Weather, A Zero Sum Game?

Well, there it was again. We are having a bout of bad weather in Milwaukee. It' almost inevitable that some one will remark that we should expect this weather, since we've had a relatively mild winter up to this point. People! Weather is not a zero sum game. We do not have a ration of bad weather and good weather days which must be used by the end of the year or we get taxed with a really bad day to make it up.

Our weather is effected by so many factors that it would be impossible to mention them all here, but there are givens. The migration of the sun from north to south and back again provides us with our seasons. Longer days mean more sunlight therefore warmer average temperatures. We have statistics that tell us what the average temperature, high and low, can be during a period. These variations can be dramatic as they were this last December (2006) and January (2007). So when some homespun prognosticator tells you, "We shoulda known it was going to be nasty this winter when we got all that warm weather in January", it's just talk.

The fact is that average temperatures are trending upward. This is one of the factors that are concerning scientists about global warming or climate change. If you like Milwaukee with 40 degree day time highs in January, you may think that global warming isn't such a bad deal. But before you become smug you might want to look at the down side. We have enough people from Illinois coming up here to cool off during the summer. Can you imagine what will happen if our climate becomes even more inviting?