Good Memories
In the end - all we have to hold onto are
memories - with any luck, most of them good. The act of heading up to
the cabin is an incomparable family-memory-maker. This week I'll
remember the vaguely pathetic cheers as I pulled a 12 inch Northern Pike
in the boat. Wait, it must have been closer to 24 inches, come to think
of it.
Laughter & squeals of delight from tubers. Strangers thanking
me for a "perfect week". Unplugging the Doppler for 6 straight days.
Unheard of, at least since March. We earned this break. I'm so glad it
came when it did.
The approach of a juicy warm front and a dew
point near 70 sets off a few T-storms today. A tiny percentage may turn
severe, especially well north of the Twin Cities. Expect enough sun for
80s; a shot at 90F south of St. Cloud today. Tuesday looks like the
wettest day, with numerous showers and T-storms - then drying out and
warming up again the latter half of next week.
Model guidance is hinting at 90s by the end of next week, spilling into next weekend.
15 hours and 29 minutes of daylight today. That
compares with 8 hours, 46 minutes December 21. That solstice buzz is
lingering; statistically, the hottest days still 2 weeks away!
Slight Severe Risk.
NOAA SPC has a slight risk for much of the Dakotas and parts of
northern, central and southwestern Minnesota; sufficient instability and
low level moisture for hail and high winds with a few cells later
today, mainly north of the Twin Cities.
Stuck. Again,
the sheer persistence of the current pattern is impressive - weather
systems in a holding pattern pumping Gulf moisture northward into the
Southeast and Ohio Valley, with another 4-6"+ of rain over the next 5
das from the Gulf Coast northward to Louisville and Columbus. The
Minnesota Arrowhead may pick up some 1-2" amounts by the middle of next
week.
Above Average.
We may hit 90 each of the next 3 days over southern MInnesota (assuming
there's any sun and it doesn't rain all day - both fairly good
assumptions). The best chance of pop-up T-storms comes over central and
northern Minnesota, more widespread (heavy) showers and T-storms
Tuesday. We heat up again the end of next week; more 90-degree
temperatures possible next Friday into the weekend of July 13-14. ECMWF
guidance above for the Twin Cities.
Moisture Plume. Some areas around Panama City,
Florida have picked up nearly 20" of rain from this latest disturbance
in the Gulf of Mexico, a tropical storm's worth of moisture, rain bands
persisting as far north as the Ohio Valley. Meanwhile a few
strong/severe storms push across the Dakotas into Minnesota, while the
west coast remains bone dry, and increasingly vulnerable to brushfires.
84-hour NAM model output from NOAA.
Soggy Southeast. Some counties in southeastern
Minnesota have seen over 24" of rain since April 1, more than twice the
normal amount. According to Dr. Mark Seeley in this week's
WeatherTalk Newsletter, the very wet spring has had major implications for agriculture: "
For
southeastern Minnesota crop producers many acres remain unplanted due
to the wet spring conditions. Weeds are prolific and large in these
fields and pose a long term concern due to the amount of their seed
production. According to Dr. Jeff Gunsolus, weed specialist with
Extension control of these weeds by mowing or tillage would be a good
strategy to deploy at this time. You can read more on this topic in the
Crop Newsletter at...http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/cropnews/2013/07/weed-management-in-prevented-p.html..."
Image credit above: Brad Birkholz.
A Trip To Camp To Break A Tech Addiction. Spend more
than 4 hours a day on Facebook? Would you rather check Twitter than
talk with your significant other? Sneak the iPad to bed (or bathroom?)
You may have a serious technology addiction. Here's a clip from a story
at
The New York Times: "...
This was Day 2 at Camp Grounded,
an adults-only summer camp held on former Boy Scouts quarters in
Navarro, Calif., about two and half hours north of San Francisco. A
little more than 300 people had gathered there for three days of color
wars, talent shows, flag-raisings and other soothingly regressive
activities organized by Digital Detox,
an Oakland-based group dedicated to teaching technology-addled (or
technology-addicted) people to, in the words of its literature,
“disconnect to reconnect.” The rules of Camp Grounded were simple: no
phones, computers, tablets or watches; work talk, discussion of
people’s ages and use of real names were prohibited..."
Climate Stories...
WMO: "Unprecedented" Global Warming From 2000 To 2010. Here's a snippet from a story at
The Summit County Citizens Voice: "...
It
was the warmest decade since the start of modern measurements in 1850,
with more national temperature records broken than in any previous
decade. Along with analyzing global and regional temperatures and
precipitation, the report took a close look at extreme events, including
heat waves in Europe (2203) and Russia (201o), Hurricane Katrina in
the United States of America, Tropical Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar,
droughts in the Amazon Basin, Australia and East Africa and floods in
Pakistan. The decade was the warmest for both hemispheres and for both
land and ocean surface temperatures. The record warmth was accompanied
by a rapid decline in Arctic sea ice, and accelerating loss of net mass
from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and from the world’s
glaciers..."
American Renewable Energy Is Powering The American Energy Transformation. Here's a clip from an Op-Ed by Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn (USN, ret) at
The Hill: "
More
so than any other time in history, Americans are focusing their
attention on energy issues. From the president’s recent call to action
on climate change to the possibility of finally attaining energy
independence by the end of the decade, America appears to be entering a
new golden age of energy development - great news for our energy
security and economy. But for some policymakers on Capitol Hill, there
is a need for a much better understanding that renewable energy is a
significant and rapidly growing catalyst driving the American energy
transformation. Across the country, the renewable energy industry is
putting steel in the ground, increasing American energy security,
competitiveness, and environmental quality. Simply put, renewables have
earned their place in the sun – quite literally in the case of solar,
which accounted for 48 perent of all new electricity generation
capacity across the U.S. in the first quarter of 2013...." (File image: Wikipedia).
Climate Change Deniers Using Dirty Tricks From "Tobacco Wars". Here's an excerpt from a story at
Science Daily: "...
Environmental
campaigner Sauven argues: "Some of the characters involved have
previously worked to deny the reality of the hole in the ozone layer,
acid rain and the link between tobacco and lung cancer. And the tactics
they are applying are largely the same as those they used in the
tobacco wars. Doubt is still their product." Governments around the
world have also attempted to silence scientists who have raised
concerns about climate change. Tactics used have included: the UK
government spending millions infiltrating peaceful environmental
organisations; Canadian government scientists barred from communicating
with journalists without media officers; and US federal scientists
pressured to remove words 'global warming' and 'climate change' from
reports under the Bush administration..."
