View Single Post
  #20  
Old 09-13-2018, 08:28 PM
Olefin Olefin is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Greencastle, PA
Posts: 3,003
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by swaghauler View Post
I haven't seen a true drought here in my 50 years (this Saturday) of living here (minus the time I served with The 10th). In fact, I think that the nuke strikes at Chicago (on both the East and West sides) would cause just the OPPOSITE. The strikes (which would destroy BOTH canals that connect the Mississippi & the Great Lakes) would bring a cloud of debris that would INCREASE the snowfall for that winter and drive summer temps down. This would require all the OH, PA and NY farmers in the lee shores of Lake Erie to switch to cold weather crops like winter wheat, potatoes, and alfalfa in order to prevent crop loss. This would persist all the way down to I80 West where the drought would start (because you enter a different climatic region there).

This is a result of the region along the lake is in the "Lake Effect Zone" where the Lakes have a big effect on weather. We get some of the highest snow totals in the US and have only an average of 6 direct sunlight hours per day throughout the year (A reason I use to argue with "West Coasties" who claim solar is the energy solution for the whole US). Our temps range from 100 F in the summer to -30 F in the winter. We can get snow as early as September and as late as May. Our winds are on average MUCH HIGHER than the rest of PA or NY. This is why there are so many sailboats on the Great Lakes. I highly doubt that any drought would reach the North Shore of PA or the Southern Tier of NY. In fact, I think we would be more likely to experience a "Year Without Summer" like when Krakatoa erupted.
Nice to see a fellow veteran of the fun winters we used to get in Western NY - 21 inches of snow and the schools open on time - and I was a paper boy growing up and can attest to both the bitter cold and the early and late snow we used to get
Reply With Quote