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"It's Hot Out There" - Here's Why In One Visualization

Tyler Durden's picture




 

"It's not just warm, but very warm," exclaims one east coast ski resort owner, adding "I can’t remember it ever being like this here." But why? As WSJ reports, two weather occurrences - the Arctic Oscillation and El Niño - are combining to shake up temperatures from coast to coast in the U.S., bringing springlike conditions to the Northeast for much of this month and leaving parts of the West colder and wetter than usual.

Typically this time of year, Arctic Oscillation would bring cold air to the Eastern U.S., bringing temperatures down. But so far this year, the oscillation has stayed much farther north, allowing warm air from the south to fill the void, said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate prediction center.

 

 

The other factor is El Niño, a periodic climate cycle in which sea surface temperatures over the eastern Pacific become warmer than usual. The effects from changes in Arctic Oscillations generally last only a few weeks, but the balmy weather in the Northeast could continue because of the El Niño effect, experts say.

 

El Niños push the subtropical and polar jet streams, which help define weather around the world, to the north. The result is that the southern U.S. gets rain that normally falls in Central and South America, while the Northeast and Midwest get a reprieve from winter as the polar jet stream is pushed up into Canada.

“If people are nervous, they should be nervous.”

The current El Niño is on track to rank among the top three strongest since record-keeping began in 1950, according to federal climatologists.

“The El Niño impact is not dominating yet,” said Bill Patzert, a climate scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “It’s like the tale of two climates here.

And since every failure of central planning to achieve its seasonally-adjusted economic targets must be blamed on something, even something as ridiculous as the weather, regardless if it is "too cold" like in the past two years, or "too hot", now we know why Q4 GDP will be crap!

 

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Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:05 | 6941655 Grandad Grumps
Grandad Grumps's picture

If we are moving from one polarity of the galactic plane to the other polarity, the inductive influence on our solar system is going to change.

According to the writings, there will be 3 days of standstill, a change in the location of the poles and then we will spin the other way ...

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:09 | 6941671 Sanity Bear
Sanity Bear's picture

Damn, I haven't heard that one since the world ended in 2012.

 

 

“It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice — there are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.” –Frank Zappa

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:17 | 6941694 jellen
jellen's picture

WOW, Somebody get G.E. on the phone, its time to fire up the Turboencabulator

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:20 | 6941708 eforce
eforce's picture

Government using HAARP to fix drought problem?

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:24 | 6941723 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Fix!!! Now that is some funny chit, mon.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:31 | 6941749 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Folks in Western Pennsylvania have been loving the mild weather. Most common remark: "It can stay like this all winter."  The cold blew in last night and it's a bitch.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:49 | 6941789 Manthong
Manthong's picture

Aha..

So that’s why the economy is slowing..

Everybody is out in their yards working on the tan.

Well, it beats the hell out of shoveling snow.

 

The only real thing to worry about from this is further downward pressure on oil and a stronger than usual hurricane season.

Enjoy it while you can.. the solar minimum is approaching and then everyone will be worried about AGC (anthropomorphic global cooling).

 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:55 | 6941808 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Personally, I think they were actually trying to time the coming solar minimum, so they could take credit for halting & reversing manmade global warming.

Its just a pet conspiracy theory I'm workin on ;-)

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:42 | 6941931 Tom Servo
Tom Servo's picture

^^^ THIS... and that Obama fuckstick will take credit for it until he dies...

 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:50 | 6941953 bania
bania's picture

This article had me at "warm and wet".

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:22 | 6942027 o r c k
o r c k's picture

"Yeah, but it's a dry heat." !!      (Aliens)

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:46 | 6942441 Money Counterfeiter
Money Counterfeiter's picture

Yid money to be made off of this.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 08:37 | 6942524 Stainless Steel Rat
Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:25 | 6942686 NidStyles
NidStyles's picture

So they were rewriting their propaganda at the COP 21 summit eh? 

 

End communism, ban ICLEI and the UN. 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 12:29 | 6942995 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

You ain't seem nuthin' yet....

Just wait until 2030...

Burn, baby, burn...

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 15:43 | 6943313 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

"UN climate change goal? New trend analysis shows we’re there now!"

December 18: University of Alabama, Huntsville

The average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere has warmed just over four tenths of a degree Celsius (almost three fourths of a degree Fahrenheit) during the past 37 years, with the greatest warming over the Arctic Ocean and Australia, said Dr. John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Microwave sounding units on board NOAA and NASA satellites completed 37 complete years of collecting temperature data in November, giving us nearly global coverage of climate change during that time. If that trend was to continue for another 63 years, the composite warming for the globe would be 1.1 C (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit) for the century, Christy said. That would put the average global temperature change over 100 years well under the 2.0 C (3.6 degrees F) goal set recently at the climate change summit in Paris . . .

As part of an ongoing joint project between UAHuntsville, NOAA and NASA, Christy, and Dr. Roy Spencer, an ESSC principal scientist, use data gathered by advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites to get accurate temperature readings for almost all regions of the Earth. This includes remote desert, ocean and rain forest areas where reliable climate data are not otherwise available. The satellite-based instruments measure the temperature of the atmosphere from the surface up to an altitude of about eight kilometers above sea level. Once the monthly temperature data are collected and processed, they are placed in a “public” computer file for immediate access by atmospheric scientists in the U.S. and abroad.

Neither Christy nor Spencer receives any research support or funding from oil, coal or industrial companies or organizations, or from any private or special interest groups. All of their climate research funding comes from federal and state grants or contracts. — http://www.newswise.com/articles/un-climate-change-goal-we-re-there-now
Sat, 12/19/2015 - 20:27 | 6944371 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

The satellite data is complex and basically crap...

Nothing more than highly model dependent analysis of microwave scattering off of oxygen in the atmosphere...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_temperature_measurements

Deniers are hilarious with their ignorance and inconsistency....

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 22:19 | 6944561 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

And yet you offer complexity as a defense, when something as simplistic as manmade CO2 is supposed to explain it all, plus the fact that over geologic time, atmospheric CO2 has been orders of magnitude higher and that both surface temperatures and atmospheric CO2 are now at geologic lows — http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/PageMill_Images/image277.gif — and that the "present" CO2 rise started nearly 20,000 years ago:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/files/2013/05/co2-80000...

http://www.skepticalscience.com/pics/Fig2.png

http://blogs.egu.eu/network/4degrees/files/2013/09/CO2-417k.png

No, I won't change your mind, nor you mine (unless charts like the above are convincingly refuted), but that's not the point, which is that any debate serves only to present two sides of a story to those willing to listen.

Not to mention that Mother Nature will have her way, regardless.

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 00:58 | 6945075 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Nothing you said is relevant to the current situation...

And golly gee, do you think the rate of change in C02 has been constant for 20,000 years? What might have changed?

And as far as the satellite data goes, the spokesman for RSS (the other satellite data team) said this

A similar, but stronger case can be made using surface temperature datasets, which I consider to be more reliable than satellite datasets (they certainly agree with each other better than the various satellite datasets do!).

http://www.remss.com/blog/recent-slowing-rise-global-temperatures

 

BTW, here is a discussion of the  ballon data that actually measures the temperature in the troposphere using, gasp, thermometers:

https://tamino.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/desperate-for-a-pause/

https://tamino.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/ted-cruz-just-plain-wrong/

Now you know why the RSS spokesman acknowledges that the satellite data is crap.....

 

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 10:16 | 6945539 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

Look at graphs like the one below (of which there are many), and tell me atmospheric CO2 didn't start its most recent meteoric rise nearly 20,000 years ago. Then tell me the burning of fossil fuels was the cause from the start.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/files/2013/05/co2-80000...

And even if anthropogenic CO2 somehow took over in the 20th century, it did so without causing a commemsurate rise in global temperatures.

A little warming, then, for a whole lot of CO2-starved plants, and we humans have adapted to the more than doubling of atmospheric CO2 (no matter the cause) without a hitch.

And as for which is worse for humans, heat or cold:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/05/20/cold-weather-deaths/276...

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 10:26 | 6945616 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Beg pardon? 

You have created so many strawmen and red herrings that I can barely keep up...

So C02 goes from ~265 to 275 ppm in 10,000 years and from ~300 to 400 ppm in ~200 years and you suggest that we have not seen a commensurate change in temperature?

\facepalm

Here is a more representative figure without the x-axis squashed...

http://www.skepticalscience.com/images/co2_10000_years.gif

and the temperature 

http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/10000-year-graph.jpg

C02 from fossil fuels is not the only driver of climate change, it is however the most important one at present...

BTW, your SciAm link is dead...

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 11:38 | 6945700 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

First, try this link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150520193831.htm

Second, even if "your" charts are correct and "mine" are wrong, please explain why we should want to drive down global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 at a time when both are at their lowerst in nearly 300 million years, and plants die at under 150 ppm of atmospheric CO2.

Or do you deny the validity of the many charts like this one:

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/PageMill_Images/image277.gif

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 11:53 | 6945927 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Yawn....

The only question is what is the range of C02 levels best suited for the continuation of H. Sapiens as species with its attendant civilization...

And that is about 350 ppm, tops... 

What happened 300 million years is of no relevance...

150 ppm is so far in the rear view mirror to be meaningless..

Toodles....

 

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 13:16 | 6946004 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

OK, so we agree on the data, just not on its significance, your preference being for a colder climate with less plant growth, mine for the opposite.

I wonder what the reaction would be if the issue were presented in this light, rather than that of planet-roasting cataclysm that accordingly scares the sheeple into believing that the very stuff of life is a pollutant and that it must therefore be taxed down to a level that satifies the globalists' insatiable quest for One World Government.

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 15:16 | 6946548 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

You clearly do not understand the implications of what is going on...

I suggest you read up on ocean acidification, sea level rise and what not. It is much more than the concentration of "plant food" that is being debated...

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 16:37 | 6946586 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

I'm aware of all that; I just don't buy into the cataclysmic predictions and instead see them the way H. L. Menchen did:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

For example:

Had it not been for this man, we would not last week have seen 150 heads of government joining 40,000 delegates in Paris for that mammoth climate conference: the 21st such get-together since, in 1992, he masterminded the Rio “Earth Summit”, the largest political gathering in history. Yet few people even know his name.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/paris-climate-change-conference/12...

Sun, 12/20/2015 - 18:23 | 6946570 Dick Buttkiss
Dick Buttkiss's picture

CO2 is an asphyxiant gas and not classified as toxic or harmful in accordance with Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals standards of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe by using the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals. In concentrations up to 1% (10,000 ppm), it will make some people feel drowsy and give the lungs a stuffy feeling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide#Toxicity

Assuming it would take millions or even tens of millions of years to reach a 1% CO2 concentration from our present .04%, I think we've got enough time to acclimate.

As for your dismisal of geologic history, how much less scientific can one get? For while graphs like the ones below might be wrong, if they're not (and please explain explain otherwise), then geologic time most defiinitely comes into play, as we're talking about thousands of years ago and thus long, long before industrial CO2 emissions:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/31387/large/co2_800k.png?13...

http://static.safehaven.com/authors/mills/21843_d.png

http://blogs.egu.eu/network/4degrees/files/2013/09/CO2-417k.png

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:05 | 6942775 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Oh the claims that, Owe'Bama stopped globull warming are coming. My kingdom for a Maunder Minimum.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:29 | 6941896 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

The California ski resorts are doing just fine 39" packed powder at Kirkwood (my fav) with more tonight. This 'drought' is pretty soggy this year. Lovin' the green hills finally.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:41 | 6941930 TurnwiseWiddershins
TurnwiseWiddershins's picture

I knew there were some Kirkwood die-hards out there, the locals seemed to love the place, but it was my least favorite out of what I visited out in Tahoe.

Sierra was tops.  Heavenly was right behind, but a little touristy.  Those bowls though, wow!!!  I've never had such great glade skiing as at Sierra.

I just didn't see what the hubbub was about Kirkwood.  You do you though man, glad you like it.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:59 | 6941974 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

Sierra-at-Tahoe was tops?  Seriously?  Well more powder to ya!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:02 | 6941981 TurnwiseWiddershins
TurnwiseWiddershins's picture

Yep.  Maybe it was just a better day.  I certainly enjoyed it.

 

 

And awww look, you negged my comment.  That was cute.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:17 | 6942018 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

No downvote from me.  I ski Sierra -- I just never heard anyone call it their favorite before.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:09 | 6942563 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Squaw Valley.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:44 | 6942624 meterman
meterman's picture

SQUAW valley!! - How dare they - RACIST - Change that name.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:23 | 6942797 Richard Chesler
Richard Chesler's picture

A tale of two coasts,

 

Heavenly Terrain Report

Terrain Open: 95%

Acres Open: 4550 of 4800

Lifts Open: 26 of 28

Runs Open: 92 of 97

 

Sugarbush Terrain Report

Terrain Open: 1.8%

Acres Open: 71 of 4000+

Lifts Open: 2 of 16

Runs Open: 9 of 111

 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:43 | 6942863 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Last year Sierra's had zip and the rockies were just ok.

Be prepared to travel in pursuit of the most high quest: POW!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 12:44 | 6943028 Geezer Oil Trader
Geezer Oil Trader's picture

Never use the phrase, "Sugarbush" around natural gas traders.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:59 | 6942910 detached.amusement
detached.amusement's picture

funny cuz most people dont know that effectively means 'concubine'

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 03:46 | 6942296 archiehicox
archiehicox's picture

Me too. Skiers Mountain. And thats from an aussie ;) 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:49 | 6941794 nmewn
nmewn's picture

I don't know how you guys do it up there, its like 45 here with an expected low in the 30's, my fingers are cramping ;-)

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:58 | 6941816 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

February's the worst. Living death. The upside is the lack of alligators and giant insects.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:12 | 6941855 nmewn
nmewn's picture

lol...yeah, I'm tellin ya they're yuuuge down here, real primordial type stuff and ticks the size of snapping turtles, they can drain a man of blood in five minutes flat!

Fortunately the dragon flies really are the size of dragons and they come down to lay their eggs in the husks of skin & bones left behind, so then the larvae eat the tick eggs or the whole thing would come completely unhinged.

Its a very delicate natural balance ;-)

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:23 | 6942034 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

In a moment reminiscent of Stand By Me I pull off a tick today. Gee willikers.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:28 | 6942044 Dolar in a vortex
Dolar in a vortex's picture

They sound like bankers.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 08:22 | 6942501 new game
new game's picture

fucking wos bags. min-e-snota hearty and a tad fucken crazy (if ya know what i mean?) ;)

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:24 | 6941885 Mark Mywords
Mark Mywords's picture

I'm in Western Pennsylvania. I'm not loving the mild weather. I'm not a fucking child who masturbates to Steelers sports scores, either.

I guess that must be why.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:04 | 6941992 TurnwiseWiddershins
TurnwiseWiddershins's picture

-40° keeps the riff-raff out.

Good luck with those all those Hatians down in Florida, I'm movin' to Duluth.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 06:47 | 6942397 Your guess is a...
Your guess is as good as mine's picture

73° here today - perfect!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:25 | 6942036 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

I'm in Western Pennsylvania. I'm not loving the mild weather. I'm not a fucking child who masturbates to Steelers sports scores, either.

I guess that must be why.

 

What are Steelers?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 02:23 | 6942232 techpriest
techpriest's picture

Middle-aged rich white women from the UN who come to America so they can whine about how there isn't enough gun control and free stuff.

Also known as the other side of the FSA.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:45 | 6942869 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Banks and Financial Companies

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:28 | 6941738 max2205
max2205's picture

'Worst since El Nino'  get used to it here

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 08:06 | 6942476 Hyjinx
Hyjinx's picture

Can we put the conspiracy theories down for just a minute?  Craziest dumbest crap on this site.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:14 | 6942570 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Yes, let's all believe you and the government who is here to help. Next thing you know, you are going to tell me it was Arabs with box-cutters.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:09 | 6941846 silverer
silverer's picture

I thought that was a Rockwell Int'l. invention?  Either way, taxpayer funded, eh?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 02:55 | 6942260 Silvergood
Silvergood's picture

Wake up friends....the changes in weather are from HAARP and Chemtrailing.  Don't kid yourself about these other excuses.  Educate yourself..... Go to geoengineeringwatch.org 

LEARN NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!!!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:30 | 6942403 Lore
Lore's picture

Go ahead and take a look, but know garbage when you see it.  Most of the "geoengineering" is as bunkum as "carbon tax for global warming" claptrap.

This article makes no mention of undersea volcanic eruption E-N-E of Australia, which is the primary cause of the "warm blob" contributing to stubborn El Nino. It also neglects to mention high altitude volcanic particulates from Russian volcanoes at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, behind the oddly mislabeled "Arctic Oscillation."  And it doesn't address Pacific Decadal Oscillation or other long term cycles.  We're seeing conjunction of cyclical, acyclical, and unusual, but ALL NATURAL factors that result in variable weather, with a historical 'mean reversion' that nobody alive has experienced, and every slimeball with a vested interest is seizing the opportunity to beat, flog and forklift the end-of-world "global warming" narrative, even though the barely significant and coincidental warming part actually stopped 19 years ago and was never and would never have been sufficient to justify the alarmist case in the first place -- certainly not enough to justify global lying government and massively capital-misallocating "carbon taxes."

Patrick Moore at Ideacity (20 minutes long; well worth watching for deprogramming)

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 08:01 | 6942467 ThirdWorldDude
ThirdWorldDude's picture

^^^ This! ^^^

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:20 | 6942578 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Lore, my good man, What are chemtrails? Have you ever seen them? Could the sky you personally look up at be outside the scope of the activity? It's no practical or even possible to do it everywhere.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 14:00 | 6943203 Lore
Lore's picture

Quite right. Attempts to modify local conditions are a matter of public record, but that's all.  And the fabled HAARP facilities are closed.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:47 | 6942878 JRobby
JRobby's picture

A shame there are no volcanoes near DC

Tsunami might be the ticket

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 12:35 | 6943013 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Hey Lore,

Quit fantasizing and spreading non-sense...

Was the last major El Nino in 1997 also caused by an imaginary undersea volcano??? 

And if you think that it has stopped warming, you are deluded...

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 13:59 | 6943223 Lore
Lore's picture

Your misconstrual is a typical defensive flail. I'm not deluded; I just know how to read graphs and identify junk science. You should try it, but you won't, because it's easier to type petty gibes in an attempt to protect your self-esteem, which is subsumed.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 20:14 | 6944383 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

If you think it has not warmed in the past 17 years you clearly do not know how to read a graph...

Care to provide a link for that big volcano?

Didn't think so...

Tue, 12/22/2015 - 16:39 | 6953940 Lore
Lore's picture

Flak, I've probably been looking at graphs and data for longer than you've been alive, and I'm pretty good at spotting BS. 

Here's a copy of the satellite imagery

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 05:08 | 6942345 l8apex
l8apex's picture

Grandad, can you just tell us all when this will happen?  That way I can tell you to STFU about it on the day after.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:36 | 6942430 wanderer9641
wanderer9641's picture

left field thinking - the amount of energy to stop rotation and reverse rotation is very massive - suggest you put on a thinking cap and research psyhics. 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:18 | 6942608 conscious being
conscious being's picture

The Sun has a lot more mass than the Earth. The Sun reverses polarity about every 11 years. There's a lot of energy that sometimes manifests. For example, look at that moon of Saturn with the ice volcanoes. The energy interaction between the Sun and Saturn fires it. Jupiter "Giant Red Spot" is going going I think gone already. Earth's North Magnetic Pole has started travelling about at an increasing rate.

No predictions, other than the Solar minimum seems to be on the horizon. Atmosphere shrinks.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:44 | 6942625 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Will we be spinning the Top 40 in someone's direction?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:59 | 6942644 Anti-kleptocrat
Anti-kleptocrat's picture

The HAB theory all over again ... i.e. B/S, More/S, Piled Hip Deep ... 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:21 | 6942678 conscious being
conscious being's picture

What do you have against the Canadiens, Les Habs? Ok, I give up. What's a HAB?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:39 | 6942855 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Now that is a high likelihood event right there!

Grandad is one of nature's natural noblemen

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:05 | 6941657 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Told ya. Now send blank checks and I will fix this.
-Algore

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:32 | 6941752 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture

Checks can also be made to Man Bear Pig.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:08 | 6941668 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

Starting last night, it actually feels like December in the Mid-Atlantic (39 F in MD) with a bitter WNW wind gusting to 20 MPH. But it's supposed to be 70 on Christmas Eve here. I still haven't fired up the woodstove yet.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:14 | 6941862 Osmium
Osmium's picture

9 degrees right now.  Low will be around 5.  Will warm up on Sunday.  When the jetstream changes, that cold air will be felt here in  Minnesota.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 04:33 | 6942327 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

I'm in Maryland and I still have the AC on.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 05:51 | 6942363 Kprime
Kprime's picture

damn and I thot I was special running my ac in texas

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:10 | 6941674 Aussie Battler
Aussie Battler's picture

41deg in melbourne australia atm (106 deg farenheit). Wish this aussie battler could afford aircon :(

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:24 | 6941722 UncleChopChop
UncleChopChop's picture

hooray! another melbournite on here. nice to know there exist some people here in melbs that do more that just gawk at the absurd headlines.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:34 | 6941751 Killdo
Killdo's picture

I have been in Melbourne since 2 months ago and I love it here - San Francisco  (where I live) and LA (where I lived for years) are shitholes in comparison. 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:01 | 6941976 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

4 seasons in one day?

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:29 | 6941742 SteveNYC
SteveNYC's picture

Bastards down there stole all of the average bloke's disposable income, and diverted it to the banks via inflated home (read: mortgage) values. All other industries (including air conditioning sales......) suffering while the banks loot the place.

Aaahh, love those house prices......

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:42 | 6942182 Kprime
Kprime's picture

Aircon will be banned, it adds to the heat outside which compounds global warming.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:35 | 6942603 websitefound
websitefound's picture

Melbournites are soft, it was 47 degrees (116 Fahrenheit) in South Australia today. No big fires today thankfully, but heard you guys had one firebug at work.  Always thought lighting bushfires should be considered act of terrorism.

 

 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:13 | 6941678 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Only a carbon tax on the middle class combined with a Carbon Credit Exchange for elites to cash in on will save us now!

Oh gawd the humanity they have...NO SNOW!!!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:51 | 6942447 Lumberjack
Lumberjack's picture
New research shows Earth's tilt influences climate change

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-earth-tilt-climate.html

 

Louisiana State University paleoclimatologist Kristine DeLong contributed to an international research breakthrough that sheds new light on how the tilt of the Earth affects the world's heaviest rainbelt. DeLong analyzed data from the past 282,000 years that shows, for the first time, a connection between the Earth's tilt called obliquity that shifts every 41,000 years, and the movement of a low pressure band of clouds that is the Earth's largest source of heat and moisture—the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:58 | 6942459 Lumberjack
Lumberjack's picture

Here is one for you Al Gore. Remember when you said the earth was "milliions of degrees 1 kilometer down"?

 

http://phys.org/news/2015-12-temperature-kilometers-surface-earth-varied...

 

The temperature 3,000 kilometers below the surface of the Earth is much more varied than previously thought

 

The discovery of the regional variations in the  where it meets the , which are up to three times greater than expected, will help scientists explain the structure of the Earth and how it formed.

"Where the mantle meets the core is a more dramatic boundary than the surface of the Earth," said the lead researcher, Associate Professor Hrvoje Tkal?i?, from The Australian National University (ANU).

"The contrast between the solid mantle and the liquid core is greater than the contrast between the ground and the air. The core is like a planet within a planet." said Associate Professor Tkal?i?, a geophysicist in the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.

"The centre of the  is harder to study than the centre of the sun."

Temperatures in the lower mantle the reach around 3,000-3,500 degrees Celsius and the barometer reads about 125 gigapascals, about one and a quarter million times atmospheric pressure.

Variations in these temperatures and other material properties such as density and chemical composition affect the speed at which waves travel through the Earth.

The team examined more than 4,000 seismometers measurements of earthquakes from around the world.

In a process similar to a CT scan, the team then ran a complex mathematical process to unravel the data and build the most detailed global map of the lower mantle, showing features ranging from as large as the entire hemisphere down to 400 kilometres across.

The map showed the seismic speeds varied more than expected over these distances and were probably driven by heat transfer across the core-mantle boundary and radioactivity.

 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 12:50 | 6943042 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Gore never said any such thing...

Give it up...

Interesting link though...

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:21 | 6942677 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Really, no shit? Did she suddenly pick up on the work of Milutin Milankovitch?

Axial tilt, the second of the three Milankovitch Cycles, is the inclination of the Earth's axis in relation to its plane of orbit around the Sun. Oscillations in the degree of Earth's axial tilt occur on a periodicity of 41,000 years from 21.5 to 24.5 degrees.

Standard Disclaimer: The calculations were done in the 1920's. 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 12:57 | 6943061 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Buddy, the work is an extension of the original.

Mulitun never directly studied the climate effect of the cycles, he hypothezed that they were responsible for the ice ages but never demonstrated how it actually worked. That took many years and there were many skeptics (the real kind) that had to be won over...

This is how science works...

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 16:40 | 6943547 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Really, no shit? I guess I should just throw out everything I've learned over my lifetime as an engineer who is well aware of the "scientific method" and just listen to your nonsense from now. I guess I'm just being lazy for not running solar intensity values using the inverse square law for different points on the planet given axial variations, while taking into account localized atmospheric conditions such as cloud cover.

Standard Disclaimer: I'm sure there is now a website for every social cause on the planet. Find one where they can "oooh" and "ahhh" over your every utterance. 

 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 20:16 | 6944388 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Yep, that is what scientists are for..

Now run along...

And while you are at it, go fuck yourself...

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:14 | 6941682 junction
junction's picture

The big concern should not be if things heat up in the Northeast but if a Hot War breaks out in the Middle East.  The Bush crime family is running the United States through their muppet Obama.  Did you see Jeb Bush snarl at Donald Trump during the debate, telling him he won't be president?  The Bushs will authorize as many false flags as necessary, they are true blue Nazis.  America is in deep trouble, and not from weather warm spells.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:35 | 6941754 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

i have heard that the only bad publicity is no publicity.  donald trump is certainly getting some publicity.  maybe the mainstream media does know how hated it is.  and he does want more war.

ron paul didn't get any.  bernie sanders isn't getting any.  they don't want more war.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:03 | 6941831 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Well, Bernie Marx did go in through a software glitch on the DNC website and snuck a peak at the ole donor lists, hell thats gotta count for sumpin on the MSM Richter Scale.

What does it take for a doddering old socialist to get some street cred around here! 

And what is it with dimocrats and websites anyways, I thought they were the smart-techie ones ;-)

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:17 | 6941687 Itchy and Scratchy
Itchy and Scratchy's picture

Record snowfall in Colorado! 17" in one day in Denver! http://www.theweathernetwork.com/us/news/articles/denver-snowfall-record...

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:57 | 6941814 Cruel Aid
Cruel Aid's picture

Wolf creek triple ass deep in snow, getting fired up for that run.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:28 | 6942042 Mr.Miffed
Mr.Miffed's picture

Sounds great! That's Miffed and my favorite spot.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:52 | 6942886 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Always a reliable spot for early season. Then you notice there are no crowds so why go back?

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:25 | 6941729 Demdere
Demdere's picture

More reasons for Americans to be nervous.

DHS must be pleased.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:27 | 6941730 Ms No
Ms No's picture

I don't trust Nat Geographic, or hardly any source anymore but they have said that scientific studies are showing that magnetic North is moving 40 miles a year towards Russia and I've seen Russian articles supporting that.  If we had trustworthy climate science we might know if that could somehow affect the actual pole or weather patterns. 

I guess we will find out.  As many here know some Russian scientists are of the opinion that there is a big cool down coming and even scientists from India are talking about it.  Either way it seems something besides carbon is going on.

Enjoy the warm weather we are freezing our asses off here, everybodies yard plants are dying.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091224-north-pole-magnetic-russia-earth-core.html

http://sputniknews.com/voiceofrussia/2013_04_22/Cooling-in-the-Arctic-what-to-expect/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nashik/Space-scientist-fears-return-of-mini-ice-age/articleshow/45959671.cms

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:34 | 6942057 Dolar in a vortex
Dolar in a vortex's picture

40 miles a year, is that a lot?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:40 | 6942180 Kprime
Kprime's picture

Not with a good horse.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 02:02 | 6942212 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

Actually, it isn't constant, it seems to be accelerating now, though.

http://www.wpclipart.com/geography/Earth/pole/magnetic_north_pole_moveme...

 

If you haven't adjusted the declination on your compasses in a while, now would be a good time.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 04:58 | 6942341 Arnold
Arnold's picture

Wots a compass?

Have had mine since 1975, now in my hunting vest.

Incidently, it is a bitch dragging the buck out in 70 degree western PA tropical winter weather.

 

http://su.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/35087-103459/suunto-mirror-compasse...

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:37 | 6942429 Lore
Lore's picture

Just in case some readers were not aware: The magnetic pole was never NOT moving.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:53 | 6942746 conscious being
Sat, 12/19/2015 - 15:35 | 6943410 Lore
Lore's picture

Relative to what?  Let's not make assertions without context. I understand what you're saying, but let's not leave any convenient ambiguity that might otherwise feed alarmism.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:28 | 6941732 FreeNewEnergy
FreeNewEnergy's picture

Life is good here on the south shore of Lake Ontario, east of Rochester, NY.

We've had no snow, when the average accumulated snowfall at this time of year is about 14 inches. Supposed to be close to 60 on Christmas. No complaints here. I've spent roughly 56 winters up here and a break once in a while is quite welcome.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, there will be plenty of snow and cold to go around in future years. I recall one winter - think it was 80 or 81 - that it was 69 degrees on Christmas. We all got out in summer wear - bathing suits, shorts, shades, with tennis raquets, baseball bats and golf clubs - took a photo and sent it to our relatives in Florida... where it was 62.

Ah, the good old days.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:38 | 6941768 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

I must have missed that in Chicago during that time frame. I left in 82 for a spell so maybe you are speaking of later than 81. It was always cold as hell there after Halloween. I do remember the winter of 1986 was very warm and mild.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:08 | 6941843 FreeNewEnergy
FreeNewEnergy's picture

I have the photo somewhere, and we made a sign that had the temp and the date. If I ever locate it, I'll make a point of mentioning it here, but, knowing the people in the photo (like my brother's wife, a marriage that didn't last long), it's in that frame.

Found this:

http://weather-warehouse.com/WeatherHistory/PastWeatherData_RochesterGre...

Which shows a high temp in December 1982 of 72. That could have been it.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:48 | 6942190 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

"free new energy" ... think that pretty much spells out your climate fraud bias

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:36 | 6941907 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

I am going to agree with the comment below that you have your dates (or memory) confused. Not just Chicago back in '81-'82.

Rochester had lake effect snow last month (November). It didn't stick for very long, but it did happen.

I can't imagine Monroe county getting lake effect snow and Oswego didn't? Maybe you meant to say the snow has melted since?

Zerohedge has veered far away from financial markets (not just this article). But your comment is an example of a well known behavioral bias -- assigning too much weight to the most recent observation, while under-weighting (or ignoring) all others...

Its not snowing this week, and its unseasonably warm this week. Temperatures have been fluctuating for thousands of years, and no reason to think that will change.

But the article's suggestion that el-nino is causing a "hot" winter season? Political hype articles like these come out only on warm weeks.

Very much like Al Gore's tendency to hold his climate fraud rally's on the coldest week of the year -- the guy has incredibly bad timing, on top of his fraudulent pleas for endless tax increases.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 11:03 | 6942773 OverTheHedge
OverTheHedge's picture

Zerohedge has veered far away from financial markets (not just this article)

Have you seen how TD has tagged this article? Worth following the link to see what else he/they hold in contempt:http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11131

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:27 | 6941734 SteveNYC
SteveNYC's picture

Nervous? Not nervous! Just nature....since the dawn of time. 

Bitches.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:27 | 6941735 besnook
besnook's picture

is this a pre warning on the economy? are they lining up their weather excuses?

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:30 | 6941743 atthelake
atthelake's picture

It's not the weather I'm nervous about.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:42 | 6941780 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

Yes I know. We all want the Bears to pull through to the finals.

Right?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 05:03 | 6942343 Arnold
Arnold's picture

'Don't drop the soap' nervous?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 06:13 | 6942379 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

I lean towards "war criminal government" nervous.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:31 | 6941747 stonehands
stonehands's picture

They come up with a theory after the fact. Did anyone hear  predictions for a warm winter a year ago? If this "el nino" were inscrutable fact, we wouldn't be so suprised.

Hey, I have an idea mr. mad scientist. Howsa bout concentrating on the havoc that is being reeked by the three stars boring into the earth in Fuckushima?

 

 

 

 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:39 | 6941771 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

They have enough trouble forecasting the weather next week. How could they anticipate weather six months in advance?

Only an idiot would believe weather forecasters can predict weather with 2 degree accuracy 100 years in advance. That's why Obama is "leading climate fraud from behind" in Paris

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:51 | 6941798 Itchy and Scratchy
Itchy and Scratchy's picture

The only difference between genius and stupidity is that only one is infinite! 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 10:58 | 6942754 conscious being
conscious being's picture

Solar cycles. Maunder Minimum. Check it out. This is what you need to get your head around - The Sun is huge!!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 13:48 | 6943193 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

You clearly fail to understand the difference between an initial value problem and boundary value problem...

Either that or you are being deliberately stupid...

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:32 | 6941753 wombats
wombats's picture

I thought this was recently fixed by World Leaders in Paris.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:54 | 6941958 Sock Monkey Posse
Sock Monkey Posse's picture

No. The credit goes to our beloved Governor Jay Inslee who graciously accepted an invitation to attend.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:37 | 6941766 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

When did Al Gore start writing stupid shit for Zero Hedge?

Northeast ski resorts had the second earliest start to the season in recorded history this year. Killington resort (as one example) opened on October 19th this year.
http://www.skicoupons.com/winter/2015-16-season/

Colorado and Utah are having record snowfalls.

Yes, last week was unseasonably warm (following an unseasonably cold Oct/Nov). Temps in New England this weekend are back down to quite "normal" levels -- low 40s(F) or less during day, freezing at night.

Once again, the media gets it wrong.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:50 | 6941796 My Days Are Get...
My Days Are Getting Fewer's picture

Dear Sir,

I am in southern Vermont as I write and within 10 minutes of the base of the Stratton Mountain ski resort.  Please drive up and visit me - there is zero snow here for the reasons that I explained to a woman, who is renting my house with her family from December 28 through January 4.

"first, to the good forecast for you:

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USVT0236:1:US

The forecast is that the weather will turn colder during your visit with a mixture of snow/rain showers.  I.E., Spring skiing conditions at best.

I was at the base of the American Express ski lift at Stratton about 2 PM this afternoon.  The conditions are miserable - light rain - 38 to 40 degrees - foggy.  Artificial snow in the ski school area - the lift is running 9 AM to 5 PM - no snow under the lift, except a carpet of snow where you access the lift.  Snow coverage begins about half way up the mountain.

There are two problems:  the ground is not frozen; and the warm temperatures make it difficult to make decent snow.  I spoke with the clerk at the grocery store in Jamaica - she knows two guys who spend every night making snow on Stratton.  They are trying to make snow - but the weather does not cooperate.  I was at the Sun Bowl - zero snow.

We have owned our second home in Vermont since 1997.  Here is the usual transition from fall to winter:

Skim ice begins to form on our pond in late October.  The trout in my pond stop feeding.  Solid, translucent ice is in place on the pond by the first week in December.  I wait until the ice gets thick and hard.  Then, in mid-December, I spread a wire mesh cover of 20 by 20 feet over the hole in the ice where water enters the pond from the intake pipe.  This is done to keep the migrating otters out of the pond.

You will see that we tap water from a brook.  That water enters the pond, via an underground pipe, and eventually goes over the waterfall and feeds back into the brook.  The brook has its origin in the Stratton Mountain complex about 8 miles from our house.

Here is the situation today:  zero ice on the pond.  The water is so warm that my fish are still feeding and taking pellets.  That has never happened in December before.  The ground is soft and squishy - meaning that there is no frost in the ground or the dirt roads.  The air is balmy to rainy with overcast skies.  That was the same today on my forest land in Stratton, located about 3 line-of sight miles from the Stratton Mountain summit.

Bottom line:  what is needed here is severe cold weather - nothing else will help much." 

 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:52 | 6941800 Itchy and Scratchy
Itchy and Scratchy's picture

Move to Colorado! 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:23 | 6941882 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

Colorado just spent a lot of money telling Mike Bloomberg to keep his big government corruption in NYC. Lets not invite the socialists from Vermont to screw up Colorado instead.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 08:38 | 6942526 Gohigher
Gohigher's picture

DO  NOT  MOVE  TO  COLORADO !   The weather is horrific, there are no jobs and the outdoor activities just sucks balls. Regardless of what the media portrays, the state is dirty and rayyycsist ...... and ditch weed is rampant. Ya'll just move along now...... nothing to see here........

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 13:56 | 6943221 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

And you can get busted for smoking pot....

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:21 | 6941875 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

I wrote the season started early at ***Killington*** mountain.

Your so-called "rebuttal" was to advertise the AmEx ski lift at Stratton. Is Stratton the same as Killington?

Then you went off on another tangent telling us about current conditions (this week), which again is a completely different discussion than what is happening this **SEASON**.

Bottom line: you can't tell the difference between "this week" and "this season", which is not surprising since you were also unable to differentiate "Killington" from "Stratton".

Temperatures oscillate and will continue to do so no matter how much you miserable socialists try to raise taxes (yeah, I am throwing Vermonters in with the loser they voted for).

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:53 | 6942088 Dolar in a vortex
Dolar in a vortex's picture

Killington is what, 60 miles due North of Stratton?

My experience is that the climate is fairly similar ... but are you saying, this time, it's different?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:46 | 6942141 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

I am saying Killington is a taller mountain, which typically means it has colder temperatures at the **peak** than Stratton's peak. Stratton trails are also positioned to get more sunlight (more melting). And yes, Killington is about an hour further north than Stratton.

I am also saying that the company that owns both Stratton and Bromley (nearby) regularly divert water and snow making equipment to Bromley -- because it has better attributes for snow making.

I am ridiculing people who claim to live in VT, yet somehow get Killington and Stratton confused. Seems the locals should know the difference.

And a link to the weather channel (check ownership) is hardly a neutral site. They (the weather channel media company) have been pushing climate fraud for years.

Some mountains have snow, others do not. Drawing conclusions from one mountain or from some Al Gore cheerleader writing a propaganda piece from their desk in NYC/San Fran is absurd. Maybe Stratton doesn't have snow because its warm for december, or maybe its because its trail position and height have warmer temps than other VT mountains, or maybe its because there are so many ski houses and paved roads to those homes.

I am a seriously ridiculing people who confuse this week's temperatures with the season's temperatures -- just because a media outlet told you to.

When the lefties started pushing political correctness in schools, they made time by eliminating critical thinking

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 02:32 | 6942239 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

Many factors can influence the temperature at different altitudes in the mountains. Temperature inversions are perhaps the best known. Local conditions do not make for an accurate assessment of large scale weather patterns, nor do single day/week/month/season/year observations tell us anything significant about trends.

Having said that, humans can affect these long-term trends, at least, I hope so. I have been busily buying up old transformers and hair spray bottles as well as air conditioning units from classic cars in order to release the CFCs into the atmosphere from my back yard. Hopefully, my actions will accelerate and increase the warming (or even counter the cooling) in my part of Canada. Maybe one day before I die, I will be able to go surfing on Hudson Bay, and that I too can benefit from owning some beachfront property due to rising sea-levels. Let's put an end to this ozone nonsense so that our kids never experience the same dangerous economy-killing winter weather we had as children. Do you know how many people die from frostbite and hypothermia each year? It's more than a dozen. I am being sponsored in my efforts by the good people from the secret US Naval base at Sentry Island as they would like to make wintertime navigation easier in that remote part of the world.

Stay tuned for the Kickstarter campaign and support your local geo-engineering efforts. Nobody should have to shovel snow. Together, we can make winter coats a thing of the past. Thank you.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 07:03 | 6942392 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

So Calif High Desert, 4,000 ft ele., it's 2:22 AM and 38o.  We have 80% chance of rain (hope it comes).

It's cold, but I've lived in this desert most of my life.  1973 we had four feet of snow throughout the entire Victor Valley/Lucerne Valley area.  Shut the entire place down for at least a week.  Extensive upgrades had been made to Highway 18, chief of which was new-fangled reflectors in the middle of the road. 

Big snow hit, and in spring we had two events...thousands and thousands of reflectors on the side of the road (courtesy of the snowplows) and an abundance of desert flowers that I've never seen since.  Imagine looking over fifty miles of purple, yellow, red, orange, green, and white in huge patches.  That spring was the one that I literally had cactus sparrow fledglings landing on me, everywhere I walked.  (and back then I did a shitload of walking(/hitchhiking), 20 miles or more each day, out of necessity.)  We normally get some snow in winter, but it's the perfect kind...go out, take a picture, go back inside and get ready for work...by that time snow is gone.  Temp's usually in the mid-thirties, but we've been as low as -12 in 2005 or so. (Froze my son's house water treatment.  Ever see a split fifty gallon water softener made out of steel? I think it was his second or third year in Afghanistan.)

1973, today is 2015, and there are still reflectors showing in the sand along Highway 18 going from Apple Valley to Lucerne Valley.

I tried skiing once, at age 15.

I spent a couple of hours on the bunny hill, listening to the instructors teaching the kids because I could barely afford the $20 I'd already spent on skis and lift tickets to Big Bear (I don't remember which slope).  I'd managed to master skiing twenty feet down the hill without falling down more than once.  I thought I was ready.  I got in line for the ski lift and rode to the top.

The ski lift pretty much dropped you at the top, and there was a crowd of people getting oriented and heading down the various trails.  I got dumped into the middle of them with no idea of what was going on other than I wanted to take the gentlest way back down.  The crowd started to move and I was in the middle.  There came a point where there was a fork between 'moderate' and 'expert'.  I was on a track that wouldn't allow me to get over to the moderate fork...I was forked!

I tried desperately to climb over to the moderate trail, but the slope and the rut wouldn't let me get over.  I got to a point that was a relatively flat area sloping down and I was able to stop at the edge of a slope that looked, to me, as if it went straight down.  I started to bend over to take the skies off and someone slammed into me.

I went down that slope with my feet on the skis, dragging my ass to the point that my levi's split and snow started to pile around my ass.  The snow filled my pants.  My dick disappeared, my balls retracted to six years old, and I screamed like a little girl. People skied past me yelling 'yahoo!' and doing fancy twirls and stuff. I dug a trench in the snow that was stained in brown and red.

I stopped far, far away from the end of the run, probably a good hundred feet or so, by running into an eight year old who landed on my belly, then did a backroll over my chest and face before slamming her skis into my head.  She was fine, my bell got rung.  A couple of guys, it seems, I assume, helped me up and supported me as I shook god knows how much snow out of my split levis, then gave me a gentle push toward the lodge.  Went in, gave the skis back and went to the bar.  Spent the rest of the day waiting on my cousins to finish, while everyone in the bar was "hey, you're THAT dude!  You ok?"

Never snow skiied again, ever.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:09 | 6941999 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

Is the chair really called "American Express"?  Like, with a fucking logo and everything?  Say it ain't so.  That is just vile.

Or maybe it's an just express chair with a patriotic adjective to give it color?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:26 | 6942149 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

Stratton makes money off real estate (selling ski houses / developments) and from branding licenses (aka the AmEx ski lift).

Bromley gets more natural snow (on average) and has better snow making machinery -- but they also make a lot on real estate sales/development.

Just because the sign says "ski resort" doesn't mean that is how they make their money

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 09:50 | 6942630 Oleander
Oleander's picture

A simple check of conditions on the Killington and Jay Peak websites will confirm that there is not a lot of snow.

A lot of closed lifts and a lot of closed trails. 

Temps for Jay Peak look to be in high 40's to low 50's with rain this coming week.  Looks like Killington will be getting rain too. 

The economy of Vt is taking a hit. If the Massholes do not come to ski they also do not rent rooms or dine out.

It is unusually warm in the Northeast this year and arguing about geographical location will not change the facts.

 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:46 | 6942077 Still Losing Money
Still Losing Money's picture

well if global warming is that bad in Vt, sell your second home and stop beechin about how you ain't turining a profit on your speculative investment. oh boo hoo, the weather is warm there. 

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 23:05 | 6941836 silverer
silverer's picture

Very warm in southeastern PA, central NJ for this time of year.  Snow shovel is collecting cobwebs.

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:10 | 6942116 Kprime
Kprime's picture

Plan ahead, get your mud skis early.

Fri, 12/18/2015 - 22:53 | 6941790 Itchy and Scratchy
Itchy and Scratchy's picture

I hate when climate changes! The temperature under my girl friends skirt has been cooler than normal lately so I've stopped flatulating to reduce my carbon footprint! 

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 00:10 | 6942000 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

I quit once for a whole year!

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:38 | 6942176 Kprime
Kprime's picture

how do you restart a cold pussy?

Sat, 12/19/2015 - 01:57 | 6942202 Mr.BlingBling
Mr.BlingBling's picture

Reach for your wallet.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!