December: Goodbye 2017

Finally! A snowy morning in late December

 December was one of only two months (August was the other one) in 2017 where the average high and low temperatures were below the historic monthly averages. Seventeen days and nights had below average temperatures; eleven days and ten nights had temperatures ranging from 6-24º below the historic averages. The month's average high (37.5º) was 3.2º below the historic monthly average; the month's average low (21.7º) was 4.3º below the historic monthly average. Precipitation was below average by 1.2 inches. The 4 inches of December snow was 1 inch less than average, and all of it fell in a single event. Twenty-one days this month had no precipitation whatsoever.

I began this blog one year ago to document the effects of climate change on the seasons in just one small part of the Earth that we call Bean Hill. At the year's close, here is a summary of my observations:

• Nine months (3/4 of 2017) had above average daytime temperatures; six of those months were in the first half of the year.
• Three months (1/4 of the year) had daytime averages that were well above the historic averages (6-10º) 
• Low temperatures: seven months were below average; one month was "normal"; four months were above average, with the first two months having lows significantly above average (7-8.7º)
• Seventeen record highs were set: January (12); February (3--and throughout the U.S. this was the hottest February on record); September (2). This doubles the number of records set in 2016.



Snowbunny-butt

• Precipitation was above average by 5.64 inches; snowfall was significantly below the average of 24.5 inches, with almost all of it falling in December.

To collect data for this blog, I depend upon the accuracy of several online almanacs. Since those almanacs record the weather within a radius of 10 miles of Bean Hill, I know my stats aren't precise. However, the conditions recorded near to us certainly help confirm what I started observing 3 years ago---the climate is changing and it's affecting seasonal changes which impact the cycle of all life, plant and animal and bird, as we've known it in this part of Ohio.

These changes are not for the better. The brutal cold we've experienced here and throughout most of the nation the last several days and nights is only one example of extreme weather events that are occurring with greater frequency world-wide. Extreme weather is the result of a changing climate. How many times will the skeptics have to hear weather events described as "historic", "record-setting", "monstrous", "devastating" before they begin to realize something is amiss? If you thought 2017 was especially brutal weather-wise, you were right. Vox.com has an eye-opening article Megadisasters devastated America this year. They're going to get worse. I urge you to read it, and then pass it on.

At times over the past year the data-gathering and working out the averages got tedious, but overall, I feel it was worthwhile, so I'll continue making my observations in 2018. If you're reading this blog, you probably have some concern for the welfare of the Earth and all therein, so I encourage you to keep some a record of your own observations. You don't need to do data gathering; you just need to pay attention. Your first-hand observations could become useful talking points if and when you have to engage in a climate-change discussion with the skeptics in your life. (May they be few and far between!) Meanwhile, in 2018, do whatever you can to take care of Mother Earth. She needs us.

The setting of the Super Moon as 2018 begins