Last weather report of year 2017
(Texte Peter Finlayson) My 65 year old tractor and loader groans each morning when asked to start to move the beef manure. Media reports at the end of December emphasized extreme cold warnings and polar vortex, not to mention how the abdominal temperature swings were caused by climate change. Well, guess what ? December 2017 in Ormstown was only the seventh coldest during the last 51 years. Even a year as recent as 2013 was much colder with - 11 ° C. We traditionally experience one week during winter when the high temperature does not go above - 18 °C (the old 0° F). My all time record low was December 1989 with - 15,6 degrees. See the breakdown below. In the meantime, the 5,6 million dollar outdoor ice rink in Ottawa that was built for Canadians to celebrate the 150th birthday can’t be used for pee-wee hockey games because it is too cold. Why not reduce the playing time from three periods down to one period if it is too cold ? As a Winnipeg boy who walked ont mile to school each winter morning and delivered the daily newspaper upon returning home, a temperature of – 20 °C was all in one day of work. But oh no, there must be some explanation for this extreme cold temperature so let’s blame climate change and while we are at it, maybe the floods, droughts, wild fires and ice storm. The routine Winnipeg floods 60 years ago were not caused by climate change or global warming but by having too much snow cover melting in too short a time in a topography that was flatter than piss on a plater. December recapitulation included 13 mm of rain and 53 cm of snow which totaled a benign 61 mm or 2,4 inches of rain and melted snow which is the normal range. The total precipitation for all of 2017 was 1127 mm which is only 92 mm or 3,6 inches above the ten year normal in spite of having a very wet planting and having season proving once again that statistics tend to average out over time. Last year was the tenth hottest year in Ormstown during the last 51 years. The average temperature were 6,383 °C (1967-2001), 6,512 °C (1967-2009) and 6,575 °C (1967-2017). Indicating a slow progression toward warmer temperatures is doubt if I will see the long term averages reverse and decline but after the last two weeks of December, I am not sure I would want to see such a reversal on a positive note. The coolest December in 1989 was followed by the hottest January in the last fifty years so that gives us something to look forward to. Breakdown 1989 : - 15,6 °C 1980 : - 11,2 °C 1970 : - 11,1 °C 2013 : - 11 °C 1976 : - 10,5 °C 1995 : 8,7 °C 2017 : - 8,6 °C 50 year average : 5,38 °C