Please Send Idaho Some Global Warming Today
Dear Gaia, please send me some global warming. I’ve been a good boy. I didn’t use your name in vain during the January blizzard. I don’t drive a gas guzzler. I don’t want to keep running my furnace.
One of the guys here at the office posted a story a week ago about our warmer-than-normal spring. Then, BINGO! Early March returned. It snowed overnight in Pocatello. A friend in Camas County had a morning in the teens on Tuesday. He still had to plant ahead during the day. Memorial Day is a few weeks away. More cold and rain is expected this weekend.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a drier-than-average summer, especially in East Idaho. Summer rain is expected to be slightly below average. I try to avoid saying normal, it’s a word used by TV meteorologists (tested by focus groups) but gives a false impression.
The last couple of springs have looked very similar into May and into June. Last year I stopped at an Oasis and a woman behind the counter told me she was new in Idaho. She asked if it was always as cold and rainy in June. We haven’t seen a lot of spring in recent years. Here in the south, the drought is temporary history. It’s dry in the panhandle but this summer doesn’t look like Death Valley Days according to NOAA.
It may be possible that some of what we see with so-called climate change are historical variations. We have bigger fish to fry when it gets seriously hot.