Fmr. State Climatologist Taylor: Blame sunspots for cool winter, spring weather

As cold as it was here, the Cascades generally protected us from the coldest Arctic air, which remained mostly north and east of us. On the 11th, Spokane, Wash., reported a low of 2 degrees. This was the latest date for a temperature of 2 degrees or less. The previous latest date occurred March 6, 1891. Sandpoint, Idaho, set a similar record the same day with a reading of -4 degrees, the latest date for a temperature that low.

Western Montana saw temperatures as low as -14, and subzero readings were reported in other states. In Oregon, many daily records were set, many far below the previous. Meacham was -11 on the 11th; the record for was 7, so this week’s weather broke the record by 18 degrees! LaGrande, Pendleton, Moro, The Dalles, Bend, Redmond, and others also set new records.

The cause of this cold month and cold year? Two things: the tropical Pacific and the sun.

Cleveland Weather Examiner: More than 700 scientists discredit man-made global warming fears

Increasingly, the number of scientists skeptical of global warming seem to be responding to both doomsday predictions of climate change as well as peer-reviewed analyses that downplay claims that man-made global warming is a reality. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Anastasios Tsonis of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee remarked in Geophysical Research Letters that while Earth undergoes natural climate changes: “I don’t think we can say much about what the humans are doing.” In almost every way, his appropriately ambiguous thoughts seem to best underscore the current war between skeptics and alarmists.