Friday, March 16, 2012

Payback Blizzards: Warm Weather Economics

By Huma Sheikh

The Sun’s face in January mirrored the gleaming semblance of summer. His pretty glittering rays were blossoming sprouts most days this winter. January 31 broke record high temperatures all over the Mid-West. But it was no surprise for people in Vermillion; winter weather has been unusually warm this year. This amazingly embracing change though manifests psychological fear in people’s minds as they dread they may have to pay for it.

“A lot of people say we will pay for good wintry weather but I think we may have already paid for it last winter. Whether weather is good or bad has nothing to do with paybacks,” Jerry Prentice, a Clay County resident, said.

“In January, twenty days out of the thirty-one days had above average temperatures in whole South Dakota. Of some of the records that have been broken, one in Nebraska has stood since 1931. It is hard to deny that over the long term the weather is getting warmer. The average temperature of the years seems to rise. There’s no doubt the glaciers are melting like never before. There is no doubt that it’s global warming; the cause of it is still unproven. I am not unhappy that there’s been the warm snow-free winter year. I am happy that it’s like this.”

Mike Carlson, City of Vermillion finance office, said, “This year in January, forty-three hundred dollars ($4300) were spent on snow removal compared with last year’s seventy-four hundred ($7400) dollars for the same month. We had had more over-time work for snow removal in the previous years but this year, weather has been pleasantly different.

Helen Eason, a Vermillion resident, said, “There’s not only been less snow this winter but it’s been warmer. I got my heating bill and it was much less this year. It was only 346.61 for December and January. Last year, it came to 463.41 for December and January. Apart from snow, just the warmer weather is helpful when it comes to heating bills.”

“I went to get my car filled up with gas the other day. The guy who runs the service station said “isn’t this weather great? I suppose we will suffer later. I said yes but if bad weather will come, it won’t last.It’s unusual. I have been in vermillion for the last 14 years. I remember that one year we had a big snowfall on the Veterans Day (November 11). My grandson was then in high school; he and his friend came and shoveled me out. In my next life I will make sure my house is not on the corner with too many sidewalks. In 2009, I was supposed to go to my daughter’s for Christmas. I couldn’t get out of the house. I couldn’t even push the screen door. I had Christmas all by myself, reading a book my granddaughter had sent me from Maryland. I associate that book with that snow.”

Kyle Miller, USD student, “I never remembered a winter like this before. I have been in the Mid-west my whole life. In winter, to be in 50s and 60s is unusual. It’s been an odd winter.”

About global warming, “We will find out in 30 years. This winter has been great. What it’s going to lead to, I don’t know.My home is in Iowa and I keep close track of the weather as I often travel between Vermillion and Iowa. It’s nice having clear roads.”

Tina Nelson, another USD student, said, “It was wonderful and I wanted to cry out of joy. I spent the whole day out in a dress and went for a nice long jog that night when it was still amazingly warm. I wish every winter was this amazing, even though it probably means global warming and we are all going to die.”

Bob Stoner, former USD professor, said, “I grew up on a farm and even though I have long been living in town, now since high school, I still sell farms. This weather doesn’t give moisture to crops. And unusual warm weather in winter doesn’t kill pests. Besides, trees bud out earlier than they should.