It’s been an unusually warm winter so far this year. We have had brief spurts of below average temperature weather followed by very short periods of seasonal weather. The above normal temperature days have by far outstripped the normal days.
There have also been an unusually large number of thunderstorms this winter. In a normal winter there are no thunderstorms. The only exception is when there is a heavy snowstorm or blizard and then you’ll sometime here thunder when it is snowing heavily. We don’t get many of these types of snow events where I live either.
I am mindful of the unusually cold and snowy weather in Europe this season. The cold snap has been the most severe in years in most of Europe.
All these things are in line with a possible global warming that many scientists theorize is happening due to human activities. There is still debate within the scientific community as to weather the present dramatic events being seen in our environment are the result of global warming or some type of normal weather cycle.
I tend to lean with the view that the changes in weather patterns are being caused by human activities. Whether this one winter’s warm in may part of the world is a result of that global warming is anyone’s guess. I’m not sure a direct link between this five-thunderstorm winter and global warming can be made.
It would take a series of ever-warmer winters (one wouldn’t expect the change to be so dramatic either) for me to come to concrete conclusions as to global warming being the cause of warmer winters where I live.
I guess the warm winter is a pleasant surprise to many who cannot stand the cold and really can’t stand the bitter cold. It will also keep use of heating systems down which will spare many from the outrageous rise in energy prices that happened this year.