Average weather

Weather people like to tell you how much below or above average the current weather is.  Of course here in the great midwest of North America this is largely complete crap.  You can average the weather data, but there is no average weather around here.  Basically you go from too cold spring weather to summer instantly, and then back and forth a few times more.  It just depends upon what particular weather front is winning the push and pull battle as they cross the plains.  Three days ago the heat was on in our house because the temps at night were in the 30s.  Now it's in the 80s and you have to turn the heat off and get the window screens in place.  Ceiling fans get turned on in the bedrooms just a couple of days after you needed a blanket.  Plants have to be tough to deal with such weather.  On the good news side, cold weather has kept our field work in check and we're only running about 2 weeks late, and a few plants have had some prolonged flowering because of the cool nights.  On the bad side, grass is growing like crazy and TPP doesn't like to mow.  New street trees, a red oak, a swamp white oak, and an Accolade elm have been planted (by the city) to replace two huge white ash trees that had to be taken down because of emerald ash borer.  Now some rain is needed.  April was real wet, but May has been dry, oh, and you can average their rainfall amounts, but it's never just average.  Welcome to a continental climate. 

Midwest Weather - Strange

June is already one of the wettest on record and it's only the 22nd. And the temperature seems to be fluctuating from well above to well below average. After two hot, muggy days, it's quite cool today. Now there's two things about this. One, models of global warming predict that greater vacillations will occur before the means actually change very much. As the Phactor has always said, you can average the weather, but there is no average weather. Now it seems the variance about the mean is getting greater, which would be a true prediction. Two, the bloody prairie loves getting all this water, and more short students than ever will be getting lost out there. This will make vegetation harvesting and data gathering a lot more work. Groan. On the good news side of things, the raspberries look big, the rejuvenating strawberry bed is looking good, and snap peas are getting ready to eat. Just about time to get out the buffalo (not bison) and till the rice paddy, too.

Average weather here in the great midwest

Beware of the average lie when if comes to weather. Weather people are always fond of telling you that the temperature or rainfall is this much or that much above or below average for this time of year. Here's the big problem; this part of the world never gets average weather. Now you can take all those highs and those lows, those drenching rains and weeks of drought, those summer scorchers and Arctic blasts, windy days and doldrums, and you can average them even though you never get those conditions. So within 4 days the weather goes from lows in the upper 30s and low 40s to highs in the upper 80s and low 90s. Somewhere between the two is some nice average weather, but it never happens, just the turbulent stormy transition from one to the other. And then just to make life interesting, after a front passed during the night and morning dawns more summery, a day's outing took us north back across the front, so the temperature drops like a stone, storms attempt to belt us off the road, and then after a bit of wait, the front passes us again. Dumb. More on the field trip later.