Thursday, August 12, 2010

Past Errors to Blame for Russia’s Peat Fires - NYTimes.com

Past Errors to Blame for Russia’s Peat Fires - NYTimes.com: "Among all the troubles that have been visited on Russia in this summer of record heat, wildfires, smoke and crop failure, perhaps none have been so persistent and impervious to remedy as the peat fires. Particularly maddening, many here say, is the knowledge that the problem is caused by humans."

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Mission abort?


As I suspected, the temperatures predictions are rising as current data outweigh the historical averages in the models that the meteorologists use to project forecasts. The average, average high (the average of the projected highs from 8/6-8/10, from all the weather sites) is 92.66. In other words, unbearably hot. Importantly, today the static has begun to leave the system: This morning the standard deviation for Monday and Tuesday was about 9; with the midnight update to the European models, it's about 6.

Monday update: And it's official. Tom Newlin and I have spoken and decided to cancel the trip. I've already started planning for another attempt, this May, after classes end. Tolstoy made the trip in spring, and I'll hope for better conditions then!