Where'd the Wind Go?

Maybe politicians are making less speeches because of budget cuts or something .

I live in the mid west. You could cut the wind in half and we still would have enough to power the country! We are one of the few places in the world that has to shut down the wind farms because its TOO windy! How nuts is that?

Our wind speed is listed as around 13- 15 MPH across my whole state. Thats the average listing. Its wrong though, we don't have a 13 - 15 MPH wind blowing 24 hours a day 365 days a year. We have dead calm for 2 days followed by 45 MPH for a day! or often 3 days of calm followed by a day of 50 MPH average and 75 MPH gusts!

Answer: Britain has stolen it - it's driving all the wind turbines in The Wash, just off the coast between Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

East Asia has also seen the same effect. In case you need some light reading to while away the hours at the shore this summer, here are some typically lively NOAA papers.

Due to Global Warming? The New York, New Jersey region is having the coldest and wettest June in history. We made Hailmen on our front lawns yesterday. And sang White Summer. _{To the tune of White Christmas.}

Climate change--or global change, as 'they' are wont to call it these days--implies that some regions get warmer and drier, some get warmer and wetter, some become colder and wetter, etc. [My hovel is not far from you, and I must stop posting now in order to put the finishing touches on my ark, since it is apparently going to keep raining until 2016].

Look at the bright side. Soon you'll have a home on Chesapeake Bay without all the expense.

On the darker side, it's raining hard here in Pittsburgh (Can anybody say, "Go Penguins!"), so it's only a matter of hours till it gets to you.

Chesapeake Bay? Can I have a home on the Gulf of Mexico instead? (no...more...rain....rain rain go away come again some other day. Hey, edignan, where'd this little ditty come from?)

Well, get your bumbershoot and rubber Wellies out. And, oh, look for high ground. We got about 4" of rain between 6:30 and 8:30 last night (on top of another inch earlier in the day), and it's headed your way.

We had rotation signatures (used to be called funnel clouds, but that must have sounded mundane) up until 11:00 last night; usually that stuff dies down about sundown.

No deaths reported, but significant flooding and erosion.

This is the pretty much accepted origin, but nothing is certain -

History of "Rain rain go away" poem
The origin of the lyrics to "Rain rain go away" are said to date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), one of the English Tudor monarchs. During this period of English history there was constant rivalry between Spain and England culminating in the launch of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of many Spanish galleons and was sent to invade England. The Armada was led by Duke of Medina Sedonia and the the fleet numbered over 130 ships. The English fleet, under Admiral Lord Howard, totalled 34 small Navy vessels and 163 armed merchant ships. But the great Spanish Armada was defeated. Only 65 Spanish galleons and just 10,000 men returned to Spain. The attempt failed, not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which scattered the Armada fleet. Hence the origin of the "Rain rain go away" Nursery rhyme!

This probably is related to the decline in solar irradiance at the earth's surface due to jet contrails particularly laden with sulphides. Most countries report a 3-5% drop in irradiance on average compared to baseline measurements from the 50's and 60's. A recent study in Israel found a 15% drop in solar irradiance outside of Tel Aviv. This is due to an average 35% of the sky being blocked by contrails during most daylight hours.

That reminded me of this thread. This geoengineering topic was kicking around awhile ago--increasing cloud reflectivity through various means.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/8289/Warming-Up-to-Geoengineering

(I know little about it but find it very interesting).