May 10th marks the first day of 2013 where the temperature surpassed the 80 degree mark in North Haven.  We came close on April 9th when it hit 79° but 80 wouldn’t come until mid May this year.  Last year was a much different story as temperatures moderated very quickly and we didn’t have much of a spring.  With dewpoints in the low to mid 50’s and humidity levels between 40-50%, it was a nice comfortable spring day here in New England.  

10:49 AM 4/29/13 - Happy Monday Connecticut!  A cloudy day is in store for today with a chance of a passing shower.  If you're in a town that gets some rain don't worry because it wont last long.  After today we're back to great weather again.

TODAY: Cloudy with a chance of a shower.  Western CT will have the greater chance for these showers.  Highs will be in the mid 60's.  Winds SE 5-10 mph

TONIGHT:  Mostly Cloudy with a low of 43°.  Winds SE 5-10 mph

TUESDAY:  Sunny.  High of 66°.  East winds 5-10 mph

Wednesday through Sunday will be sunny with high temperatures in the mid to upper 60s.  Can't complain about this weather in April.  We are more accustomed to seeing rain this time of the year.  I'll take it!

The Appalachian Trail is a trail extending over 2000 miles from Maine to Georgia.  It’s very challenging, but also very beautiful.  One of my bucket list items is to successfully hike the entire trail before I die.  I’ve been casually doing 1-3 day hikes for the past 2 years and also have been keeping track of the sections that I hike. 

This year I’ve started early and did my first day hike on Saturday April 13th.  I started on West Cornwall Road (right near the Cornwall covered bridge) and hiked a total of 10 miles to Housatonic River Road in Falls Village.  On that trail, I hiked to the summit of Mt. Easter (1350 ft) and finished right along the Housatonic river. 

There are several reasons why I have this goal to finish the Appalachian Trail but the most important one is to stay healthy.  I’ve been training for 2 months now and I’ve dropped 15 lbs.  My plan is to complete all of Connecticut and Massachusetts by the end of this year. 

The hike I took on Saturday was a chilly one.  I never even had to take off my sweatshirt it was so cold.  The trail was also wet from the rain we received the night before.  I would say the hike was moderately challenging but this time the training paid off.  I probably could have hiked 15 miles that day if I wanted to. 

I saw fresh deer and bear tracks but never saw any on the hike.  My next hike could be different since I’ll be hiking Prospect Mountain and the “watch out for bears” signs were getting more frequent.  Here are a collection of pictures I took from the trail.  I hope you all enjoy them.

Tomorrow I will be taking my first AT hike of the year.  Every year I do several section hikes often times sleeping a night or two in the woods.  This hike will only be a day hike.  The temperatures are still too cold at night but hopefully in a couple of weeks temps will moderate. 

I will leave a little after 6 am and drive to West Cornwall.  I’ll park and then hike 6.7 miles to where Rt.7 intersects with Rt.112.  Last year I did a lot of hikes in Connecticut.  I started near Bulls Bridge (near the NY border) and have hiked north ever since.  This hike I’ll be climbing Mt. Easter (alt. 1375 ft) and coming down the other side.  I’ll pass a couple of shelters on my hike as well. 

I’ll be doing this hike carrying as little as I can.  I’m usually carrying a 25 lb pack but I hope to hike this trail at a good pace with a light pack.  Once I get back I’ll share some pictures and video and discuss some of the highlights of the trip.  

10:30 AM   04/01/13 – Good Morning Connecticut!. I hope that everyone had a great Easter yesterday! The weather held out long enough to not bring any headaches. Temperatures are already in the mid 50’s at 10:00 this morning and I expect highs to top off in the upper 50’s today. There is a chance for a few showers in the afternoon today but after that it looks dry until Friday!

TODAY: Mostly Sunny with a high of 58 degrees. Winds WSW 15-20 mph. There is a chance for an afternoon shower.

TONIGHT: Clear and chilly with a low around 32. Winds WNW 15 mph

TUESDAY: Partly Sunny but much cooler with highs only in the mid 40’s. Westerly winds at 10-20 mph

Wednesday will be cooler as well before things warm back up on Thursday and Friday. Rain is expected on Friday and we’ll have details on that as we get closer. Next weekend should be in the mid 50’s and if we get this rain out of the way on Friday, then Saturday could end up being quite a gem!

Thursday March 28th, 2013 was the 2nd wxedge meet and greet at WTNH Channel 8 in New Haven, CT.  I saw many familiar faces and met some new contributors who recently signed up!  I really like the age ranges represented as well.  There are contributors as young as 10 years old and others who are in their 60’s! 

There was a great crowd this year and currently there are over 100 people who have submitted an article to wxedge.com.  In the past year, the website has grown to include more school participation with the introduction of wxedge academy and also has had more of Connecticut represented on the map. 

Since the last meeting, News 8 went through a major renovation of their offices and it looked very nice.  It was great to see all of the technology used to create what we see on the news every day.  We all had the chance to talk with the News 8 meteorologists and had a chance to experiment using the green screen as well. 

Here are some pictures I took last night from the event.  I hope you enjoy them.

Now that warmer temperatures are on the way, I’d like to share a great destination for weather geeks.  It is called the Blue Hill Observatory and is located in nearby Massachusetts about 10 miles south of Boston.  It’s located at the summit of Great Blue Hill on the Blue Hills reservation so there aren’t any public roads to get you there.  You’ll need to put on your hiking shoes and take a 1 mile hike to the top.





Once you get there you have the option to take a guided tour (weekends) or participate in many programs that they offer.  Some of these programs include:  Guided Hikes, Sky Art Photography classes, and the basics of weather forecasting! 





I’ve never been there but I plan on going this spring.  I’ll take lots of pictures and write an article about the trip when I get back.  Has anyone been there before?  If you have please feel free to let us know how it was!





Source: www.bluehill.org

There is a Winter Storm Warning for all of Connecticut except for the immediate shoreline until 10 AM tomorrow morning.  Tonight and overnight you can expect the snow to change over to sleet and then freezing rain.  2-4 inches of snow is expected in the North Haven area.  The northern half of the state should expect 4-8 inches of snow.  Winds will be out of the East at 10-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph possible.  

The mixed bag of precipitation will be all rain by noon as the temperatures rise into the mid 40's.  There's another chance for some rain or snow on Thursday as a storm could clip us.  What once looked like a storm harmlessly going out to sea has started to trend closer.  

Hi I’m Scott Cimini and I’m a climate change skeptic.  You can debate the existence of climate change as much as you’d like but this article is not about whether I think it exists or not. Climate goes through many natural cycles and I intend to prove that human induced climate change is a myth.  Some scientists (politically motivated or not) believe that CO2 emissions are causing the earth’s temperature to rise and that is just completely false.





What really bothers me is that this has become a political issue.  You can never trust a politician.  They lie, mislead, deceive, and only look out for their best interests.  I believe that politicians are using climate change as an excuse to raise taxes, control your lives, and scare you into believing that we are creating a future apocalypse.  Al Gore is the most notable (ex) politician to lead the movement and has make millions of dollars on it as well.  He invests a lot of his money on alternative energy and “green” companies while at the same time demonizing oil companies and other companies who are the competition of these green establishments. 

In a dossier released by The European Foundation in 2012, there are 100 reasons explaining why climate change is natural and not manmade.  

I’ve chosen the reasons that I think are the most compelling to this argument: 

• Man-made carbon dioxide emissions throughout human history constitute less than 0.00022 percent of the total naturally emitted from the mantle of the earth during geological history.

• Warmer periods of the Earth’s history came around 800 years before rises in CO2 levels.

• After World War II, there was a huge surge in recorded CO2 emissions but global temperatures fell for four decades after 1940.

• Politicians and activists claim rising sea levels are a direct cause of global warming but sea levels rates have been increasing steadily since the last ice age 10,000 ago

• A petition by scientists trying to tell the world that the political and media portrayal of global warming is false was put forward in the Heidelberg Appeal in 1992. Today, more than 4,000 signatories, including 72 Nobel Prize winners, from 106 countries have signed it.

• There is no scientific or statistical evidence whatsoever that global warming will cause more storms and other weather extremes

• Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be shown not only to have a negligible effect on the Earth’s many ecosystems, but in some cases to be a positive help to many organisms

• Rising CO2 levels increase plant growth and make plants more resistant to drought and pests

•  The manner in which US President Barack Obama sidestepped Congress to order emission cuts shows how undemocratic and irrational the entire international decision-making process has become with regards to emission-target setting.

• In the United States , the cap-and-trade is an approach designed to control carbon emissions and will impose huge costs upon American citizens via a carbon tax on all goods and services produced in the United States. The average family of four can expect to pay an additional $1700, or more each year. It is predicted that the United States will lose more than 2 million jobs as the result of cap-and-trade schemes. 

• It is a myth that CO2 is a pollutant, because nitrogen forms 80% of our atmosphere and human beings could not live in 100% nitrogen either: CO2 is no more a pollutant than nitrogen is and CO2 is essential to life.

Source with all 100 reasons:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/146138/100-reasons-why-climate-change-is-natural