Summer cooled its heels this year
Photo
JANESVILLE — Fall begins tomorrow leaving—no pun intended—most of us wondering what happened to summer.
Did our summer take place someplace else? Say, Walla Walla, Wash. or Elmo, Mo.?
Who knows.
What we do know is the summer of 2009 was the second coolest summer since 1949, the year the Gazette started keeping weather records.
From June 22 to Sept. 21, Janesville has an average of 37 days when the temperature is 85 degrees or higher, according to the Gazette's records.
In 2009, we had 12 days.
The 2009 numbers are second only to 1992, when we had only 10 days.
On the other end of the thermometer, in 1955 the city suffered through 65 days when temperatures were 85 degrees or higher.
The cool summer provided us with plenty of good-news/bad-news situations:
Good news: Air conditioners stayed off. People saved money on their electricity bills and used less energy.
"We definitely saw a decrease in energy use, especially in July, said Rob Crain, Alliant Energy spokesperson.
Exact energy use numbers won't be available until November, when Alliant does its quarterly reporting.
More good news: Cooler weather means good sleeping weather, especially for people without air conditioning.
Bad news: Cooler weather always means domestic disputes about who stole the blankets at 3 a.m. We're not naming any names here, but you know who you are and we wish you'd cut it out.
Good news: Rotary Botanical Gardens is still lush with color.
"Some of the plants tend to sort of wash out in the heat," said Mark Dwyer, Rotary Gardens horticultural manager. "This year we still have a lot of vivid colors out there. Cool season annuals also did well this year."
The gardens also had to spend "significantly less" time watering during July and August. That's good for staff and for the gardens' water bill.
Bad news: Tropical plants such as ornamental bananas, elephant ears and castor beans did "OK" but not as well as they usually do.
"What they really crave is a typical Wisconsin summer," Dwyer said.
Here's another odd impact: The hot peppers grown for the garden fest were not as hot as they usually were.
Good news: It was a great summer for lettuce, spinach and peas—crops that wilt in the sweltering weather of late June and early July. Also, it was an excellent summer for green tomato pickles.
Bad news: Many gardeners are bitter about their tomatoes. Cool weather meant they—the tomatoes, not the gardeners—didn't ripen very well. Or they ripened with painful slowness, making it difficult to do any serious canning.
Good news: Periods of extended hot weather increase police calls.
"When officers come in on a hot and humid night, they anticipate having a busy evening," said Janesville Police Chief David Moore. "The heat can affect people's attitudes."
Heat-related surliness sends people to the fridge for a beer.
"The heat tends to facilitate the use of alcohol," Moore said. "Alcohol always seems to be involved in our calls or in the background of our calls."
Bad news: It's hard to think of bad news. Um, beer sales go down? The emergency room sees fewer patients?
Miscellaneous good news: The weather was good for landscapers, construction crews, counselors at summer camps and the folks who work at the landfill.
Cows and other farm animals prefer things on the cool side.
So do dogs and cats.
Kids won't be constantly running through the sprinkler, turning your yard into a mud pit and driving up your water and sewer bill.
Miscellaneous bad news: Lower attendance at city pools.
Pool salespeople probably weren't happy, either.
Sep 23, 2009 at 5:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
I suppose this is just a 'myth' as well..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32985250/ns/...
Sep 23, 2009 at 2:49 p.m.
Suggest removal
Pete - you should be banned from these forums - you have little to contribute and make no sense - Judging by your inability to spell, use grammar or the English language, I'm guessing you're not very well educated. I'm assuming that your lack of common knowledge is then replaced with Bill O'Reilly, Jesus and Dick Cheney.
Who is the "they" that are driving our jobs away? And tell us "why" there isn't global warming? You seem very able to make statements but unable to back your statements.
Sep 22, 2009 at 7:06 p.m.
Suggest removal
I guess that's why they call it "Global Warming" not "Janesville Warming". Take a look at LA, Seattle or the south west, they've had record highs this summer. Not to mention Australia has suffered the hottest summer ever recorded (this past winter here).
Sep 22, 2009 at 6:36 p.m.
Suggest removal
OK, not that I want to get involved in this discussion, but my fearless editor Scott Angus just suggested to me that commas might have worked better than dashes. He suggested, too, that I didn't need to say "no pun intended." I'm not sure I agree. I do tend to obsess about my leads.......
Cathy Idzerda, reporter
Sep 22, 2009 at 5:51 p.m.
Suggest removal
justintimberlakerules - yes, I know how to read the graph, and I understand that the red line is an average of temperatures over a given time. What I'm saying, and you obviously didn't pick up on, is the average high temperature in Janesville is nowhere near 90 degrees. Did you totally miss my point???? I know the blue line is 2009 and the red line is an average over time. As stated previously (and maybe I need to state it again for you) the AVERAGE high temperature in Janesville during the summer (over the last 50 or so years) during the warmest month is around 79 degrees. My degree and background is in climatology, I know how to read the chart.
Sep 22, 2009 at 4:18 p.m.
Suggest removal
ja67 - What are you exactly trying to say? Science is not up to date? I suppose you also believe the Earth was created in 7 days and that Obama is coming to steal your gun? By the way, it would be "except," and not "accept". You accept an award whereas except is used in the case of an exception.
Sep 22, 2009 at 4:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
Can we really blame this on Globel Warming? I feel that science is not up to date. Accept for the Gazette records that mention that 1949 was the last time when the summer was cool.
Sep 22, 2009 at 2:46 p.m.
Suggest removal
Hah! It was much more fun reading this series of posts than most others! And the first sentence of an article (the "lead," as indicated previously), is of utmost importance. First lesson of Journalism 101.
Sep 22, 2009 at 2:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
You people really have nothing else to do you in your lives but to debate the first line in a news story!!! Really what a bunch of losers... No wonder GM is getting the heck out of Janesville!!
Sep 22, 2009 at 1:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
You know, it just ruins the whole thing when you have to explain it all. "No pun intended" was a fairly straightforward, though dishonest, hint that there was an element of humor in the sentence. It probably would have been better to leave that part out.
Sep 22, 2009 at 12:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
BeenThereDoneThat, you're right, but your explanation assumes all will understand the humor. Let me try. Folks, folks, folks, the writer is being creative in her approach. In journalistic terms, her lead (the first sentence) is designed to be catchy and creative to get your attention. "Fall begins tomorrow leaving - no pun intended" stated another way is, "Fall begins tomorrow leaving (get it? Fall and tree leaves)....". The "no pun intended" part is a clue there is a pun involved.
Sep 22, 2009 at 12:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
Just because we had a cooler summer doesn't mean that climate change, global warming, whatever you want to call it, isn't a reality we face. There are other factors that influence our weather, such as ocean temperatures, jet streams, el Nino, etc etc (El Nino - spanish for........the Nino)
Sep 22, 2009 at 11:35 a.m.
Suggest removal
It's all do the global warming,or climate change as it is called now. They changed the name because they can't call it global warming when everything is cooling off and more ice appears, it shoots their theory in the foot. They will soon be telling us that we will be freezing to death because of global cooling!!!;)
Sep 22, 2009 at 11:17 a.m.
Suggest removal
Ummm Mr Scott - I think you need a crash course on how to read graphs. The red line is what the average temperature has been for a given period of time. The blue line is what the temperature was for 2009. If you look closely at the graph you will see a 2 followed by a 0 followed by another 0 and ending with 9. The color of the font is in blue which corresponds with the blue line. Do a search online for graphs and you'll find all sorts of neat stuff.
Sep 22, 2009 at 10:43 a.m.
Suggest removal
Napalm...it's perfectly good grammer, hence the use of the "-" in the middle of the sentence. The "-" means that you can take that part of the sentence out so that it reads: Fall begins tomorrow leaving most of us wondering what happened to summer. Perfectly good sentence. The "no pun intended" statement, separated by the dash, was put into the middle of the sentence for humor's sake. Nothing wrong with the content of that paragraph.
Sep 22, 2009 at 9:52 a.m.
Suggest removal
Not so good for the ricin crop this year and my banana plants suffered as well.
Sep 22, 2009 at 7:04 a.m.
Suggest removal
The Gazette needs to check their temperature sensor or the source of the data for their graphic. The average high temp in Janesville doesn't peak above 79 degrees the entire summer, yet their graphic shows the average high up around 90 http://www.gazettextra.com/photos/2009/s...
.
and see this website for the real temp data from a certified weather ob station at the airport http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/Displa...
Sep 21, 2009 at 10:36 p.m.
Suggest removal
hmmmm, so we had cooler temps which meant we used less energy. stupid global warming!
Sep 21, 2009 at 7:48 p.m.
Suggest removal
English grammar, my good fellow.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.