Nov 4 2014 - Rotary Forum
Posted by Dick Dannells
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Michael Boyer began the meeting at 12:45 PM by auctioning off the fine-free badge to Martha Murphy for $60.
FINES:
Pres. Michael congratulated Jay Bond for doing such a fine job in the community giving campaign, but fined him $30, his first fine of the year. Club anniversaries were celebrated with a $10 fine on Harlan Silva and $30 fines on each of Linda Osty and Sharon Ellis who joined the club on the same day. Jack Hardy fined Pres. Michael $40 for not starting out the meeting with introduction of guests. Steve Curry was fined a spin-the-wheel fine of $20 for his less than stellar introduction. Michael Frederick’s new truck cost him a $70 fine.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Pres. Michael announced that as a result of many complaints on the lighting in our meeting room, it is been agreed with both the Arroyo Grande Rotary club and the restaurant management for a three-way split to cover the cost of a new LED or a little over $600 apiece. Anya Stanley was called to the podium to exchange her red name badge for a permanent blue badge for a fee of $50. Greg Baker announced that his 13th grandchild arrived and he donated $30, and then Don Weber donated $50, John Traversaro gave $40, Doug McMillan also gave $40, and Mike Frederick gave $20. Paul Holden took the podium and presented a fine introduction to those that were receiving Paul Harris Fellow awards that included one to the late son of John and Martha Murphy and one to Cindy Doll, a friend of Linda Osty. Cheryl Vines reported that next Wednesday, November 19 we will have our monthly social at the Sea Venture restaurant.
John Lindsay - “What Will This Rain Season Bring?”
Lee Ann Liscombe introduced John, who is the current public relations officer and meteorologist for PG&E at Diablo Canyon power plant for the past 18 years. Prior to that he spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy where part of his duties were to handle the weather forecasting. A short answer to the question the question posed by the program title is he believes that this year will produce more rain than average and he gave a number of reasons for this conclusion. First of all we have just ended the driest weather year since records began in 1870. It is rare that three very dry years are followed by another very dry year. The Arctic has been warming up for the past three years causing the jet stream to stay in one place. This caused the jet stream to stay far to the north and not allow storms to dip down to California. This past year has been the warmest in California’s history and since warm air tends to hold more moisture, an atmospheric River can occur such as the one that happened in 1861 when it rained so hard that the whole Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley flooded and Sacramento had to be moved to San Francisco. Over hundred inches of rain fell in this region that year. The sea temperatures play a large part in rainfall. For example, the average sea water temperature was 66.22°F in 1997, an El Niño year, when this area received over 40 inches of rain. Now the average sea water temperature is 67.36°F. On average an El Niño year will produce 112% above average rainfall. Such a condition is expected in the next one to two months he also reported that the current readings of the Pacific decadal oscillation also indicate we are in for an El Niño year. He ended by answering a question that global warming is indeed upon us in his professional opinion.
By Dick Dannells
Pres. Michael Boyer began the meeting at 12:45 PM by auctioning off the fine-free badge to Martha Murphy for $60.
FINES:
Pres. Michael congratulated Jay Bond for doing such a fine job in the community giving campaign, but fined him $30, his first fine of the year. Club anniversaries were celebrated with a $10 fine on Harlan Silva and $30 fines on each of Linda Osty and Sharon Ellis who joined the club on the same day. Jack Hardy fined Pres. Michael $40 for not starting out the meeting with introduction of guests. Steve Curry was fined a spin-the-wheel fine of $20 for his less than stellar introduction. Michael Frederick’s new truck cost him a $70 fine.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Pres. Michael announced that as a result of many complaints on the lighting in our meeting room, it is been agreed with both the Arroyo Grande Rotary club and the restaurant management for a three-way split to cover the cost of a new LED or a little over $600 apiece. Anya Stanley was called to the podium to exchange her red name badge for a permanent blue badge for a fee of $50. Greg Baker announced that his 13th grandchild arrived and he donated $30, and then Don Weber donated $50, John Traversaro gave $40, Doug McMillan also gave $40, and Mike Frederick gave $20. Paul Holden took the podium and presented a fine introduction to those that were receiving Paul Harris Fellow awards that included one to the late son of John and Martha Murphy and one to Cindy Doll, a friend of Linda Osty. Cheryl Vines reported that next Wednesday, November 19 we will have our monthly social at the Sea Venture restaurant.
John Lindsay - “What Will This Rain Season Bring?”
Lee Ann Liscombe introduced John, who is the current public relations officer and meteorologist for PG&E at Diablo Canyon power plant for the past 18 years. Prior to that he spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy where part of his duties were to handle the weather forecasting. A short answer to the question the question posed by the program title is he believes that this year will produce more rain than average and he gave a number of reasons for this conclusion. First of all we have just ended the driest weather year since records began in 1870. It is rare that three very dry years are followed by another very dry year. The Arctic has been warming up for the past three years causing the jet stream to stay in one place. This caused the jet stream to stay far to the north and not allow storms to dip down to California. This past year has been the warmest in California’s history and since warm air tends to hold more moisture, an atmospheric River can occur such as the one that happened in 1861 when it rained so hard that the whole Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley flooded and Sacramento had to be moved to San Francisco. Over hundred inches of rain fell in this region that year. The sea temperatures play a large part in rainfall. For example, the average sea water temperature was 66.22°F in 1997, an El Niño year, when this area received over 40 inches of rain. Now the average sea water temperature is 67.36°F. On average an El Niño year will produce 112% above average rainfall. Such a condition is expected in the next one to two months he also reported that the current readings of the Pacific decadal oscillation also indicate we are in for an El Niño year. He ended by answering a question that global warming is indeed upon us in his professional opinion.