Saturday, March 07, 2009

Global Warming ain’t what it used to be

From Watts Up With That? we learn that Lake Superior is freezing over. Something it historically does every 20 years or so, to be sure, but the last time it froze over was 2003 so that makes it a tad unusual for it to have done so again so soon.

Checking the satellite data it seems that every one of the Great Lakes is pretty much frozen over except Lake Ontario.

The Aerie is at the tail end of the lake effect snow from Lake Erie. The Lake, having been frozen for some time now has failed to supply the moisture for the usual lake effect snows. That coupled with short but intense warming spells mixed with rain from the south has caused virtually all the snow cover around here to disappear.

The Bolt Hole is an entirely different story! It is located down wind of Lake Ontario (the one that didn't freeze) and, therefore, has had an abundance of snow this year. Mark tells be there's still three feet of snow on the ground in the fields and maybe four in the woods. When there's been a warm spell or rain, it has served only to pack the stuff down into a denser, icier mass that is even more resistant to melting.

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