Warmer weather on the horizon (Global warming strikes!)

A late-season cold snap that descended on Fairbanks nearly a week ago is expected to lift on Sunday, ending what so far has been the winter’s harshest cold spell.

The low temperature of 44 degrees below zero at the Fairbanks International Airport on Friday morning was the lowest temperature this late in the winter since 1964, according to meteorologist Rick Thoman with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

It marked the second straight day with a low temperature of 40 below or colder and the fifth day in a row the low was at least 35 below.

Clouds are expected to move into the Tanana Valley sometime Sunday, which will push temperatures up, and residents may even see what has been a rare sight this winter — some snow.

In all fairness, it is an axiom of climatology that single weather events cannot be claimed as evidence of climate, per se. Yet, the true believers of Anthropogenic Global Warming ™ frequently cite isolated examples of regional warm weather in support of their Faith.

Climate is the sum total of all weather events occurring over long periods of time. Single events, while certainly contributing to the makeup of climate in a particular region, do not - themselves - alter climate. Only a large number of events occurring over a long period of time cause an alteration in typical weather patterns. Even the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated on page 5 of its Third Assessment report:

"Changes globally to tropical and extra-tropical storm intensity and frequency are dominated by inter-decadal and multi-decadal variations, with no significant trends over the 20th century."

That having been said, there certainly are a number of examples of Regional Cooling recently:

Nebraska

Switzerland

Northeast America

"...storm blamed for at least 36 deaths across the eastern half of the country spread into the Northeast on Monday, coating trees, power lines and roads with a shell of ice up to a half-inch thick and knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
Ice-covered roads cut into Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observances from Albany, N.Y., to Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, where officials also canceled Gov. Rick Perry’s inauguration parade on Tuesday because another round of ice was expected during the night.

The weight of the ice snapped tree limbs and took down power lines, knocking out electricity to more than 70,000 customers in New York state and New Hampshire."

Southern California

Love the picture of the palm trees in the snow field that originally accompanied this article:

It's more about a fast buck and their looney agendas then it is about global warming.

I hope they have deep pockets, the price of Citrus Juice will be on the rise
next year. I've heard that some of the groves have had 50 to 60% bud loss. That's hugh...

Cold weather takes bloom off some citrus _________________________________________________________

BUSINESS

Cold weather takes bloom off some citrus
By MICHAEL POLLICK and DEVONA WALKER

michael.pollick@heraldtribune.com
devona.walker@heraldtribune.com

If there is one thing that is consistent about citrus groves, it is that there is nothing consistent about citrus groves.

There might be a deep pocket in one part of a grove where the air temperature on frosty evenings like those of the past several nights is 12 degrees colder than one on adjacent and higher ground.

Growers around Southwest Florida are seeing freeze-burned "flush," the citrus industry term for the tiny blossoms that are the beginnings of new oranges and grapefruits.

The generally warm winter fooled the trees into pushing out blooms ahead of time, so there are two crops on many of the trees.

At SMR Farms' East Manatee groves, where thousands of citrus trees are planted, managers estimated that as much as 15 percent of the new bloom was damaged by the weekend's freezing temperatures.

Figuring out just how much damage was done by the temperatures that ranged from 27 degrees to 32 degrees at SMR's expansive property will take the better part of two weeks.

"I wouldn't call it good news. But it is better than it could have been," said Mac Carraway, SMR Farms' vice president. "We still certainly have to watch how the trees and bloom develop from now on."

Flush was likely hit harder in places north of Southwest Florida where temperatures were slightly colder.

The danger number for citrus trees is 28 degrees: that temperature or lower for more than four hours will start to damage oranges and grapefruits. Growers have only 72 hours to process any freeze-damaged fruit before it rots.

snip...
Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte County had some of the coldest relative temperatures and likely will have the most bloom damage, said Barbara Carlton, executive director of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, which represents DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Sarasota and portions of Charlotte County.

"It all depends on the area. Every area has their own dynamics," Carlton said.

At Manatee County's Mixon Fruit Farms, the warming presence of high tide protected Dean Mixon's grove.

"There was just a light frost, and the tide was up when it got the coldest," Mixon said. "Inland, there's nothing to warm it up. That's where there's more damage."

Bob Spencer, manager of Palmetto's West Coast Tomatoes, said his farms were largely spared, but other growers he visited on Monday were not so lucky.

snip...
At Wayne Hibbs Farm and Garden, a Sarasota plant nursery, temperatures did not get as cold as farther inland.

"We did absolutely fantastic," said manager Debbie Nave. "We got 34 here."

It will take a week or more of warmer weather to determine any damage, Nave said.

"Today is uncovering day and watering very deep."

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