There’s no such thing as climate change, right?
That’s what some of my more conservative friends, pundits and writers say, anyway. And every time a big snowstorm hits or cold temps set in, they bag on global warming and “Internet inventor” Al Gore.
They’re not meteorologists, climatologists or scientists of any stripe, still they play one on barstools and in area coffee shops, in between discussing race, the death of Christmas, the Second Amendment and other heady stuff.
And although I’m often of a different mindset – I generally hear them out and dodge getting into meaningless arguments – still there are enough odd occurrences going down in recent years to call their logic into question.
Like going an entire winter here this past year without a single snow day for school kids.
“This winter went exactly as I predicted – 17 inches of snow with as little as 13 inches,” says KSHB TV meteorologist Gary Lezak. “I said Kansas City is not in the right spot for a big storm system.”
Can Lezak remember another year in the KC/Lawrence area sans snow days?
“Oh yeah, it happened three years ago, when we had 3.9 inches of snow for the whole winter,” he says. “But remember on President’s Day this year when it snowed two or three inches? We would have had a snow day then, but all the schools were closed.”
And technically speaking, we kinda-sorta did have a snow day this year, Lezak adds.
“There were snow days in Kansas City, but just not for all the schools,” he says.
Lezak has been honing what he calls his LRC forecasting system and claims to have attained a 75 percent accuracy the past two years.
“It’s just incredible,” he says.
And big things lie immediately ahead for the LRC in the weeks to come.
Oh yeah, KC and Lawrence still have a shot at a real deal snow day.
“A cold phase is due back in between the 4th of April and the 15th,” Lezak says. “And there will likely be a hard freeze and possibly one more chance of snow. It’s going to snow tomorrow to, but just a dusting.”
As for this summer, “There’s going to be a big heatwave this summer – last year there were none,” he says. “It’s going to be a hot summer.”
Speaking of snow days, is it true that schools factor them into their calendars for logistical and/or budget purposes? In years past when there’ve been too many snow days ,some schools have actually extended their school years to make up for them.
“There might be two or three snow days built in to their calendars just in case, but they don’t have to move the school year for two or three snow days,” Lezak says. “And if there’s no snow days, there’s no change.”
You just had to rattle their cage, H man.
Hey, what’s wrong with a friendly “weather report every now and again?
Jeez, Hearne. The debate isn’t if climate change is “real” or not. The climate is changing, always has, always will. The question is if it’s influenced by man or not, and how much control we really have over it.
I think we all know that that’s obvious, Bob…
But thanks for pointing it out.
the LRC is the acronym for Lezak’s Recurring Cycle. back around 2003 when he was blogging about it on a regular basis, there were some pretty heated discussions (still are I think) about his GRC. he called it Gary’s Recurring Cycle.
I take credit for suggesting that if this is a discovery he made, he should use his last name, not his first, in naming it like most other scientific discoveries or theories. I mean wouldn’t Albert’s Theory of Relativity sound a bit odd, less scientific and all?
so, yay me, right? yeah… I know…
Boy, is Lezak and his “theory” gonna look like shit over his forecast. Suntan lotion anyone?
moderate away fools!