Cool summer shouldn't affect winter

Long-sleeved summer days left many fearing a harsh winter, but the past few months will have no bearing on future weather conditions.

This summer's high temperature averaged 3.1 degrees below normal, the eighth coolest summer on record, according to the National Weather Service out of Pleasant Hill, Mo.

Warning Coordination Meteorologist Andy Bailey said the noticeably cool weather this summer is of little concern.

"The changes were significant," Bailey said. "However, everything was in the realm of the natural variability cycle. It's not that unusual to have periods like this where you're well above or below normal for a three-month period."

Although the Midwest was not the only area of the world that experienced abnormal weather conditions, Bailey said that globally, everything is just as it was before.

"On average across the globe, the temperature was fairly normal," Bailey said. "It wasn't unusually hot or cold."

The climate change this summer also is not an abnormal occurrence. Bailey said that when one area is affected one way, another area is affected in the opposite way.

"Whenever we're cold in this part of the world, someplace else is unusually warm," Bailey said. "So as we go forward into the fall and winter months, this really doesn't mean anything as far as how warm or cold we may be."

Bailey said there are ways of predicting which areas of the world will experience warmer or cooler temperatures. This is done by observing the jet stream.

"It tends to occur wherever the upper level pattern sets up," Bailey said. "Generally, whenever the jet stream stays south of us in the summer time, we tend to be cool. That's what happened this past year."

Signs of weather abnormalities are recognized by meteorologists like Bailey, but the reasoning behind it, Bailey said, is still unknown.

"To us, it's random," Bailey said. "There's a reason behind it, but it's something so complex that we don't fully understand. Everything happens for a reason."

The weather experienced across the region might have little impact on present or future weather conditions, but for agriculture, the effects have been felt since spring.

Leon McIntyre, Adair County Farm Bureau's extension agronomy specialist, said the cool and wet weather came to the aid of most major crops.

"It's actually helped crops," McIntyre said. "We actually get better yields when we have moisture and slightly cooler temperatures."

One negative effect from these weather conditions is lost planting time. Crops were not planted until later in the season because of the wet conditions. McIntyre said the cooler weather also affected the maturity rate of crops.

"Even though we're around 200 heat units behind normal, we'll still probably have better yields because we had plenty of moisture," McIntyre said. "Moisture is usually our limiting factor in most crops."

McIntyre also said that if this cool and wet weather continues in the coming years, the agriculture industry will continue to produce well.

"I think we'd still get optimum yields," McIntyre said. "Usually it can't get much wetter than this. The big thing is getting the rainfall at the proper time."

Trouble for crops could arise if the harvest season remains wet. McIntyre said that cooler weather may also affect the outcome of this harvest.

"If we get a normal fall then we shouldn't have any trouble at all," McIntyre said. "I think we're headed for a pretty good crop."

Bill Kuntz, Truman State University farm manager, has seen positive and negative effects from the cooler and wetter weather. He said some of the produce from the University Farm is not doing well.

"It's been beneficial in some ways and not beneficial in other ways," Kuntz said. "We had a big tomato patch this year, and it didn't like the cold weather. It made it more susceptible to fungus."

Beyond the crops on the University Farm, the livestock are doing well. The pasture ground consists of cool season grasses, which have thrived during the summer. Kuntz said he has also seen cropland that appears to be doing well.

"I've looked at beans around the area, and they look like they're doing really good," Kuntz said. "Corn isn't as dark of a green color as it usually is, and some of the stands are uneven because of the moisture."