Ecologists are intrigued by the weather much like a weather man is interested in astronomy. A direct correlation does not exist but avoiding the topics would be impossible to do. The year of 2008 left us with a lot of remarkable weather which was fun to observe, difficult to schedule around and sometimes downright scary.
Last April, I posted a blog about the winter of 2007-2008, explaining the snowiest winter this area has ever seen. This was followed by a June posting explaining the very wet spring. In fact, it was the wettest year in Chicago history with 51 inches of rain falling. The flooding of June 2008 was the costliest natural disaster in Wisconsin history, altering the tourism industry in the town of Wisconsin Dells. ”There were all kinds of things going on,” said Harry Hillaker, Iowa State climatologist. He would know; his state endured 105 tornadoes this year, including its first F5 tornado since 1968 and the worst flooding in Iowa history.
December 2008 – This past month, many Midwest cities set December records for snowfall amounts. Some also set records for most rainfall… It was so dynamic this past December that the three days following Christmas, Chicago weathermen issued the following (in order): A Freezing Rain Advisory, a Dense Fog Advisory, a Wind Advisory, a Flash Flood Watch, a Flash Flood Warning, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, a Tornado Watch, a Flood Warning, and a Gale Warning, and sometimes all at the same time. During that event the temperature rose from -1 to 58 degrees in three days! Madison, WI, shattered their all time snow record last year and is currently on pace to beat that with 38.6 inches already falling.
What is causing such new extremes in a generally steady Midwest? I am not sure, but a myriad of issues arrived in the public consciousness in 2008. It’s my New Year’s prediction that environmental issues will become increasingly important in the near future. However, in the future, it may not be the plants and animals that we will be worried about…
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=228256 The Dubuque, IA weather summary
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