I suppose we won't see waves until April...

 Yup, another trip around the Sun with the usual tilt... and the usual result.

The last spots to freeze are the zones nearest the springs that feed this lake...

 

Looks like that darn axis tilty-orbity thing this planet does... did it again! - DARN! 

For October, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 54.4°F,  a whopping 0.3°F above the 20^th century average. This ranked in the middle third of the 126-year record.

That is of course if you consider heat islands created by progressively growing cities over those 126 years, the accuracy and location of 126 year old thermometers and what the accuracy was of the bespectacled readers of those devices.   Meh, looks like winter.

 

 

Well, Merry Christmas everybody!!!

 

As for what lies ahead... some advice from the past. 

"History is full of good competent men (and women) who in a moment of weakness (or confusion) did not follow their instincts, who did not take the hard road, who did not challenge their bosses when they saw a horrible decision handed down from above." 

...

"Put another way: Before you relinquish your common sense to a group of people in control, you'd better jolly well understand that people can behave far more badly in a group than they can alone." - George Tulloch

and this gem...

"Perhaps the most important question facing our civilization over the next 40 years is not how inadequate leaders become inadequate leaders, but what characteristics of human nature causes us to so consistently choose the most inadequate among us and elevate them to positions where they can inflict the greatest harm."  - Charles Pellegrino

Finally...

"And when havoc strikes, it is the ones who are officially in charge who often freeze or come unhinged... that's when the true leaders, who might not be near the top simply because they have the good sense to avoid competitive, back-stabbing people, rise to the occasion and assume the role of hard, risky leadership that no one else, in time of crises, really wants." - Stanley Resor

I'm bringing back the prognostication post this year!  The spotted one thinks 2021 will be a little more unusual than 2020 was.

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