*That* rain yesterday

[Norman Hunter]

...in Leeds - wow.

Pity the thousands I drove by in Headingley going to Michael Vaughan's Testimonial

[Quiff Boy]

or the 100s stuck in the traffic just the wrong side of the flooded bridge at armley gyratory, for 2 hours

or, to be fair, the many 1000s of people standed in new orleans

lets face it, the planets ecosystem is f**ked isnt it?

[MadameButterfly]

Yes to what you just said....and can you believe that there are people that do not know that fact or just ignore it....thank the stars for hl....at least it is *dry* here thinking of all the people in the world with too much water.

[RicheyJames]

lets face it, the planets ecosystem is f**ked isnt it?

err... no, it's called weather. it's been around for, oooh, about 400 million years or so. you really would have thought we'd have got the hang of it by now...

[Batfish]

Indeed. It often rains in Manchester.

[Quiff Boy]

lets face it, the planets ecosystem is f**ked isnt it?

err... no, it's called weather. it's been around for, oooh, about 400 million years or so. you really would have thought we'd have got the hang of it by now...

not seen weather as utterly random or extreme as it has been recently though. certainly not in our parts of the world.

[emilystrange]

it just hasn't been recorded so diligently..

[RicheyJames]

not seen weather as utterly random or extreme as it has been recently though. certainly not in our parts of the world.

thunderstorms in august? that's about as predictable as it gets.

and it's not particularly extreme either. downpours of around half an inch of rain in an hour compared with the three and a half recorded in maidenhead in... err... 1901. or how about the inch and a quarter which fell on preston in... umm... 1893?

[smiscandlon]

not seen weather as utterly random or extreme as it has been recently though. certainly not in our parts of the world.

thunderstorms in august? that's about as predictable as it gets.

and it's not particularly extreme either. downpours of around half an inch of rain in an hour compared with the three and a half recorded in maidenhead in... err... 1901. or how about the inch and a quarter which fell on preston in... umm... 1893?

No fair. You're countering everyone's arguments with facts.

[emilystrange]

did things just get wet then?
now it causes untold chaos and grinds life to a halt.

new orleans is looking very grim, though.

[Quiff Boy]

did things just get wet then?
now it causes untold chaos and grinds life to a halt.

new orleans is looking very grim, though.

oi, richey! fact boy! when did new orleans last have that kind of weather in august?

[MadameButterfly]

And any facts about the next 100 years?....in Holland it is a miracle if the sun shines....most of the time it just rains, rains, rains....
Heard about water levels rising....because of rain but also the melting of ice-bergs...

[RicheyJames]

did things just get wet then?
now it causes untold chaos and grinds life to a halt.

new orleans is looking very grim, though.

oi, richey! fact boy! when did new orleans last have that kind of weather in august?

hurricanes? in the gulf of mexico? in hurricane season?!? who'd of thunk it?

in the last 150 years 273 hurricanes have made landfall in the united states. louisiana share of those is a total of 49, of which 18 were rated "major" (category 3-5). six of those 18 hit in august with seven in september. i think that establishes that a major hurricane hitting the area at this time of year is, whilst not common, hardly without precedent.

the intensity of hurricanes is measured by the central pressure of the storm. katrina, at the point when it made landfall, weighs in with an impressively low 915 millibars but some way short of an unnamed hurricane in 1935 which was recorded at 892mb when it passed over the florida keys and just behind hurricane camille measured at 909mb in 1969 when it hit... louisiana.

interestingly, of the top eleven (there's a tie for tenth place) hurricanes to make landfall on the continental united states since records began in 1851, two occurred in the nineteenth century and a further four in the first half of the last century. if you're really interested i could show you a graph that demonstrates that there have actually been fewer than average severe hurricanes hitting the united states in each of the last three decades.

that enough facts for you?

hurricanes happen. always have. always will. live with it.

[andymackem]

Am I not right in thinking that the 'fuckedness' of the global climate is actually a long-running affair which dovetails neatly with the emergence of land-based mammals as dominant species?

I'm sure I read/saw something about how most of our planet's meterological history had been much colder than the relative thaw of the last geological age.

Arguably, we'd just be getting back to normal when the ice-caps melt and the gulf stream switches off.

But this time we'll be able to sit around and make documentaries about it. Golgafrincham (sp), anyone?

[markfiend]

While RJ is technically correct that extremes of weather have always been with us, it does seem (and admittedly I don't really have evidence of this) that the extremes are getting more frequent.

I had to do a right ba$tard rat-run to get home; it's a good job I know LS6 like the back of my hand...

[canon docre]

still, this is the worst nature catasrophe in USA since the Frisco earthshake 1906. Damage wise they (the US) put it into the same category as the asian Tsunami. 1000 deads so far. Clearly not a normal hurricane season.

[andymackem]

But how many of the problems caused by the hurricane have been exacerbated by poor planning on behalf of the US authorities, and a shortage of manpower with half the Louisiana National Guard on duty in Iraq? Link to follow ...

And added here ....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,1 ... 51,00.html

For once it seems that a developed nation has produced a third-world response to a natural disaster. Happens every year in Bangladesh.

[ruffers]

Can we have a conspiracy theory from somewhere as well please?

[andymackem]

Can we have a conspiracy theory from somewhere as well please?

Sure. It's those evil red Cubans plotting the downfall of truth, democracy and the American Way.

After all, the storm came from the Gulf of Mexico. Cuba is in the Gulf of Mexico. Cuba is full of commies who hate America (don't think we'd forgotten them just because we're off chasing A-rabs for a bit). So Cuba generated the storm using vast turbines, powered by political prisoners on hamster-like treadmills, in the hope of setting in chain a 'natural' disaster and swamping a major US city.

When the turbines get bigger they're aiming for Seattle. Just because they can.

I think Belarus is involved as well.

[markfiend]

<conspiracy theory>Global warming isn't really happening. It's all a con so that Big Oil can put up its prices. The melting of the ice-sheets is just part of the natural cycle of ice-age / interglacial and nothing whatsoever to do with the massive amounts of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. Oh no. </conspiracy theory>

Actually, I think the evidence does suggest that a small part of global warming is from natural meterological cycles, but the vast majority of the effect is caused by CO2 from burning fossil fuels.

[Chairman Bux]

Can we have a conspiracy theory from somewhere as well please?

Even God hates America.

[markfiend]

You wait forever for a conspiracy theory and three come along at once...

[RicheyJames]

While RJ is technically correct that extremes of weather have always been with us, it does seem (and admittedly I don't really have evidence of this) that the extremes are getting more frequent.

i don't really have any evidence for this, but it does seem that the level of stupidity on this forum is on the increase.

[markfiend]

*handbag* Ooh get her

Are you denying that global warming is happening?

[RicheyJames]

*handbag* Ooh get her

Are you denying that global warming is happening?

i was merely trying to highlight the ridiculousness of your statement. i expect better of you mark.

global warming? i'm still unconvinced to be honest.