Running Out The CLock

la Nina is on the way. The above SST chart for September 24, 2007 tells the tale.


el Nino during much healthier times, the above SST chart is for December 8, 1997, when el Nino was rip roaring hot out in the mid Pacific region.

Not to be outdone, the Sun weighs in.



Sunspot cycle 24 is late, way late. Predictions are that it may not start up until November 2008. Ponder the Maunder, happened before, could happen again. Check out that Dalton minimum, where the sun just winked and didn't go completely blank, sort of a sleepy period for sunspots. Now that the amplification factor between sunspots and Earth''s weather has been proved to be cosmic rays, it's easier to understand how the feedback is working. Predictions and models, not likely to be accurate any time soon.



Several bits of information can be gleaned from perusing the above charts, climate seems to vary, changes can come suddenly, and predicting the weather is fraught with peril.

As hurricane season comes to a close, the clock is ticking and the hugely inflated storm count is not hiding the fact that for the last two seasons, the predictions have been a big bust. Oh, and so were the predictions for the 2005 season, a big bust in the other direction.