99.8% want Regis & Kelly back
.2 want Dr. Phil

The use of daylight savings time has a diminishing return the further south one is in the hemisphere for good reason…it was not born in a in a low latitude nation like the USA or China…it was born in the Northern latitudes of Europe. Cold season daylight is quite fleeting north of 50 latitude. A place like New Haven or San Francisco has a realtively long amount of daylight year-round…unlike a place like London or Copenhagen. Northern Europeans needed the extra light badly, so they devised the system. Nevertheless….at any point in the Northern Hampshire…December 21st has the least amount of daylight. How or what the “local time zone” is set to is really irrelevant to all other living things except humans.

We in the Tri-State area have it good at 41 latitude…a long amount of daylight year-round …no matter what the current clock fade is.

Nice article. I agree that DSt has its flaws, but am always happy with the extra hours during the summer!

I used the solar calculator...(thanks SI), I wasshocked to see New Haven has so much more daylight than Europe.

I wound up at church an hour early,
A woman walking her dog that either liked me or wanted to bite me told me so.
~Peace Glenna~

# The U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DOT) concluded in 1975 that DST might reduce the country's electricity usage by 1% during March and April, but the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) reviewed the DOT study in 1976 and found no significant savings.
# In 2000 when parts of Australia began DST in late winter, overall electricity consumption did not decrease, but the morning peak load and prices increased.
# In Western Australia during summer 2006–07, DST increased electricity consumption during hotter days and decreased it during cooler days, with consumption rising 0.6% overall.
# Although a 2007 study estimated that introducing DST to Japan would reduce household lighting energy consumption, a 2007 simulation estimated that DST would increase overall energy use in Osaka residences by 0.13%, with a 0.02% decrease due to less lighting more than outweighed by a 0.15% increase due to extra cooling; neither study examined non-residential energy use. DST's effect on lighting energy use is noticeable mainly in residences.
# A 2007 study found that the earlier start to DST that year had little or no effect on electricity consumption in California.
# A 2007 study estimated that winter daylight saving would prevent a 2% increase in average daily electricity consumption in Great Britain.
# A 2008 study examined billing data in Indiana before and after it adopted DST in 2006, and concluded that DST increased residential electricity consumption by 1% to 4%, primarily due to extra afternoon cooling.
# The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) concluded in a 2008 report that the 2007 U.S. extension of DST saved 0.5% of electricity usage during the extended period.

Great points, Dr. Mel.

I think it is pointless to have DST, anyway. I wish we would just stay on the same more scientific and natural time year round. We're really just tricking our bodies when we say we are "saving" time anyway. I don't think it has any benefits and, rather, many disadvantages (i.e., needing to get used to an hour loss or an hour gain twice a year).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

The change in daylight really makes little difference to me, so I could really care less. We get enough sun no matter what time of year.

However, I saw the weather report this morning from “Glacier Gil” as Desiree calls him (so funny). Man, did he draw out the possibility of some wet flakes Thursday (lol). He shows us the low will be in the 30’s on Thursday morning (he even circles it-lol). Funny he never mentions that in will be in the 60’s two days later (lol). It’s so funny to see him try to hype a few wet flakes.

I have a feeling with El-Nino building it’s going to be a short and entertaining winter on News Channel 8

keep it coming Glacier Gill!

Matt, Shorleliner: I think the warm weather fans can relax… typical tranquil November weather is in store for the Tri-State area and the East Coast for the foreseeable future.

After a very brief shot of modestly cool air on Friday (it will still be near 50 F )…the pattern will continue to send mild Pacific air across the central and southern USA mainland. This means most locations from around 40-latitude southward will see mild temperatures and the cold air is basically locked up in Canada. Combined with a moderately strong positive NAO (meaning little chance of any blocking in the next 12 to 22 days)…and mild times are ahead. Only the West will be a little cooler. In fact, next week it looks like temperatures will be above normal from the Plains eastward right to the East Coast...with 55/60 F in the Tri-State area…to 70’s in the subtropical Southeast/Gulf…with the 80’s back on the Florida peninsula.

Who knows maybe we can squeeze in just one more week of golf (lol).

I will be, as usual, the dissenting voice -- I like Daylight Savings Time.
I don't give a fig if it saves electricity or not - I get to work in my garden later. I'm not a night creature who loves the dark - if I were an owl or a vampire I suppose I'd like to have more darkness but there aren't enough hours in a day to get done what I have to so keep DST from Spring until October - you can stop it after I am no longer here on earth.

Glacier Gil? That's a good one! It fits him perfectly! That's why I don't like to watch him & Mel. It's always shoot down the warmth & hype up the cold. Why they live here if they're such cold weather fans is beyond me. Seems to me like they would be happier in Buffalo, or the upper midwest.

As for me, I am loving the weather today! I wish it could stay like this all winter. Keep the cold & suck out to our west & up to our north where it belongs!

Matt, don't worry. If the El Nino delivers us an easy winter as they usually do, we will still be treated to snow stories in lands thousands of miles away from here, not to mention them trying to tell us how 'cold' it is outside when it's in the upper 40s, and 50s to try to keep the spin going. Plus, if you even bother to read them (which I don't), we'll also have posts from MJ & Brian, who I suspect is the same person, or maybe even Mel or Gil.

To : Shoreline Visitor,

In my opinion i feel both myself and Brian are misunderstood. I enjoy all aspects of our weather . I will enjoy this weeks indian summer weather. I enjoy our relatively comfortable summer weather. I feel that CT has one of the most ideal climates in the United States with its comfortable summer weather , compared to most other parts of the united states and relatively mild winters especially in the coastal zone.I have read extensively on the climate of Connecticut . I have read the book The Climate of Connecticut by Joseph J Brumback and i also read Dr Mels Ct Climate Book . I also have read the Climate narrative from the National Climatic Data Center for the State of Connecticut. I also own the Climate Atlas for the United States in CD Rom.I am a Climate Researcher as a hobby. I just an amazed at the Climatic Variation in this small state. If i come across too technical i do appoligize. I like to educate the viewers of this post on the variations of climate in the State of Connecticut.I just would like our Climate to either stay the same or get slightly colder and snowier. I do not want to see Global Warming. I dont want to see a drastic change in our climate in the cold either.I feel Nothern Maine weather would be too cold a Climate for me.I just want to see a vigorous 1960's style weather between December and March.


Mj Visitor

Only approx. 4 weeks until the soltice!
Then 3 months until spring!
Wahooooooozi!
I keep saying this over and over seasonal effective disorder,will turn into an order.
Every tree playing possom for the winter will ressurect with the flowers,the gardens will be planted for the season.
The bears will wake and also the snakes!
Wise as the serpent gentle as the dove.
~Peace Glenna~

As a former New Englander (I used to live in Lebanon, NH), I am really surprised how much warmer that the Tri-State area is in the fall months. According to the Weather Channel, it hit 71 F in Hartford on Monday. However, I like some winter too. I think you folks down here have it good, a long hot summer, mild falls, and short winters with light snow most often. CT/NY/NJ has a nice climate IMO, much better than New Englnd.

Shoreliner - things really seem to be shaping up they way you might have hoped for weatherwise this winter…

As we press toward the start of meteorological winter (December 1st)…I don’t see any big change in the pattern. I think we should see typically mild fall weather for the next 15 to 20 days. Aside from that, the main theme is the utter lack of arctic cold across Canada right now. Also, there seems to be no transport mechanism that will even get “semi-cold” air into the Eastern/Southern USA for the foreseeable future the way it looks right now. The lack of high pressure in Canada means there will be little intense cold in the northern interior areas of the USA (northern Rockies, the northern Plains, and northern New England). Further south and east…from the southern/central Plains to the East Coast/Tri-State area … with El Nino still gaining strength and the resulting continued flood of Pacific air across most of the USA… I would not bet on any large-scale areas of cold developing any time soon. I see absolutely nothing that will change this pattern in the next 15 to as much as 35 days out.

As far as what lies a ahead for early winter (December 1st to January 1st)…I’m growing more confident by the day that most locations south of the Great Lakes and south of Massachusetts on the East Coast…will have a mild December now. All NWS stations across the Tri-State area running above normal temp wise. These positive numbers will only grow… as we finish out the last 15 days or so of November. Generally a warmer than normal November… is not followed by a significantly colder than normal start to winter. Although I know the chances of a white Christmas are only about 30% in most of the Tri-State area (less in the city)…the current pattern seems to be leaning toward another East Coast Christmas of watching snow on TV Christmas morning to the west…rather than out our windows here on the East Coast (lol).

Cheers…

That's good to hear, Si! Too bad we can't have an El Nino every Winter! :)