2008 to Be Warmest Year in Century!

Okay, triple digit heat waves here in the West are common summer temperatures. I have noticed in the recent years, that each summer it has been getting hotter and hotter. The heat waves come on earlier and earlier. Few years back, August was the hot month. Then July , then June...this year it was all three and on into September! Global warming is a big part of it.

All the construction and buildings and roads and concrete all retain the heat they collect during the day. Cars and traffic generate heat. So during the day, not only do you have heat from the sun but you also have te heat being generated from these places. And once the sun goes down, that just means the heat from the sun is gone, but you still have the heat that all these places have soaked up all day and now, they are generating the heat. That is why it is still so hot at 9pm!

" But the booming interest in climate change has transformed the study of ancient weather records from what was once a "wallflower science," says Christian Pfister, a climate historian at the University of Bern." Apparently it used to be very, very cold in past centuries and climate control is quite the place of research these days. "Diaries of day-to-day weather details from the age before 19th-century standardized thermometers are proving of great value to scientists who study today's climate."

But for now, the heat is on!

"The Old Farmer's Almanac 2007 says "it used time-honored, complex calculations to predict that 2008 will be the warmest year in a century! Along with a bit of folklore that years that end in "8" have weird weather, The Old Farmer's Almanac claiming a secret formula based on sunspots as well as meteorology, forecasts a hot summer in most areas, but cool and dry in the upper Midwest. It says there will be more rain than normal except in Florida and the already dry West."

Some interesting facts about The Old Farmer's Almanac you might not know are:

The Old Farmer's Almanac 2007 (Old Farmer's Almanac) "is confident of its traditional "80 percent" accuracy, but forecasters are keeping their fingers crossed, coming off a tough year. The Almanac, established in 1792, is North America's oldest continuously published periodical. The little yellow magazine still comes with the hole in the corner so it can be hung in outhouses for leisurely reading. It boasts 18.5 million readers and this is the first year it is available online!."

The Early History (1792-1850.) ?The first Old Farmer's Almanac (then known as The Farmer's Almanac) was edited by Robert B. Thomas, the publication's founder. There were many competing almanacs in the 18th century, but Thomas's upstart was a success. In its second year, distribution tripled to 9,000. The cost of the book was six pence (about nine cents).?

"People still talk about the frigid winters of 1748 and 1888, tornadoes of 1908, Northwest floods and the Northeast hurricane of 1938. If the forecast and tradition hold true, they'll look back on the heat of 2008. I myself don't remember nor know of anyone talking about these dates, but then again, they are so far back in time, maybe i just don't know anyone that "was there". But it is fun to have those tidbits of info to refer to and recap some of our history."

Those years were all before my time, but I am sure some still remember them. I don't know about you, but I sure didn't like the triple digits we had this summer and for sure am NOT looking forward to another long summer of it next year AND talking about it and remembering it? To me, I'd just as soon forget about ithe bad stuff and talk about the good stuff! However, the Almanac might be a guide to saving money - we'd all better start saving money for electric bills next year. Or you could just pay an extra $10 on each monthly bill right now: that'd make a nice little bit of credit on your account so next summer you have that little nest egg to help you out! And, let's hope that states get their power grides expanded!

Ever wonder how the almanac does it? Well, here's how...

How the Almanac Predicts the Weather

"While The Old Farmer's Almanac has always looked to Thomas's original formula to help with predictions, its forecasting methods have been refined over the years. Today, they also employ state-of-the-art technology and the use of three scientific disciplines: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns; and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. Weather trends and events are predicted by comparing solar patterns and historical weather conditions with current solar activity.

Forecasts emphasize temperature and precipitation deviations from averages. These are based on 30-year statistical averages prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and updated every ten years. The most recent climatological normals tabulation spans the period 1971 through 2000.

Forecasts are prepared as much as 18 months in advance and presented in each edition by region. There are 16 regions for the U.S. and five for Canadain their respective country editions. Four additional regions are available on the Almanac's Web site, Almanac.com. These include Hawaii and Alaska for the U.S. and the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories for Canada.

In its bicentennial edition, the Almanac stated, "neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather with anything resembling total accuracy." The Almanac claims that its long-range weather forecasts are 80% accurate.One disputing analysis concluded that these forecasts are at most 2% more accurate than random guesses. "

Well you choose - no one said the almanac is gospel but since it has such a history and since history tends to repeat itself, what better place to go get some information and do some research and hopefully put 2 and 2 togther and be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best - hot summer and all!

Trivia

• The Old Farmer's Almanac is the oldest continuously published periodical in North America.

• Only 13 people have held the title of editor of The Old Farmer's Almanac since it was first published in 1792

• In 1858, Abraham Lincoln may have used a copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac to argue the innocence of his client, William ("Duff") Armstrong, who was on trial for murder in Beardstown, Illinois.Lincoln used an almanac to refute the testimony of Charles Allen, an eyewitness who claimed he had seen the crime by the light of the moonon August 29, 1857. The book stated that not only was the Moon in the first quarter, but it was riding "low" on the horizon, about to set. Because the actual almanac used in the trial was not retained for posterity, however, there exists some controversey as to whether the almanac used was, in fact, "The Old Farmer's Almanac." In 2007, a competing almanac, the Farmers' Almanac, based in Lewiston, Maine, ran an article claiming that the almanac in queston may have been theirs.Because both farmers' almanacs, and many others, were in general circulation at the time of the trial, there is no way to verify which book, if either, was the almanac used by Lincoln.

• The Old Farmer's Almanac has been featured on TV in episodes of Dharma & Greg, Pinky and the Brain, and Malcolm in the Middle, served as a topic on Jeopardy!, and as an answer on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

• Films that have featured The Old Farmer's Almanac include Desk Set (1957), In the Gloaming (1997), Love Letters (1998), State and Main (2000), Elizabethtown (2005), and The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). C