Updated with a photo, Daryl Ritchison writes:
If you want pictures of the Dickinson snow, here are a couple of pictures sent from a viewer of mine. They reported 1.5″ as these pictures were being taken. The one with the lilac blooming (at right in photo above) is interesting because most years the lilac have finished blooming three weeks ago, but the spring has been so cold in this area that most phenological events are running about 2-3 weeks behind schedule.
More here from the TV station web site: http://www.kxma.com/weather
From the “weather is not climate” department, this report from TV station KXMC in North Dakota:
KXNewsTeam
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) Snow has fallen in Dickinson in June, the first time in nearly 60 years the city has seen snow past May.
National Weather Service meteorologist Janine Vining in Bismarck says there were unofficial reports of a couple of inches of snow in Dickinson on Saturday.
Vining says snow in North Dakota in June is uncommon, though it’s not unheard of. She says other parts of the state have seen June snow within the past 10 years.
Williston and Bismarck had received only rain as of mid-Saturday, but Vining said snow was possible in those cities later in the day.
Twins Elizabeth (left) and Jeanette McGregor play in the snow in Aviemore
Just Want Results… (08:44:12) :
“Allan M R MacRae (08:19:51) : In contrast, the article written by Sallie, Tim and me has stood up pretty well.”
Could I have the link to the article? I’d like to read it. TIA
______________________
Link is already in my previous post here – works for me anyway.
Here it is again:
http://www.apegga.org/Members/Publications/peggs/WEB11_02/kyoto_pt.htm
Allan M R MacRae (11:32:19) :
You’re right, it did work. It’s that I expected to see your name at the top. I didn’t scroll down.
JP (07:10:41) : I wonder how this will effect the summer wheat there. Here in Northern Indiana, a cool, very wet Spring has forced many farmers to forgo corn planting, and instead plant beans. However, many fields still have standing water, which means they will likely remain fallow this year.
Thanks for that ‘on the ground’ info. I was betting on it, but had not gotten confirmation and was a bit nervous …
With the dollar falling, many investors will seek out commodities to hedge thier portfolios. Corn prices could begin to creep-up again. Perhaps we’re in the beginning of a commodities bubble similar to the one we saw in 2006- to mid 2008.
A bit early for talk of a ‘bubble’. At present it’s more of “off a bottom”. For those “home gamers” not into futures contract, there are Exchange Traded Notes ( ETN ) and Exchange Traded Funds ( ETF ) that neatly package these things into a “stock ticker” you can buy in your IRA or stock account. They also handle all the mechanics of rolling contracts forward into new months and managing expirations, delivery, all that stuff.)
In exchange for the information about “facts on the ground”, I offer a bit of info as to what you can do with it. My typical “go to” tickers are MOO, JJG, COW, and sometimes DBA. I’m familiar with them. “New hot ideas” are a couple of Chinese hog farmers (doing better than SFD Smithfield or HRL Hormel by a long shot right now) but speculative.
MOO is an “inputs basket”. Monsanto, Mosaic, Potash, etc. (I sold mine last week. I think the inputs may have “topped” for a little while probably on the fallow percent rising… but I’m trading not long term investing. I’ll be back into it when the price is moving up again.) For details on holdings see:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hl?s=moo
DBA is an ag basket. A mix of wheat, soybeans, corn, sugar. For details see:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hl?s=DBA
JJG is a similar grains basket, but minus the sugar.
JJA purports to be a broader basket (perhaps with animals included?) but I have not investigated it. It seems to move like DBA.
SGG is sugar. Rose, now gone flat at the higher level.
NIB is Cocoa. Presently looks like a “flat roller” suitable for cycle trades.
JO is coffee. Presently doing about the same as DBA.
The tropicals (NIB, JO, BAL – cotton ) don’t show much response to cold in the N.H. and seem to mostly be moving on $ changes and a bit of local rain issues. I’m not following them closely at the moment, but JO is interesting to me.
So what AM I actively watching and trading?
COW is a basket of cows, pigs, and chickens. (goes DOWN on first grain price rise as farmers clear out animal inventory that wants feed, THEN goes UP LATER). A bit early now – still in a down trend, but watch if for the upturn after cattle and hogs have been sold off on rising feed costs.
HOGS is a slightly speculative Chinese hog farmer. A bet on prosperous Chinese getting more Sweet & Sour Pork and Mushu Pork in their diet. On a rocket ride at the moment, so don’t put in large money. Just a tiny bit of Las Vegas money… FEED is a similar Chinese Hog company, but also processes feed grains. Also on a rocket ride and speculative. Small position (like 1% of holdings) only… I don’t own any yet .
I presently own JJG as a long term hold through this season and I’m looking at a “tiny” of HOGS and / or FEED as a mad money gamble. I’m trading MOO on a faster chart as a cyclical economy / farm economy barometer.
So yes, I expect there to be rising food prices driven by rising grain prices. First in grain based products, then in meat a bit later. Oh, and FUD is a “food basket” per the advertizing, but I don’t know much about it… JJG is rising a bit faster and FUD is thinly traded, so I’ve just stayed with JJG
The chart shows JJG as rising nicely off a bottom. HOGS rocket ride. MOO rising into a flat moment. Commodities can be very volatile, so don’t put on a large position in any of these unless you are fond of the bucking ride… These are more trade vehicles than 5 year investments.
i.e. a futures contract will never “grow” into a world dominating Google. Next season it will be starting over at neutral again…) So HOGS is a company, you can own a little and hope for Chinese prosperity and pork dinners. MOO is a basket of companies and will also grow as agriculture grows (and lets a farmer own a bit of “the other side of the contract” to hedge their position against the folks trying to suck all their money out of them 😉 JJG is a futures contract basket and will oscillate, but not much else.
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/charts/big.chart?symb=jjg&compidx=aaaaa%3A0&comp=dba+moo+hogs&ma=4&maval=25&uf=7168&lf=2&lf2=4&lf3=1024&type=4&size=3&state=15&sid=2913190&style=320&time=7&freq=1&nosettings=1&rand=6542&mocktick=1
Clive, Allan M R MacRae, and others in Alberta:
Many (not all, but many) people who live to the South of us believe that we live in an eternal winter climate… we’re Canada for crying out loud, don’t we live in igloos and get to work with a dog sled?
However, this IS unusual. I recall the big May blizzard in 86 and the snowfall in August in 92 (Pinatubo weather), and 2005’s June was pretty much all rain… but not real accumulation of actual snow in June!
I don’t like cold. If it were up to me we’d have 100 degree days and 80 degree nights, year round. I’d rather use the air conditioner than the heater. I’d rather watch girls in bikinis than winter coats, and I’d rather fish in my lake than skate on it.
CodeTech:
Canada
Northern Europe is very cold too just now. We had a few very nice days at the end of May, and then the bottom dropped out. Night before last there was widespread frost in central and southern Sweden, which while not unique is quite rare in June. Norrköping (where the Swedish Meteorological Service (SMHI)) is situated hit +0.2 degrees centigrade. SMHI was very careful to point out that this was not a record, because June 12 1962 was even colder, which is probably true. Still, something that only happens every 50 years must be considered decidedly unusual.
Arthur Glass (07:16:27) : I was in highschool during the ’60’s (not, I hasten to add, for the whole decade),
Braggart!
More junk science
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6446236.ece
Okay, oh wow (the article linked below) O.o
http://www.accuweather.com/news-story.asp?partner=netweather&traveler=0&zipChg=1&article=9
So it says here some areas in the Northern US to the Northeast will have a ‘year without a summer’!?
If I’m reading that right and it does happen, it could have some implications here in Kansas as well if we get cold fronts dropping out of those areas because the Northern US is directly north a ways from us.
I guess we’ll be saying hello to rollercoaster temps. if it means cold fronts all Summer from the Northern US and 90/100 degree heat popping up between fronts from Texas and the desert Southwest. O.O
Retired Engineer (07:58:10) : My parka won’t fit in my carry-on.
WEAR IT onto the aircraft (Unbuttoned and flapping open to stay cool enough).
Once aboard, ask the cabin attendant to hang it in the closet, please. Most aircraft have a hanging up place. In The Old Days one of the tricks was to carry on a “suit bag” with hanger and hand it to the attendant on boarding. Then take the briefcase with you to the seat. Don’t know if present rules still let you do that, but it was a nice “cheat” to get 2 carry ons and only deal with one 😉
I think AlGore should devote his time to freeing those two reporters over in North Korea….a new job and maybe another “Nobel,” (like Arafats or something).it’s obvious his Global Warming Religion is in the tank now. Messiahs never came (Millerites, Armstrong-ites, &c), and Al’s GW and rising oceans ain’t comin’ either.
I got my 4th load of wood in yesterday. One load is Western Larch, highest BTU’s we have in our area per cord…I need 3 more loads to fend off the Electrical Company this coming “Global Cooling” (oops, winter). It’s 50 degrees outside right now. Isn’t going to make 80 until late this week (but the weatherman has been way off all “spring”).
Another thing we’ve had this season is incredible infestations of bugs…aphids making my Plum tree look like it has Leprosy. Everyone is complaining about the
proliferation of bugs. So what? Weak plants invite infestations…
Don’t develop your economies or create jobs! Destroy both and live on carbon credits!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8083706.stm
So our pompous savetheworldists want poor nations to live on welfare that may not even be received by all those who would become jobless. What are those people supposed to do with their lives?
The solution should be to ask them to grow new trees specifically for palm oil and leave most of their traditional forests intact, or at least create a sustainable cycle of seeding, cultivation and harvesting. That isn’t even suggested as an idea but putting the brakes on human development is.
Arn Riewe (08:33:55) : How about “condensed crystalline water vapor”?
No… “condensed” sounds too much like solids…. and water vapor brings up images of rain.
Clearly “crystalline steam” gives a much better image… and it sounds scary too!
anna v (10:14:21) : Tides. The crust itself moves almost 40 cms as the bulge of the moon’s pull goes around. Metastable states could be affected by this at faults, where enough energy has built up and just needs a trigger.
I’ve actually made a “minor prediction” some time ago of higher quake risk for my area for the next major tide date of June 2x or so here:
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/are-we-quaking/
I’d also pointed out that May 2x, 2009 was almost as high. That’s when we had the big quake in Honduras… Timing was good, location was off a bit 😉
The tide chart shows the “new moon” as a bit higher than the “full moon”.
Just on the news here in the UK: the MET office issued a “prognosis” for the year 2080 (yes, 2080) stating that summer temperatures in Devon could by then go as high as 41 C, at least 10 degrees C higher than the highest ones expected now.
In the meantime people are wrapping themselves in warm clothes to ward off the blimming cold … It appears that the more evidence for a cooling world, the more outrageous become the predictions. I observe a clear anti-correlation there.
need some help over here with the granola munchers
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/1842/hunger-is-a-global-warming-issue
CodeTech (12:12:56) : Many (not all, but many) people who live to the South of us believe that we live in an eternal winter climate… we’re Canada for crying out loud, don’t we live in igloos and get to work with a dog sled?
How silly of them, and how rooted in an image of a long gone past. Everyone knows that times have changed and you now use snowmobiles 😉
Everyone knows that times have changed and you now use snowmobiles
Translation: Good day, everyone knows that times have changed and you now use snowmobiles, eh.
As you will have read elsewhere in this thread, the weather in the UK has been variable recently. After a very welcome few days of hot weather last weekend things began to change – as they do – this is England after all. I work at a University and on Friday I did not take a jacket or coat as it had been so pleasant and the Met Office did not predict rain until Friday evening. Imagine my surprise (or not) when the rain started on my journey to work at 8am!
The rain was so heavy at lunch time that I only managed to dash out quickly to check out the World Environment Day effort in the Quad. No sign of the promised barbeque (not sure if it was charcoal-free or not) but a few students hurriedly rushing past the marquee en route to more interesting destinations (exams almost finished).
Meanwhile tonight BBC TV programmes such as ‘Countryfile’ which I used to enjoy can’t let any report go without mentioning the horrors of climate change – CO2 was given a break briefly as they reported on methane from household food waste – ‘hundreds of times more DANGEROUS’ than CO2. Surely someone is going to seriously question this **** soon? (My own asterisks)……… Thank you for this blog Anthony. I log on several times a day and welcome every new report and comment. Nick.
Aron (12:21:45) :
Ed Zuiderwijk (13:04:53) :
“…the MET office issued a “prognosis” for the year 2080…”
The Met can’t even get it right for the current year.
jeez (13:39:57) :
what in the!
Warmer in the Artic than usual and cooler in the US, Europe, and NZ than usual. It’s that Russian HAARP thing.
That’s the ticket.
Ed Zuiderwijk (13:04:53) :
It appears that the more evidence for a cooling world, the more outrageous become the predictions. I observe a clear anti-correlation there.
It appears that they are trying to ‘name it, claim it’, or wishing upon a falling star.
The Sun does NOT smile for them.
I wouldn’t either. “Always with the Negative waves, Moriarity, always with the negative waves. Have a little faith, baby”.
One has to wonder how such fatalistic prognoticators got mixed up with the “Audacity of Hope”.
E.M.Smith (12:11:57) :
According to David Archibald there is/will be, “a temperature100 kilometre equator-ward shift in growing conditions”
Is this happening already in the NH?
Anthony – you know that photo doesn’t prove anything! (at least, that’s what Joe Romm’s supporters would say)…
REPLY: It proves there is snow on the ground, in June. – Anthony
Hit a lot of places including Calgary, where I must travel tomorrow. That damn AGW!