1 September 2009
at 6:27 p.m.

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situveux1 (Anonymous) says…

Thank God for global warming. Now I can enjoy my colder than normal winter, according to the Farmer's Almanac.
1 September 2009
at 7:04 p.m.

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jumpin_catfish (Anonymous) says…

The climate is getting warmer but the real question is why. I could not begin to say with authority why the climate is changing but I have no doubt that it isn't just because of human activity and if we all started living like cave men (and women) today the climate would still continue to change. We may be screwed in this deal and then we may just adapt and move gloriously into the future. I'll be dead before it matters anyway and I can't do anything about it.
1 September 2009
at 9:52 p.m.

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situveux1 (Anonymous) says…

I'm not worried. If I'm wrong on climate change I'm counting on evolution to help me out.
2 September 2009
at 7:02 a.m.

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TomShewmon (Tom Shewmon) says…

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/ind…
2 September 2009
at 7:28 a.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

If you want to play “climate scientist,” you should first discover the meanings of “climate” and “science.”
2 September 2009
at 7:35 a.m.

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HenryPeach (Matt Needham) says…

Pray that global warming isn't real. If California and New York flood all those west and east coast, liberal elite are gonna be your neighbors. :)

2 September 2009
at 7:42 a.m.

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Made_in_China (Paul R. Getto) says…

It's a disposable planet. Scientists will always argue about basics and evidence; that's what distinguishes them from ideologues and religious leaders. If we guess wrong, we'll need a new planet. The big question—who gets to go on the first settlement voyage?
2 September 2009
at 7:56 a.m.

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edjayhawk (Anonymous) says…

A second ice age has been predicted. Maybe this is the start.
2 September 2009
at 8:22 a.m.

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puddleglum (Anonymous) says…

yeah, this is a clear sign that global warming is a hoax…bring on those coal plants.
I bet the winter will be cold, also.
2 September 2009
at 8:40 a.m.

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Irish (Irish Swearingen) says…

There is no Mother Nature. There is no weather god or goddess that likes to play tricks on humans so I wouldn't worry about “payback.”
2 September 2009
at 9:07 a.m.

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gphawk89 (Anonymous) says…

Whatever…
Some years are warmer.
Some years are cooler.
Deal with it.
Why is this news?
2 September 2009
at 9:11 a.m.

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ckennedy (christy kennedy) says…

Why do some cling to the misguided notion that global warming can only mean it's going to get a little bit hotter everywhere every day and that any cold snap disproves the entire body of evidence that for everyone else is cause for concern and a call for action? A clearly documented overall warming of temperatures globally means climate change, which would happen with or without human influence, but according to a vast majority of scientists, has been sped up unnaturally by our industrial culture. Shifts in climate are already impacting coastal areas, glaciers, and ecosystems and agriculture around the globe. Climate change will be felt everywhere, and even by those who don't believe it is happening. :

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/clima…
2 September 2009
at 9:56 a.m.

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notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

ckennedy (christy kennedy) says…

“Why do some cling to the misguided notion that global warming can only mean it's going to get a little bit hotter everywhere every day and that any cold snap disproves the entire body of evidence that for everyone else is cause for concern and a call for action?”

Oh, that's right - when temperatures go up, it's a trend, when they go back down, it's a blip or an anomaly. Sorry, how did we forget.

The 'body of evidence' you refer to demonstrates only one thing - that the scientists you've been listening to have absolutely no frikkin' idea what's happening, let alone what's going to.
2 September 2009
at 10:01 a.m.

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blogstr99 (Anonymous) says…

@mr_right_wing:

please back up your weather data. every source ive checked doesnt back you point of view.
your in a state of denial. i dare you to back up that data, that proves we are warming.

My sources (two of hundreds):
http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/A…
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opi…

In ND and MN (and most northern states) all summer its been in the 50's and 60's ( or low 70's below avg) mostly. Wake up man.

The false religion of global warming and earth worship has been broken ! Your false god has failed you. Like wood and stone that doesnt hear or speak. A worthless view.

2 September 2009
at 10:11 a.m.

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puddleglum (Anonymous) says…

global warming is so false….every winter, it gets cold outside, and snow falls-thus, global warming doesn't exist.
two internet points for me.
2 September 2009
at 10:13 a.m.

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NoSpin (Anonymous) says…

Now the climate change theorists are saying that global warming causes temperature extremes such as very hot, cold. Can they cover all bases, situations? Give me a break! Love the way science is politicized and if you don't believe in global warming you must be a Christian or right wing extremist. Now that's science!
2 September 2009
at 10:39 a.m.

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lounger (Anonymous) says…

Yeah!! The family in this picture are wonderful peeps!
2 September 2009
at 10:59 a.m.

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ralphralph (Anonymous) says…

I'm willing to give up some low-lying coastal areas, and even a few island nations, in order to continue experiencing these splendid conditions.
2 September 2009
at 11:31 a.m.

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ckennedy (christy kennedy) says…

Notajayhawk says: “Oh, that's right - when temperatures go up, it's a trend, when they go back down, it's a blip or an anomaly. Sorry, how did we forget.”

Yes, dear, the temperature in your back yard does goes up and down but you're missing the entire point as are the people I was talking about in my comment. Variations and fluctuations and a cool summer or mild winter are not the whole picture and mean very little in bits and pieces. The whole picture, on the record, shows an alarming increase in overall temperatures, globally. If temps were really just going up and down everywhere and it didn't mean anything, there wouldn't be the continual faster and faster melting in the Arctic and on mountaintops, now would there?
2 September 2009
at 11:32 a.m.

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BrianR (Anonymous) says…

Geez, don't ask people to prove stuff, remember, repeating lies over and over make them come true.
2 September 2009
at 11:40 a.m.

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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…

Progressive Koran and Bible articulates thought they could save mankind. Today's progressive articulates are writing the words to save the planet.

Anybody knows that during global warming it gets cold before it gets hot.
2 September 2009
at 11:58 a.m.

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ckennedy (christy kennedy) says…

This is good:

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_keith_…

2 September 2009
at 1:03 p.m.

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cg22165 (Anonymous) says…

Sigh, evidence.

OK, try this, actual research, or direct summaries thereof, for the most part.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?sta…

1.6 million hits.

I don't know; try randomly sampling a dozen or two, actually reading them, and let us know your findings, all your findings.
2 September 2009
at 1:56 p.m.

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cg22165 (Anonymous) says…

Stumbled across this article. I think some posters here are about 15 years behind the curve.

http://brynnevans.com/Climate-Change-…
2 September 2009
at 5:35 p.m.

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Donnuts (Anonymous) says…

I've got an angle on it that you might not have previously looked at; first of all the drive of the sun across the sky and the path of the moon have to do with the currents and the oceans and how they set at night. Next this effects directly and indirectly the air temperatures. Although the ocean currents remain mostly the same there is variance and it causes changes in the overall temperature of the oceans. This in turn changes the temperatures of the air and wind as it moves air across land masses and over seas. This has to do also with the phenomena known in the early '90's El Nino and La Nina.

Air that is over the Aluetian chain is buffered between the Pacific Oceans and the Mesosphere in the Troposphere. This air condenses and expands based on the heat that is absorbed and then released by the oceans below it. Variances in sea levels can effect this as well. So as the air moves east across the north west part of Canada and across glaciers it comes down across the mountains and then sweeps across the plains. The amount of moisture in the air that evaporates from the oceans and pulls across the continent then spreads itself more vastly across the landmasses because there is more moisture in the air it buffers the heat because the heat absorbed moisture and then released the moisture out of the air because it was to condensed high in the air cooling the continent. Thus by the angle of incidence is the angle at which my boomerang returns. Isn't that cute? Just kidding about the drive part. Cattle don't have anything to do with it either.
2 September 2009
at 6:41 p.m.

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G_E (Anonymous) says…

As much as I am LOVING this insanely cool August (especially since I was out of the country during June, when it got abnormally hot here for a week or two), I just knew it would bring out the morons who would say, “See, it's cooler than normal! Global warming doesn't exist, hurr durr.”

*sigh* But I guess it's like Reality_Check said - they had to revise the term to “global climate change” because people seem to be too dense to understand the (not too difficult) concept.
2 September 2009
at 7:54 p.m.

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barrypenders (Anonymous) says…

I bet with the progressive government taking care of mankinds health and progressive democrats saving the earth from nature, people will never die.

What a wonderful stimulus for an evening nap.

May Darwin bless you
10 October 2009
at 5:54 a.m.

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danemary (Anonymous) says…

hey where is fat al and tubby tipper gore?