Ninety Degrees

Today the official temperature at Richmond, Virginia's airport was 90 degrees. This is rather warm for April - usually 90 degree weather occurs during the summer. It has been an unusual year. Like last year, it hit 90 degrees in late winter (in late March), and a little more than a week later (day before Easter), it snowed. It's been cold and it's been warm. January had a lot of 60 and 70 degree weather, while February featured day after day of highs in the high 30s or low 40s, and storms threatened snow all over the place, especially the Valentine's Day storm, which dropped 1.5 inches of rain in 35 degree weather here.

Overall I would say the trend is towards warmer temperatures; this is global warming that is happening. Why? I looked at some temperatures today. In Churchill, Manitoba, some 60 degree weather is forecast. The normal high there is 44 degrees. Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, is also having 60s, when their average is in the 50s. Alert, Nunavut, only 8 degrees from the North Pole, is having single digits above zero. The average is single digits below zero. The farther north you go, the warmer it is over seasonal averages. Hudson Bay does not normally start melting until May. It is already starting to melt. Hurry up, polar bears! Get going or you may have to swim dozens of miles to get to sea ice.