This is my 20th year in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and it’s only been the last few years that I’ve wished I’ve had an air conditioner. I guess it was three summers ago when there were maybe a handful of too-hot days, and each year since the number of such days has increased.
This year, I can count the comfortable days on one hand — and for those I can credit overcast and rain. The air was still thick enough to cut with a knife. Last year, we started seeing some relief by mid August or so, and by September the weather was downright nice. It made me wish for autumn all year round.
When winter came, we were again treated to what was abnormal weather for me. In those 20 years, only in 1993 did we have a great deal of snowfall — and that was thanks to a blizzard fed by Gulf moisture on or about the first day of spring. Most other winters, there wasn’t enough of a total accumulation to make a snowman. Again, that changed in the last few years, and by last winter significant snow was becoming routine.
I can’t say with any authority that what I’ve been experiencing here is the result of global warming, but what I can say for sure is that my own personal climate has changed, and I don’t like it.
Liberal Buzz 