Cold Showers

The last day of the year is typically supposed to be a year in review kind of thing for all of us political and social commentators, right? Well, then, perhaps the most significant Detroit area event, if one can reasonably call something spread out over an entire year an event, is all that rain we endured. Yes, friends, Detroit's wettest year ever was 2011, with a chance to add a little more to that record before the year expires in about 16 hours as we write.

Weather, generally, is only a significant news story when it is extreme, such as hurricanes, massive floods, or droughts. But this surely qualifies, doesn't it? Detroit streets and homes were frequently flooded. All that precipitation had its effect on business too: plumbers report a better business climate this year as a direct result of the rain. Flooded basements mean clogged drains, a sure shot in the arm for local plumbers hit as hard by Michigan's poor economic climate (notice the bit of a pun there? rain...economic climate?) as everyone else.

Who do we blame? We have to blame someone, you know; nothing ever just happens. It must somehow be a result of all that global warming hullabaloo which we hear about incessantly. Or not. When asked why all the rain this year, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, David Kook, said, "I haven't a clue." Take that, all you who seek climate Armageddon under every rock.

It just happened. Things just happen sometimes, folks. And that's what the Detroit area faced this year. One big, wet weather fluke.

Stay tuned for 2012. The weather almost certainly will not be such big news in the new year. But just case, perhaps check rowboat prices during today's year end sales.

A Question on Global Warming

There are concerns being expressed by weather watchers that April could find many areas of the nation looking at recorded snowfalls. This isn't all that unusual; it was only about 6 years ago that Detroit had around 7 inches of snow on April 7th, and as we had up until late yesterday a winter storm watch for our neck of the woods. Indeed, snow flurries have occurred in the Motor City recently as late as the 22nd of April. Late snow just isn't big news around here.

Until you factor in that hobgoblin, global warming. If we are warming up too much, why are temperatures staying so low so far into the spring? To be sure, that is not the easiest question to address, as there are myriad factors involved in what creates our weather. But to hear the global warming crowd, there is only the one factor: us.

We recognize that there are rarely any nicely gradual changes in our climate, and that even presuming global warming to be true cannot mean that changes in our weather will occur on a steady, sliding scale. But again, that seems to be more of an argument against rather than for any kind of spectacular climate change. Why ought we assume that something on a scale almost unimaginable will happen when all credible evidence suggests that nature moves slowly, and sort of back and forth? It rocks, but doesn't roll.

Yes, there are convoluted explanations by the scare mongers which assert that these cold spells in fact support their point. Yet until we can see something straightforward and easily explainable, our money will be against them. It's the safe bet in light of their shrill tone.