|
Winter still means snow this year, but Flathead Valley residents have mixed feelings over the unseasonably warm weather. January follows one of the warmest years on record, with the average temperature last year being the highest in 40 years.
Despite unusually warm temperatures this season, snowpack in the mountains has remained above average, resulting in great skiing and snowboarding, but clear roads.
According to many media reports, scientists are widely in agreement that the Earth is heating up. Yet reports on the Internet say that climatologists are at odds on whether the earth is actually warming.
Warmer temperatures have been blamed on things as wide-ranging as sunspots, the rotation of the earth and greenhouse gasses released by man. Weather is a very complex system, so it’s hard to tell whether a period of warmer weather signifies global warming, and what the cause of that warming is.
According to the National Weather Service, last winter was the second mildest winter in 103 years across entire United States, and this winter has been mild for Montana as well. This was due mostly to the effect of El Niño, the mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that surfaces periodically. This year, much of the country has been under the effect of La Niña, which is a mass of cold water that replaced El Niño.
We may or may not be in for warmer winters, so enjoy it while it lasts. |
|
