I was awakened last night by the sound of thunder. Actually, I was awakened by a terrified doggie letting me know that there were some very scary howling winds and lightning. I was in the midst of a very interesting dream, too. Sadly, all I remember about it was that it was interesting – I can’t remember what was going on.

I tried to explain to Fritzi that while the boom-booms are a little scary, all this the rain means his favorite thing in the world (his sump pond) will stay nice and full for him to play in that much longer.

But he wasn’t buying it.

Anyhow, with the first appearance of a scared, panting, drooling dog this season, I officially declare that spring has arrived in the Great White North. I may actually take the chains off the tractor tires this weekend (and move my winter hat, gloves, and ice scraper to the trunk of my car – though I don’t want to get too cocky just yet. We have, after all, had 8″ of snow on Mother’s Day, and then there was the April snow storm of 1984 (or something) that put my Chevette out of its misery once and for all.

Not that we don’t still have snow on the ground, of course. There are places in my yard where it’s still several inches deep, and there’s snow in the woods. But for the most part, I think it’s safe to say we’re done for the season. I only hope the summer doesn’t suck as much as the last couple months of winter did.

From the looks of it, I think the West Coast could use some of our cold and wet, and we could use a bit of your hot and dry.

Doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen, though as NOAA says that “There’s A 60 Percent Chance El Niño Could Last All Year.

I asked climatologist Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research what a prolonged El Niño would mean for the planet and California. He told me it “goes along with the jump” in global temperatures he has said is imminent.

California is a more complicated situation for a few reasons.
[…]
If a full-blown El Niño develops over the year, “then the prospects go up a LOT for rains in California” during the state’s traditional rainy season, late October through March, which has not been very rainy at all in the last few years.

Climate expert Professor John Abraham also noted that a full-blown El Niño “just might bring some relief from this unbelievable drought.” But he was quick to note that “an El Niño will also break more temperature records and may make 2015 the hottest year ever. It will also bring extreme weather to other parts of the planet so this El Niño is a double-edged sword.”

Oh boy.

Good thing this Climate Change shit is just a hoax.