Monday, March 19, 2012

And then the rains came! And the tornadoes!

Check out my You Tube Video for the feel of the storm that came through and trashed many businesses along the Hwy 76 strip in Branson Missouri!

One morsel of information I've gleaned from reading source material concerning the last Little Ice Age was just how extreme the weather can become during a period of rapid climate change. In a short amount of time, conditions can go from warm to cold, from wet to dry and then back again without seeming rhyme or reason. What was once thought to occur over decades can occur in just a few short years. Only in a rear view mirror that stretches back centuries can one discern that indeed there was indeed a pattern to it all.

Are we at the very beginning of another great change in the natural order of things? I don't know. I do know that in just the last few years it has seemed to me that something is not quite as it should be. Winters have been milder with the spring coming much sooner than I remember it. Storms that sweep through the Midwest seem to have acquired a harder edge, with tornadoes occurring much more frequently and further to the north. Drought conditions like those seen in Texas have become more common only to be followed by flooding rains the next season. Wild and wacky is how I would describe the state of the weather.

This March has followed the pattern with killer tornadoes spawned in multiple states in the first week only to be followed by record breaking temperatures in the second. Now, as we approach the official start of spring, the rains are coming. A deluge of as much as eight inches is forecast to fall on parts of my state as a slow moving cold front interacts with very moist air fed from the Gulf. Mixed into all this wetness will be the isolated tornado that should keep everyone on their toes. Hold onto your garter belt Mildred, it only gets more interesting from here!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ah spring! A time of renewal!



According to the weather people, spring begins on March the 1st , not the 21st! And, I think that Mother Nature pretty much has agreed with that as she started off the season with much climate turmoil that is so characteristic of her entrance after Old Man Winter has had his say.

This year of 2012 has certainly been unusual with record warmth during January and February and now devastating storms that wrecked havoc over much of the middle and eastern parts of the country on February the 29th and March the 1st! It will be most interesting to see what is in store for the north American continent as the year progresses!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Introduction


This blog is intended to be a series of posts that chronicle some weather events in and around the Forsyth Missouri area for the fall and winter period of 2011-12. Please feel free to check it out from time to time! (Ctrl D to bookmark).

“Who da man? Who DA MAN? Old man winter, he be da man!"

And, just maybe, he’s already on his way down to the North American Continent for an extended stay in 2011-12. That seems to be the consensus of some weather experts. While no one can predict exactly what Mother Nature has in store for us, the climatic trend seems to point to interesting times ahead… that is, if you like weather extremes. The following post details my expectations for the coming winter!

Below is information concerning average temperatures and rainfall for the Forsyth Mo. area by month:



(Please click on graphic below to expand)