Climate Central just completed a study of 246 U.S. cities to determine which seasons--summer, spring, winter or fall--are warming the fastest since 1970. There is no good answer as warming can change each season dramatically.
As it turns out, 182 cities, some 74%, are warming faster in the winter season than the other three. Warming winters obviously mean shorter snow seasons (and a lot of people depend on that snowmelt for drinking water and agriculture), shorter winter recreation, and even some fruit crops depend on winter chills!
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Not to be out done, warming falls and springs can cause rapid snowmelt leading to floods and longer pollen and allergy seasons. While growing seasons can be longer, that also requires more water which is quite the commodity in much of the country these days.
Summer, of course, simply means hotter and drier which has its own deadly results and expenses along with more frequent and more intense wild fires.
Here’s a color-coded map of which seasons are warming faster across the US:
For Texas, winter tends to be our fastest warming season, but in Houston it is summer!
Granted, ALL of our seasons in Houston are warming. You can check out different cities using Climate Central’s website right here. Of course, despite warming winters, Buffalo, New York is still under a warning tonight for 3-4′ of snow!
Rainy Saturday, so make the most of the weekend. Sunday looks a lot better!
Frank
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