Mobile, Alabama broke the all-time snowfall record with 7.5 inches of snow. The previous 1-day record for Mobile was 5 inches set back in 1881 and the all-time snow record for Mobile was 6 inches set during the 1895 snowstorm.
Pensacola, Florida broke the 1-day and all-time snowfall record with 8.9 inches of snow. The previous record for Pensacola was 3 inches of snow, set back in the 1895 snowstorm.
— from the National Weather Service, January 21, 2025.
The National Weather Service called it a “generational winter storm event.” Like, once in a generation.
I suspect people in southern Alabama and northern Florida will be feeling skeptical of global warming, for the next few years.
I can imagine the conversations last week.
Ed: How much snow did you get down there in Pensacola, Stan?
Stan: Eight, maybe nine inches. We were snowed in for two days. How about over there in Mobile?
Ed: Close to eight inches in my neck of the woods. Cold as hell, too. I guess President Trump has been right, all along, about this CO2 nonsense.
Stan: No truer words were spoken. I couldn’t get out of the driveway, but I let the engine run for three hours, just to put some more greenhouse gas into the air.
Not the kind of conversations we’ve been having in Pagosa Springs this month, that’s for sure.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency. “Because of the foregoing conditions, which are projected to constitute a major disaster, I declare that a state of emergency exists in the State of Florida.”
We have our own State of Emergency going on. It’s called a “No Snow Emergency.” Florida has no clue what a real emergency looks like.
Unfortunately, our Colorado Governor is not paying attention. Too busy promoting electric vehicles.
What I don’t understand is why the National Weather Service was sending our snow to Alabama and Florida? People don’t want it there. Or need it.
Maybe a few adults, who had recently moved to Florida from Minnesota, had fun sledding on the little hill below the county courthouse in Mobile, but that’s hardly a justification.
We depend on snow, here in southwestern Colorado. It’s part of our DNA. What we need here — and soon — is a “generational winter storm event.” Or even a “once a year winter storm event.” I think, at this point we would settle for “a few white flakes, thank you.”
Our water reservoirs are not going to fill up all by themselves. We need snow melt. Badly.
Colorado state senator Byron Pelton, from Sterling, expressed his thoughts about our changing climate in his recent newsletter.
Should Colorado’s agricultural economy suffer so we can accommodate renewable energy projects designed to save polar bears?
Well, I have to say, if saving polar bears will mean more snow here in Pagosa… I mean, I’m the last person who wants to see Colorado’s agricultural economy suffer, but we apparently have some choices to make, and if saving polar bears will mean more white stuff in Pagosa…
I’m not a fan of polar bears per se, but maybe Senator Pelton is just using a metaphor?
They might think it’s funny, in Florida, to leave their truck engine running for three hours “just to put some more greenhouse gas into the air” but they won’t be laughing when they run out of electricity for their air conditioners.
Curiously, Senator Pelton seems to have similar concerns. From his newsletter:
I’m particularly concerned about high energy costs imposed on Coloradans because of rates that sometimes triple during peak hours of usage. These folks are sitting at home watching TV (I myself watch Golden Girls) or doing their chores at their house, and they’re sitting in air conditioning that is getting too expensive for them to pay for.
Sterling, Colorado, is obviously in a different part of the state. I’ve never had an air conditioner, here in Pagosa. Normally, it’s too fricking cold. Especially in the winter.
I wonder if Senator Pelton understands that, unless we can save the polar bears, the electric bill for his air conditioner is headed for the stratosphere.