Late cold spell - The effects

[sixfootdrifter]

It amazes me how some people get so worked up over something we cannot change. The hand wringing concern for the human and environmental effects of a cold march. Certain posts implying we should all be taking a moment to feel for those affected by showing our dismay at natures ability to bit us on the axxe whenever it feels like it.

Yes, the current conditions will cause tragedy which is sad. However to spin the coin the other way , should we consider, for example , heaping criticism on any person looking longingly in a car showroom to buy a machine that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people every year.

We don't just want one but we secretly want the fastest ( well most of us do ) . The more extreme version of what is available.

It's a fascination of experiencing the extreme.

Lets be honest , how many of us were glued to the coverage of the Japan tsunami . Watching a situation where tens of thousands lost their lives but unable to resist the fascination of seeing nature at its most awe inspiring.

It was horrible but you just had to watch it because underneath you wanted to experience what is possible.

Sorry if I rambled on but can you see what I'm getting at.

We love extremes, something we cannot create ourselves. Something that triggers our fascination that is way beyond the norm.

That's what the majority on these forums are after and an opportunity to share it with like minded people.

Personally I'm loving it and if things go as I suspect then I'm looking forward to a scorching summer.

Keep enjoying fellow anoraks.

[cyclonic happiness]

It's human nature to want to see other people's destruction.

It's probably and evolutionary thing so as we can avoid a similar fate in years to come, I know whilst watching hours of tsunami footage, in my head, I was planning escape routes and survival tactics should something like that ever occur in the English Midlands lol :-D

There's nothing wrong with it, so long as you don't take pleasure from watching other people suffer, then you'd really need to be put down IMO.

[Aaron]

Simple question. Why do people on here welcome extrreme weather knowing the Consequences?

Why do you continue to post on here knowing that this is a forum aimed at weather enthusiasts? Clearly you know that people on here generally crave adverse and unusual weather regardless of the consequences, so perhaps you should do yourself a favour and bugger off, and I do mean that in the nicest way possible, but I have grown increasingly sick and tired of hearing the clip clop of your moral high horse riding into town whenever these discussions arise. You make the same points again and again, and I have said this time and time again - you are on the wrong forum. Stop irritating people, or people may start to ponder just how genuine your posts are, and whether you're posting these things to make an actual point or whether you're a troll who enjoys getting a reaction out of people. I'm starting to believe the latter is far more likely.

On a personal note, I've found that the attitudes on this forum have become increasingly hostile, and these hostile attitudes only arise when the proclaimed 'mildies' arrive and start attacking people for enjoying cold weather. I'm getting a bit sick of it to be honest. This forum is a terrible place to be during this time of the year because the same petty, childish nonsense arises again and again and again without fail, but it seems particularly bad this year. Fair enough if this cold weather is making a few people irate and unhappy, but that is no excuse for taking your anger and frustration out on people who are enjoying this recent spell of weather, especially those of us with snow.

I sure hope you didn't "enjoy" the 2003 heat wave when 70,00 people were killed.

No point in raising this perfectly valid point. Only applies to cold I'm afraid, even though heat is a massive killer and we certainly do not want a heatwave this summer, right? Well, I certainly won't be attacking people if a heatwave occurs, even though I dislike them.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Aaron

[laserguy]

Theres an underlying theme at the moment from certain quarters that people shouldnt enjoy the current weather because of the effects it has. At the end of the day I dont subscribe to that. All weather types have negative effects in some way and its not fair to try and make people feel ashamed for enjoying a certain weather type.....

The best,most benevolent aspects of this late cold spell are, for me, that the onset of the depression and gloom that accompanies the arrival of the summer season has been delayed. Another effect is that my peonies (double check for typos!!) which sprouted a couple of weeks ago are now profoundly dead. Oh well; that Mother Nature can be a bit tetchy at times.

[Aaron]

Clearly my post was deemed too 'offensive', so I shall reiterate what I said while sounding insincerely polite, in two points (I just hope this post isn't considered too blunt for the mods!):

1. This is a weather forum aimed at people who are, er, enthusiastic about the weather (shocker!), attacking people for enjoying adverse weather (snow, storms, cold, heat) is illogical and meaningless. I challenge to you give me an example of something truly enjoyable that poses no risk at all. Reading or knitting excluded.

2. Attacking people for enjoying cold weather - why? Why ruin the discussion on this forum by jumping onto anyone who dares proclaim their enjoyment of this weather? I very much doubt such a thing would occur during a summer heatwave, it certainly didn't occur in March 2012 or April 2011, even though extended warm and dry weather causes enough of its own problems, and I doubt it occurred in 2006. The effects of heat have been pointed out here already, so it seems like a case of double-standards, when one is willing to overlook the negative aspects of certain weather types because they enjoy it, while attacking others.

I hope that is nice enough for you?

I have distinct feeling of Déjà vu here.

As am I. I swear you bring this exact 'moral' issue every time people start enjoying weather that is adverse. I don't see the point at all, but there you go. I suppose the ignore function comes in handy here, it's better than clogging the forum with arguments about issues that have been beaten to death already. I think we have already established that people will not stop enjoying severe weather on a weather forum, unless you propose a different purpose for this forum. For the time being, I'm afraid you'll have to come to terms with the fact that the vast majority on here enjoy severe weather, but this certainly doesn't equal people reveling in the misery and suffering of others. A bit of perspective is needed here.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Aaron

[Bumpkin]

From what I can gather it seems that the people who enjoy the extremes are people that perhaps haven't had their lives affected by that type of weather. Try to read that sentence in a polite calm way as it isn't having a go at anyone. I use these forums because not only am I interested in weather and climate but I am fascinated by forecasting and looking for trends, so not all of us are extreme weather enthusiasts.

My whole life is pretty much dependent on the weather, we have a farm to run, I help with looking after wildlife habitats and my main hobby is butterfly hunting. I enjoy bike rides as the exercise makes me feel good, the sun makes me happy because I suffer from SAD. I also know the consequences of extreme weather, my great great gran was killed by lightening, My car was hit by a tractor sliding on ice, my friend was injured and her car written off when she hit flood water and I've had a couple of close shaves with lightening and was once indirectly hit.

Yes heat kills too but I'm not looking for a heatwave, just blue skys, warm sunshine with a temperature of around 20c.

[laserguy]

2. Attacking people for enjoying cold weather - why?...

.....A bit of perspective is needed here....

Ye! You'd think that some evil,nasty folk have the power to summon 'adverse' weather and inflict it at will as some kind of mad entertainment. Lot's of folk are saying that they will tangibly suffer in some way or another,and that's as maybe but no-one is responsible for that. The incredible implication is that if none of us wanted extremes,then we wouldn't get them! Let's all have a group singalong with the nursery ditty "rain,rain go away", but replace "rain" with "cold". That might do the trick.

[Gael_Force]

Do you remember the film of the '47 winter that we were all slavering over? How it would be great to see that again and of course the naysayers - we could never see the like again. Didn't have to wait long!!

Communties have forgotten that such things can happen - villages with no shop, homes with no alternative source of heat if the power lines are down. Events such as this remove the "what if" from the equation and may serve to remind people that we never really know what lies ahead.

[peterf]

From what I can gather it seems that the people who enjoy the extremes are people that perhaps haven't had their lives affected by that type of weather. Try to read that sentence in a polite calm way as it isn't having a go at anyone. I use these forums because not only am I interested in weather and climate but I am fascinated by forecasting and looking for trends, so not all of us are extreme weather enthusiasts.

My whole life is pretty much dependent on the weather, we have a farm to run, I help with looking after wildlife habitats and my main hobby is butterfly hunting. I enjoy bike rides as the exercise makes me feel good, the sun makes me happy because I suffer from SAD. I also know the consequences of extreme weather, my great great gran was killed by lightening, My car was hit by a tractor sliding on ice, my friend was injured and her car written off when she hit flood water and I've had a couple of close shaves with lightening and was once indirectly hit.

Yes heat kills too but I'm not looking for a heatwave, just blue skys, warm sunshine with a temperature of around 20c.

Christ! i.m not doing a round of golf with you

Edited March 26, 2013 by peterf

[knocker]

Don't know about the film but I remember walking to school in snow up to my neck. Of course I wasn't very big at the time.

Do you remember the film of the '47 winter that we were all slavering over? How it would be great to see that again and of course the naysayers - we could never see the like again. Didn't have to wait long!!

Communties have forgotten that such things can happen - villages with no shop, homes with no alternative source of heat if the power lines are down. Events such as this remove the "what if" from the equation and may serve to remind people that we never really know what lies ahead.

[snowingtequila]

My life is affected by the weather every day I can't unfortunately stop myself from liking extremes and being fascinated by what causes them.

[Bottesford]

Few things I can glean from all this:

- You can like whatever weather you like - your choice.

- Liking a particular weather type either individually or as a group does not make it more or less likely to occur.

- A lot of people on the forum are interested in extreme weather so there is a bias.

- *However* not everyone is after the next ice age/megastorm - some want info for their livelihoods or leisure activities and would prefer weather to suit.

The whole "you shouldn't like this cold because its killing lambs" is nonsense.

But so is "you should like this cold because its extreme/statistically interesting and if not what are you doing on a weather forum".

[Tamara]

You obviously were not on a weather ship for twenty years. Or the Penlee lifeboat when the all the brave men died.

As many others have said, we should separate enthusiasm and interest in weather types from the unfortunate effects they can have. I've grown to become very nervous of the possible effects of thunderstorms, but that doesn't mean that others can't still enjoy them And as a spectacle in terms of the amazing cloud formations etc I still find them enthralling (in a rather masochistic way )

Edited March 26, 2013 by Tamara Road

[Tamara]

From what I can gather it seems that the people who enjoy the extremes are people that perhaps haven't had their lives affected by that type of weather. Try to read that sentence in a polite calm way as it isn't having a go at anyone. I use these forums because not only am I interested in weather and climate but I am fascinated by forecasting and looking for trends, so not all of us are extreme weather enthusiasts.

My whole life is pretty much dependent on the weather, we have a farm to run, I help with looking after wildlife habitats and my main hobby is butterfly hunting. I enjoy bike rides as the exercise makes me feel good, the sun makes me happy because I suffer from SAD. I also know the consequences of extreme weather, my great great gran was killed by lightening, My car was hit by a tractor sliding on ice, my friend was injured and her car written off when she hit flood water and I've had a couple of close shaves with lightening and was once indirectly hit.

Yes heat kills too but I'm not looking for a heatwave, just blue skys, warm sunshine with a temperature of around 20c.

This is a very good post. Well said There is a room for enthusiasm about any aspect of the weather. I adore snow and always long for it. 15cms (f.e) is plenty though. It becomes problematic and especially hazardous when in huge quantities and such practicalities and daily restrictions start to overtake the fun and excitement that is in the equation. But that is my personal opinion and judgement - I wouldn't expect others to have the same one

Edited March 26, 2013 by Tamara Road

[SomeLikeItHot]

Well I can say that despite having been through a massive thunder hail storm where my tiled roof (along with thousands of others in Sydney at the time) were pretty much obliterated on the facing side, holes knocked through the non facing side by hail stones the size of my fist, then had literately gallons of water deluge poor into the house in the accompanying deluge, I still enjoy thunderstorms.

In many ways I even enjoyed that one for its sheer awesome power and destruction. The sound of the hail hitting the corrugated iron rear roof sounded like someone was trying to bash their way in with a sledgehammer, and when it was over we all stumbled out into the street in a shell shocked daze picking up chunks of ice bigger than my fist lying all over the street, looking at the neat puncture holes through car windscreens.

I didn't enjoy the loss of property, the inconvenience of months of living with a leaking tarpaulin roof - but its just the weather an it happens. If I could stop it occurring I would sure, but I can't nor can anyone else so I might as well enjoy the freak and amazing spectacle that accompanied it.

The wikipedia entry on that storm.

http://en.wikipedia....ydney_hailstorm

and a short youtube doco - surprisingly little footage I could find now days every second person would film it on their i-phone and put it on youtube in minutes.

Edited March 27, 2013 by SomeLikeItHot

[NorthernRab]

As many others have said, we should separate enthusiasm and interest in weather types from the unfortunate effects they can have. I've grown to become very nervous of the possible effects of thunderstorms, but that doesn't mean that others can't still enjoy them And as a spectacle in terms of the amazing cloud formations etc I still find them enthralling (in a rather masochistic way )

Indeed. I witnessed a horrible incident involving a dog when I was very young and it took me until my early teen years to be particularly at ease around dogs again. But I'd be damned if that meant others couldn't carry on enjoying what are generally lovely animals. Much like the snow, the vast majority of the time dogs are fine.

I have images of some people in this thread throwing buckets of red paint over children making a snowman in the local park.

[UV-RAY]

My twopence worth is, " I don't care what others think if I enjoy extreme weather". If it upsets you join another forum, preferably one which involves no sense of danger.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Sceptical Inquirer

[Tamara]

Well I can say that despite having been through a massive thunder hail storm where my tiled roof (along with thousands of others in Sydney at the time) were pretty much obliterated on the facing side, holes knocked through the non facing side by hail stones the size of my fist, then had literately gallons of water deluge poor into the house in the accompanying deluge, I still enjoy thunderstorms.

In many ways I even enjoyed that one for its sheer awesome power and destruction. The sound of the hail hitting the corrugated iron rear roof sounded like someone was trying to bash their way in with a sledgehammer, and when it was over we all stumbled out into the street in a shell shocked daze picking up chunks of ice bigger than my fist lying all over the street, looking at the neat puncture holes through car windscreens.

I didn't enjoy the loss of property, the inconvenience of months of living with a leaking tarpaulin roof - but its just the weather an it happens. If I could stop it occurring I would sure, but I can't nor can anyone else so I might as well enjoy the freak and amazing spectacle that accompanied it.

The wikipedia entry on that storm.

http://en.wikipedia....ydney_hailstorm

Wow - I guess that one is on you tube somewhere. You see, here is a good example of the different standards that I will happily apply even to myself. Watching a storm like that on (f.e) you tube would be awesome . However actually being in a storm like that myself would be a real ordeal for me these days.

[Thundery wintry showers]

What Tamara describes about thunderstorms reminds me a lot of my position with severe gales. I've had some bad experiences with gales, including one instance when part of the roof blew off my parents' house and shattered the greenhouse, roof tiles needing to be replaced, roads being closed due to overturned lorries etc. However, the weather enthusiast in me gets fascinated by unusually strong winds and I get a desire to go to the nearest hill and stand facing the wind when we have gales.

As a result I find myself in two minds when the forecast models are showing a windy spell- the conflicting desires for as much wind as possible but as little damage as possible. But when we get damaging winds, I try to make the most of them even though I don't want them- partly to get some experience of the power of nature and partly because it helps to take my mind off the problems that they are causing, making it psychologically easier to "ride out" the storm. I might annoy some for appearing to enjoy the damaging winds in those situations, but then again I wouldn't help anybody if I sat indoors feeling miserable and frightened and praying for the winds to ease off- those negative emotions wear off on people and tend to contribute to their fears too.

I've had some negative experiences with thunderstorms, including almost being hit by lightning a couple of times and having my parents' house hit three times, taking out the burglar alarm on each occasion, but they haven't really made any difference to my enthusiasm for them. I think we all have breaking points but with thunderstorms and snowfalls mine haven't been breached yet- I might find myself hoping for a temporary thaw once in a while to remove a layer of slush and ice and give our infrastructure a respite but then my enthusiasm for snowy weather makes a rapid and full recovery afterwards.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Thundery wintry showers

[SomeLikeItHot]

Wow - I guess that one is on you tube somewhere. You see, here is a good example of the different standards that I will happily apply even to myself. Watching a storm like that on (f.e) you tube would be awesome . However actually being in a storm like that myself would be a real ordeal for me these days.

Probably some youtube, although given the date, not what there would be now. I didn't even get any photos, back before every phone was a camera. Had I quite known exactly what was falling I would have been more worried. Hailstorms up to golf ball size are not unusual in Sydney so I thought it was probably this or something slightly larger and the leaking was just a factor of 100 year old tiles being cracked.

As it was I was too busy finding buckets and pots to try and put under all the light fittings which were gushing out water and rushing to empty them as they began to overflow, covering electrical equipment with raincoats to quite think about it or realise the scope of what was happening. Was quite shocked the next day when I looked up into the ceiling space and saw a gaping 2m wide hole in the roof! I had presumed it was just a few tiles broken. Of course by then I knew it was something a bit more extreme.

Edited March 26, 2013 by SomeLikeItHot

[Bumpkin]

I've given the subject of liking/disliking extreme weather a bit more thought. Maybe it comes down to experiences, personality types and age. Now I'm a 'mumsy' type (not girly, mumsy) and I have a very strong need to look after people and wanting everyone to be safe and whilst I am fascinated by mother nature, my first thoughts are if people are ok and safe.

Also I have noticed that more of the 'older' posters seem less likely to be into the extremes, maybe this is due to experiences or understanding the consequences or maybe being parents changes the way you think.

[Tamara]

I've given the subject of liking/disliking extreme weather a bit more thought. Maybe it comes down to experiences, personality types and age. Now I'm a 'mumsy' type (not girly, mumsy) and I have a very strong need to look after people and wanting everyone to be safe and whilst I am fascinated by mother nature, my first thoughts are if people are ok and safe.

Also I have noticed that more of the 'older' posters seem less likely to be into the extremes, maybe this is due to experiences or understanding the consequences or maybe being parents changes the way you think.

Yes I agree with you I think part of my own 'conflict' so to speak is the worrying about people being safe and wanting to ensure they are protected. This applies to pets, neighbours and relatives as well of course. I am sure this is why I feel most uneasy at home in severe weather and much less elsewhere.The sense of responsibility and risk kicks in over the weather enthusiast in me. I noticed in Germany on holiday last year I was very much less affected by the big storms they had one evening and strangely found myself almost enjoying them and the spectacle. It reminded me actually how conditional my, er, condition is

Edited March 26, 2013 by Tamara Road

[Summer of 95]

Historians in the 22nd century will write books with titles like "Seasons in the Sun: The Socio-Economic Effects of the Mid-Elizabethan Climatic Optimum, 1976-2006" and "Drowning in Debt: The 2007 Climate Reversal and How it Exacerbated the Financial Crisis"......

[knocker]

.

Also I have noticed that more of the 'older' posters seem less likely to be into the extremes, maybe this is due to experiences or understanding the consequences or maybe being parents changes the way you think.

Well in twenty years on Weather Ships I witnessed quite a few F11, F12s with 60-80 foot waves. It's awesome in the sense that it demonstrates the sheer power of the wind and sea but it's also bloody scary and I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to be caught in one. One of the reasons I give to the Lifeboat charity. Exceptionally brave people. I see no reason why I should join another forum.

Edited March 26, 2013 by knocker

[Methuselah]

I was 'safely' tucked-away in a 'Scottish Glen' throughout the 'Big Freeze' of late 1995: it was cold; there was no power, of any kind; no running water, and the toilets were all frozen-up...But I still get excited when the first snowflake falls...