There are reports of yet another storm to follow with up to another foot of snow in north-central Minnesota extending to Michigan. They may run out of alphabet letters ... sort of reminds me of that I-98 episode in which a pharmaceutical company nearly ran out of letters ....
... if we're still getting snowstorms out into July/August, the "global warming" tag will change, regardless. The "GlobalWarming_2014_2015" tag starts with July 1, 2014 posts.
By the way, we've come full circle:
ice age coming --> global warming --> climate change --> extreme weather --> ice age comingWunderground is reporting that March, 2014, was a record-setting cold month across the United States:
While typically cold, parts of the northern Great Lakes and northern New England shivered through a record cold March in 2014.
Specifically, the following cities set a new cold standard for March monthly mean temperatures, according to final statistics from the National Weather Service:And now it's official:
Caribou, Maine chalked up 14 days with low temperatures below zero, tying their record from 1939.
- Caribou, Maine
- Bangor, Maine (tied)
- Barre/Montpelier, VT
- Glens Falls, NY
- Washington (Dulles Int'l Airport)
- Gaylord, MI
- Houghton Lake, MI
An over a century-old record falls.
The average temperature for December 2013 to March 2014 period in Chicago was only 22.0°F, 10 degrees below freezing, beating the old record set in the winter of 1903-04. It even beat the harsh winters of 1977/78 which were some of the worst ever.
This is the coldest such period in Chicago since 1872! That was about six years after the end of the US Civil War.
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We've Only Just Begun -- Human, Aetna, BC/BS, Gazprom, Putin
This is quite incredible. It's a fact that ObamaCare premiums for 2015 will increase significantly. HHS Secretary Sebelius has said as much. The insurers have said as much.
But I didn't expect to see these stories this soon. Reuters is already reporting:
As the first Obamacare enrollment period comes to a close, U.S. insurers are already anticipating the need to raise prices for 2015 and fear that it will put them at the center of the political blame game over President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
The Obama administration declared victory on Tuesday over signing up more than 7 million people for this year, overcoming technology failures that stymied enrollment in the program's early weeks and Republican efforts to discredit it in the eyes of consumers.
But insurers have already said that the first group of new enrollees under Obamacare, as the law is widely known, represent a higher rate of older and costlier members than hoped. To keep their health plans from losing money in the coming years, many expect monthly premium rates to rise by double-digit percentages in some parts of the country.
We've only just begun...
I can all but guarantee that because of the late enrollment closure for 2013, "open season" for 2015 will be delayed until January - March, 2015, well after the November, 2014, elections.
In addition, by executive order, the President will cap 2015 premiums at 2014 rates.
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