[Rockhounds] Idaho metamorphic trip and glaciers

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Many researchers predicted this winter would be unusually cold due to
the quiet sun. 

We made it up to 4 F today in West Michigan. Lots of crystaline water.
You are welcome to come collect off my sidewalks and driveway. Bring
your own shovel.

Kreigh





J Bryan Kramer wrote:
> 
> 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
> >