Too Warm for Christmas
I'm sitting home all day waiting for our new laptop. UPS said they would deliver it today between 8 am and 7 pm. I was so appreciative of the specificity they were able to give me. (I know the drivers are swamped this time of year. I'm not really complaining because I'm getting a laptop!)
Anyway, it is warm. So warm! It's in the mid-60s and supposed to reach low to mid 70s by Tuesday. (I just raked the leaves from around the bottom of the mailbox post and found tiny daffodil sprouts starting to come up!!) Finally, after midweek next week, the temperatures will start to creep back down toward something a tad more seasonable. This time of year in central Virginia it's typically in the mid 40s. But this fascinating weather map shows the likelihood of a white Christmas in different parts of the country. Suggested reasons for the decrease in snow in December for most of the country are global warming plus our emergence from the Little Ice Age the Earth has been in for about 300 years. The caption for the map (for those who didn't look at it) says that Dickens' A Christmas Carol took place in very snowy conditions, whereas today it is very unlikely to have a white Christmas in England.
I really need to look more into this Little Ice Age thing. It's mentioned in The Short History of Nearly Everything that I recently read, but with so much else in that book, Bryson couldn't really go into it. But as I recall, traditionally throughout the long history of the world, Antarctica and the northern Arctic region were not known to be solid ice caps as we're used to today. So with this natural emergence from an ice age coupled with unnatural global warming, what the heck is going to happen to our weather?
Anyway, it is warm. So warm! It's in the mid-60s and supposed to reach low to mid 70s by Tuesday. (I just raked the leaves from around the bottom of the mailbox post and found tiny daffodil sprouts starting to come up!!) Finally, after midweek next week, the temperatures will start to creep back down toward something a tad more seasonable. This time of year in central Virginia it's typically in the mid 40s. But this fascinating weather map shows the likelihood of a white Christmas in different parts of the country. Suggested reasons for the decrease in snow in December for most of the country are global warming plus our emergence from the Little Ice Age the Earth has been in for about 300 years. The caption for the map (for those who didn't look at it) says that Dickens' A Christmas Carol took place in very snowy conditions, whereas today it is very unlikely to have a white Christmas in England.
I really need to look more into this Little Ice Age thing. It's mentioned in The Short History of Nearly Everything that I recently read, but with so much else in that book, Bryson couldn't really go into it. But as I recall, traditionally throughout the long history of the world, Antarctica and the northern Arctic region were not known to be solid ice caps as we're used to today. So with this natural emergence from an ice age coupled with unnatural global warming, what the heck is going to happen to our weather?
Labels: weather
posted by Camille at 2:04 PM
3 Comments:
I am fascinated by maps of any kind. It makes sense, of course, because of elevation, but you can trace mountain ranges on this map by looking at the bands where snow is most likely. I live in an area which is a boundary between the 25-50% and 50-75% chance of snow, but I bet that isn't what the weather man would mean by a 50-50 chance! Seems like we usually get rain and sleet, not snow on Christmas.
It was warm here in Dallas this weekend too. People were out in shorts and sandals. Definitely it doesn't feel like Christmas. Anyway, hope you got your laptop!
Oooh, a new laptop!
I miss white Christmases - since moving back to the south, the chances of having one are slim to none. But my in-laws remember when they were younger, it was much colder at this time of year and it wasn't unknown to have a dusting of snow or even a couple inches.
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