[Rockhounds] Idaho metamorphic trip and glaciers

[J Bryan Kramer]

The Accuweather guy, Joe Bastardi (IIRC) was calling this La Nina to be like
the 1949-50 event which was very strong. The new solar cycle has not started
yet and was expected to start many months ago. There are essentially no
sunspots on the sun and haven't been for over a year. There was a big
announcement back at the beginning of January 2008 about the new cycle
starting when they spotted one very very small spot with a reversed polarity
but it quickly faded and none of reversed polarity have been seen since.

<http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=10550>

So there is considerable doubt about whether cycle 24 has started. Rare
sunspots equal the same condition that occurred during the Maunder minimum
and heralded the start of the LIA. Russian meteorologists have been
predicting a new LIA which would last the rest of the century. Of course the
Global Warming Religion denies that the Sun has any effect of the climate.
Their god CO2 rules all.

BK

On Feb 10, 2008 4:32 PM, Tim Fisher <nospam at orerockon.com> wrote:

> Lanny, long ago I decided that the list has SAD:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder
>
> I do occasionally steal snowpack data so I have a few sites
> bookmarked. The closest SNOTEL sites are Sherwin & Lost Lake:
> ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/ID/snow/siteinfo/idaho_data_site_map.pdf
>
> Here's the current chart for Sherwin:
>
> http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/wygraph.pl?stationidname=16C01S-SHERWIN&state=ID
>
> And Lost Lake:
> ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/id_swepctnormal.pdf
>
> Looks like snowpack is a bit above average but the snow water
> equivalent is sticking to the average like glue. The Clearwater as a
> whole is 122% of average SWE. In other words a whole bunch o' powder
> lol. The ski bunnies at Schweitzer must be in heaven :)
>
> Interestingly, NW Oregon is kicking Idaho's butt for once; the
> Willamette basin is at 199% of average SWE today. Classic La Nina
> conditions for us, but not so much for you guys. I get the La Nina
> updates and the latest has half the long range models predicting that
> the current strong La Nina will last through at least Sept 2008.
> That's the strongest I have seen in the historical record that I deal
> with which goes back into the 1960s. Translation: Greater than
> average precip and lower than average temp for the Pacific NW through
> Sept. Global warming? How about Little Ice Age II? (yeah I know a
> short term oscillation does not a trend make. It's a nice fantasy though)
>
> Completely unrelated, we caught a bit of the Little Ice Age show on
> the History channel last night. Fascinating stuff. The most
> interesting quotes were a "global warming camp" researcher firmly
> pinning the end of the LIA to industrialization, vs. another
> researcher (who didn't appear to be a non-believer in GW) stating
> that we can never know if it was a short term oscillation (I love how
> 4-500 years is short term to climate researchers lol) or was a long
> term trend that was broken by industrialization. Confirms the
> mindsets of the two camps haven't changed a bit, which saddens me a
> little. Perhaps our faulty science education system in this country
> extends to the colleges as well. If I pinned long term declines in
> Pac NW salmon abundance to industrialization, farming, ranching,
> dams, etc., to the exclusion of all else, in a published paper, I
> would have my head handed to me on a platter. With garnish & sides :D
>
> At 09:36 AM 2/10/2008, you wrote:
> >Hi all,
> >
> >Here I sit indoors looking out at the mounds of snow and the rough
> >white strip in front of the house that is supposed to be a street and
> >can't help but wonder when the snow will be off the St.Joe-Clearwater
> >divide so we can make the planned field trip into the metamorphics of
> >northern Idaho. Maybe it won't be until August.
> >
> >Difficult to say though. Whereas we have over 200% of the average
> >snowfall of 60 inches in Coeur d'Alene this winter, they say the high
> >mountains have only 109% of average. Northern Idaho and Eastern
> >Washington have been a mess with a lot of the snow coming down in the
> >past two weeks making roads and highways a challenge to drive. A lot
> >of highways have been closed the past few days because of drifting
> >snow. It's finally thawing some, so maybe the end of the snowfall is
> >getting near.
> >
> >John and Julie, how are you doing in Santa? Buried?
> >
> >On average winters the snow is usually cleared off the divide by July,
> >but if spring and summer are cool, there are sometimes a few snowbanks
> >blocking roads until September.
> >
> >Just thought I would ramble a little this morning, the list is nearly
> >asleep. Keep the field trip in mind, perhaps the thought of searching
> >for those garnets, kyanite and staurolite crystals will help spring
> >and summer get here sooner.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Lanny
>
> Tim Fisher
> Ore-ROCK-On!
> Email address at http://OreRockOn.com
>
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-- 
"Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of
reality with which we create our own private world."
Arnold Newman


J Bryan Kramer
North Florida, USA
photos at:
http://pbase.com/photoburner


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