The Weather Outside Is...

Well, not quite frightful, at least here in the Pacific Northwest, where we are "enjoying" an el Nino year with a bit more rain than usual. We are also "enjoying" warmer temperatures than such infamous Arctic zones as, say, Florida and Texas.

Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit reports that some climate scientists are predicting a 20-30 year "Mini Ice Age."

According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 per cent, since 2007 – and even the most committed global warming activists do not dispute this.

The British Meteorological Office apparently predicted a "barbecue summer" last year, and warmer then usual winter; Instapundit reports that "The Met" is insisting that it really is a warm winter, evidence to the contrary, because their statistical methodology says so:

In fact, the Met still asserts we are in the midst of an unusually warm winter — as one of its staffers sniffily protested in an internet posting to a newspaper last week: “This will be the warmest winter in living memory, the data has already been recorded. For your information, we take the highest 15 readings between November and March and then produce an average. As November was a very seasonally warm month, then all the data will come from those readings.”

In other words, if the temps are in the 70s from November 1-15, they could plummet to 0 Kelvin for the rest of the winter and it would still be recorded as an unseasonably warm winter?

Finally, still In The Islands Where Great Britain Used To Be, Mr. Free Market reports that

Householders and businesses have been warned not to clear snowy pavements - as they could be sued if someone slips. Icy paths mean hospitals have been inundated with patients who have broken bones in falls. But the professional body that represents health-and-safety experts has warned businesses not to grit public paths.

In its guidance to members, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health warns that if people assume an area is clear and then slip and injure themselves, they could take legal action claiming damages ... John McQuater, president of the National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, admitted: 'If you do nothing you cannot be liable. If you do something, you could be liable to legal action.'

Having grown up in a part of the country where it was expected that one would clear one's driveway and sidewalk as soon as possible after a storm--and help any elderly or other neighbors who might have trouble taking care of it themselves, without asking--I find the concept that one should wait for summer baffling.

On the other hand, it snows so rarely around here, I am apparently the only one in my neighborhood with a snow shovel.