Weather occurs in cycles, Timm says

By Pat Timm, For the Columbian Copyright 1998 The Columbian (Vancouver, WA.) August 11, 1998

There is a lot of hype about global warming, El Nino and July of this year being the warmest ever.

Yes, July was warm in many areas of the United States, especially the southern tier of states. But many places in the northern half had mean temperatures below normal. But globally, climate experts say that overall the average mean temperature was about 1 degree above average.

To achieve this, a 1-degree rise in temperature worldwide is fairly significant. It means that in many places it was much above normal, enough to outweigh those locations that were on the cool side.

I don't think it is necessarily a trend, at least not for now. I believe that weather and climate go in cycles, so we'll just have to see how things develop over the next few years.

My average mean temperature last month was 67.5 degrees compared with an average of 66.2. The warmest July in my 23 years of records was in 1985 at 71.3 degrees. My warmest August was in 1976 at 70.6 degrees and my second warmest was last year at an even 70. So far this month, my average mean temperature is 68.5.

According to the Weather Channel, today is the official end of the dog days of summer, which began on July 3.

Pat Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Write him at P.O. Box 65031, Vancouver, WA 98665; e-mail him at ptimmweather@systems.com.

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