Climate change observations from a professional observer.

http://www.columbian.com/08222004/life/180029.html

Weather Eye: Old-timers' tales tell story of global warming

Sunday, August 22, 2004
PAT TIMM for The Columbian

I mentioned in Friday's column about global warming and a very
interesting section about it in the September issue of National
Geographic.

The magazine makes for good reading and is a book worth keeping
and sharing with your children. Then in their lifetime they can
compare the predictions and current trends.

I have heard in the past couple of years in climate and weather
discussions that the climate of southern Oregon Medford will in 20
years or so be the average in the Vancouver-Portland area. Our
overnight lows have been warmer for many years now, and our summers
and falls are increasingly getting warmer. Hotter summers and half the
annual rainfall would definitely have an impact on our region.

In Barrow, Alaska, the average annual temperature has risen 4.16
degrees in the past 30 years. Alaska has had a fourfold increase in
wildfires this summer. In a few decades, Glacier National Park may be
void of any glaciers at all. The park has seen a decline of the ice
packs by three-fourths from the early 1900s. And, of course, while it
is very warm and dry in one region, it is very wet and cool in another
due to the changing jet stream and weather patterns. While the Western
U.S. is dry and dusty, the Midwest is getting soaked this summer.

From everything that I have read, and from my own observations
over the past 30 years, the facts tell me that it has gotten warmer in
our area. Old-timers (and now myself!) tell stories of a frozen-over
Columbia River or severe blizzards and ice storms that once made their
annual visits to Clark County. Extended periods of cold weather and
ice are few and far between locally. Last winter, we got just a taste
of old times.

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