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Jun. 1, 2009 Planalytics reports: Meteorologists have an almost infinite number of tools these days to predict medium and long range weather. Currently, Planalytics meteorologists are closely tracking two events that are providing a foreshadowing of things to come this summer: the transition from La Nina to El Nino (Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly matches) and the major eruption of a northern latitude volcano, Mount Redoubt in Alaska, in late March. Both indicators suggest that it will be cold this year for the Northern Plains, the Midwest, and possibly the Northeast. Solar sunspot cycles are also a factor influencing our summer outlook. Solar eruptions (bursts of energy or coronal mass ejections from the sun) tend to occur around or near sunspots. The sun has been very quiet for the past two years with little evidence of sunspots. In fact, you would have to go back to the 17th and 19th centuries to find a similar period with fewer sunspots. During these quiet periods in the past, the earth was cooler. Continuity of weather patterns is something you don't hear about too often. It is very rare when all parts of the country are cool at the same time, and for an entire summer. As with spring, some areas will have ideal conditions while others will bear the brunt of things. The month of May has been cooler than normal in the Northwest, North, and Central Plains; two-thirds of the country was below normal in April. With a cool, wet spring already occurring in some areas, a cool summer could impact which corn varieties are planted this year ... or even if corn gets planted. Cooler temperatures combined with wet conditions also increase the risk of certain diseases. |
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