November 2012 weather summery for the Forsyth Mo. area!

As the month of November 2012 has now come to a close, I thought it a good point in time to make a few observations concerning this year's weather.

Drought

For anyone out there who might still be living in a 'bubble of ignorance', I thought to touch on our continuing/worsening drought situation first. They say that pictures tell a thousand words and this one I took of a local creek says a lot. I've been living in the area for decades and, in that time, I cannot remember Swan Creek being this dry!

According to NOAA, the weather service and others, the drought in the Midwest is not expected to improve anytime soon as this graphic  would seem to indicate. Here in southwest Missouri, we find ourselves in what they describe as a 'moderate' drought situation. From what I can ascertain, 'moderate' means that while it's dry out there, no crops or drinking water supplies will be adversely affected. (A situation that might become worse with time as more and more farming districts have begun switching over to irrigation as a primary way to water their crops).

This month, I've recorded only 1.0 inches of rainfall, month to date, versus an average year that should have seen four and a half inches.

Fire Weather

On the heels of any prolonged drought, come the conditions that can result in more widespread wild fires. Dry vegetation in association the occasional with brisk winds can set the stage for fires that burn off large areas of land. And, as damaging as the destruction can be from these fires, there is the side effect on everyone's health that's caused by all that particulate matter being thrown into the air. Studies have shown that some of the constituents of the smoke from burning vegetation contain carcinogens which can endanger ones health....

“Biomass Burning is a problem of long standing. Huge amounts of air pollution are produced worldwide by the annual burning of 3 billion metric tons of biomass such as wood, leaves, trees, grass and trash (Abelson). Biomass burning represents the largest source of air pollution in many rural areas of the developed and developing world. Biomass burning is used create heat, to clear forests, to dispose of leaves, crop stubble, trash and wood. Globally, biomass burning is estimated to produce 40 percent of the carbon dioxide, 32 percent of the carbon monoxide, 20 percent of the particulates, and 50 percent of the highly carcinogenic poly-aromatic hydrocarbons produced by all sources (Levine).” [Luke Curtis, MS, CIH- from Human Ecologist- Fall Issue 2002 Burning Issues Special Edition Nov. 11, 2002]

Temperatures

For many of us, I'm guessing that this November was a month where heating bills played a somewhat bigger role in impacting the family budget. This would be especially true considering the cooler than average temperatures that November brought (2 degree lower mean than average). It's understood that millions of Americans have recently found themselves either under-employed or perhaps not working at all; this happening at a time when every penny counts. Unfortunately, the drop of average or mean temperatures in November will cause a small spike in everyone's bill when they receive theirs next month.

Days marked in blue saw temps below 30°F

The question remains, is this lowering of the thermometer a trend? Last year, overnight temperatures got down into the twenties on just three occasions (see chart). This year we dropped below 30°F no less than 13 times and believe you me, it's the overnight lows that really affect home heating performance in a significant manner! (I hope I've made it clear in a previous post that temperature readings below 35°F really drive up heating costs, especially for those of us who use heat pumps)!

So, next comes December and wow what a change! This first week of that month looks like it just might break a lot of records all over the place as seventy degree days were more the norm for my area than not. Time will tell, as the that month progresses...