Grand Rapids, Michigan, has just logged its third warmest winter ever in terms of heating degree days in 2015-16

June 2016 is over and the data are in.

From 1892 Grand Rapids, Michigan, has just experienced its third warmest winter ever in terms of heating degree days for the winter measuring season ending in June. When we have fewer heating degree days here up north that means lower demand for heat during the typical eight month long period when heating is needed. 

Mean heating degree days for the season from the beginning of the record to date now average 6713, but in 2015-16 Grand Rapids logged just 5617, a whopping 1096 below the long term mean, about 16.3% fewer heating degree days than normal. In my case that translated into a natural gas consumption reduction of about 10% compared with most winters I have experienced.

The warmest winter on record was actually quite recent and unrelated to an El Nino as now. In 2011-12 just 5253 heating degree days were logged in Grand Rapids. Second place belongs to the long ago winter of 1920-21, with 5520 heating degree days.

At the same time that we experienced these warmer conditions snowfall for the season came in only 5.6 inches lower than the long term mean of 66.7, at 61.1 inches.

Last November I predicted much less snow at 47.85 inches and many more heating degree days at 6148, both representing averages of previous observations in Grand Rapids during Very Strong El Nino periods in 1982-83 and 1997-98. But we were this season much snowier and warmer than those averages predicted. 

Turning to the year to date categories, rainfall is actually running 1.41 inches above the mean to date of 16.54 inches, at 17.95. This is despite the extremely dry conditions in June which have left our lawns brown.

The cumulative average temperature year to date is running a total of 18.6 degrees F above the long term mean for the six months to date. That's about one tenth of a degree above normal per day to date.

The current Very Strong El Nino after fourteen months is averaging 1.5 monthly on the index. June data is not yet available. The most recent previous Very Strong El Nino averaged 1.56 monthly over thirteen months, in 1997-98.

The Hill reports that Hillary Clinton was interviewed at FBI headquarters today for almost 4 hours

Here.

The Daily Caller here reported yesterday right after lunch that the meeting was going to occur today, based on inside information.

Sounds like Bill Clinton had the same information earlier, like already on Tuesday when he tracked down Loretta Lynch in Arizona for a chat.

Get back Loretta

Matt Taibbi laments the first successful revolt in ages against one of the two major parties

Here:

But choosing a dangerous race-baiting lunatic as the vehicle for the first successful revolt in ages against one of the two major parties will have many profound negative consequences for voters. The most serious will surely be this burgeoning movement to describe voting and democracy as inherently dangerous. 

Yeah, don't anger the jailers too much or you won't get any bread with your soup.

Trump: Hillary's married to the man who signed NAFTA, she's not bringing your jobs back

Why do Bush Republicans support Hillary Clinton when even the Manchester Union Leader calls her a lying liar?

Birds of a feather flock together maybe?

From the editorial today, here:

Hillary Clinton lied. ... Hillary Clinton lying is not breaking news. ... For weeks, the administration framed the [Benghazi] attack as a response to a YouTube video, lying to the American people. Hillary Clinton personally peddled that lie to the victims’ relatives. ... She’s counting on the tribalism rife in modern American politics to shield her from responsibility for her blunders and lies. The Obama administration lied about what happened in Benghazi to win the 2012 presidential election. The Clinton campaign is hoping that history repeats itself.

Bushie Brent Scowcroft also endorses Hillary Clinton: Who's next, Jeb?

Story here.

Traitors to the Republican Party: Bushie Bailout King Hank Paulson joins Bushie Dick Armitage endorsing Hillary Clinton

Story here.

Lois Lerner committed a crime, sending 1.25 million pages of taxpayer returns to Obama's Justice Department

The crime occurred in October 2010, but Obama's Justice Department, which participated in the crime, decided in 2015 not to prosecute Lerner.

It is the most corrupt regime in the history of the republic.

The whole damn lot of them should be in jail, not in office.

Details here.

Rasmussen has Trump +4 over Clinton: 43-39

Here:

The tables have turned in this week’s White House Watch. After trailing Hillary Clinton by five points for the prior two weeks, Donald Trump has now taken a four-point lead.

George Will leaves Republican Party over Trump: You know, the guy who predicted Mitt Romney to win in a landslide

Look up "tin ear for politics" and you will find George Will's picture: 321 Romney to 217 Obama, reported here November 4, 2012.

He's also a Cubs fan and an atheist, which somehow makes perfect sense: George Will believes in lost causes.

Trump is gonna eat her for Brexit

Seen here in the comments.

No surprise: National Health Interview Survey finds just 2.4% of respondents, WHO WERE MUCH SICKER ON AVERAGE, were lesbian, gay and bi

Except the story never does the math to show how small a minority is LGBT, and never once mentions rampant sexually transmitted diseases among perverts because of their promiscuity, just "distress" from "discrimination" leading to increased alcohol and tobacco abuse.

Here:

Overall, 67,150 survey respondents were heterosexual, 525 lesbian, 624 gay and 515 bisexual. The average age was about 47.

She came, she saw, she effed it up

Smartest president ever says "forebearers" when he meant "forebears"

Once again, the smartest president ever hatchets the English language, but he'll continue to be portrayed as an intellectual giant in comparison to boobs like Sarah Palin. But "corpseman" lives, along with "intercontinental railroad" and other such gems. The press office transcript spells the word correctly, but of course Obama didn't pronounce it correctly.

As far as I can tell, only The Hill here accurately quoted Obama's mistake (which is on video here at about the 10:50 mark):

"We're going to have to make a decision about whether we are a people who tolerate the hypocrisy of a system where the workers who pick our fruit or make our beds never have the chance to get right with the law, or whether we're going to give them a chance, just like our forbearers had a chance, to take responsibility and give their kids a better future," he said.

Meanwhile The Hill leaves out the "e" and without a proper [sic] demonstrates it probably doesn't know it's a mistake.

Just call us WHUPS, as in whup your ass

For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of the Brits' country

Like her husband, Hillary Clinton did not tell the truth under oath

From the story here:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Secretary Hillary Clinton failed to turn over a copy of a key message involving problems caused by her use of a private homebrew email server, the State Department confirmed Thursday. The disclosure makes it unclear what other work-related emails may have been deleted by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. ...

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said the November 2010 email cited in the inspector general audit was one of several work-related emails that his group identified that Clinton sent or received but later failed to turn over the State Department.

"Contrary to her statement under oath suggesting otherwise, Mrs. Clinton did not return all her government emails to the State Department," Fitton said. "Our goal is to find out what other emails Mrs. Clinton and the State Department are hiding."

Die Gedanken sind noch frei in England!

17.4 million for Leave, 16.1 million for Remain

Well, well, well, the UK votes to leave the EU after all