Home Opener 2013 recalls 1977 weather

Yesterday (April 2, 2013), was Opening Day for the Toronto Blue Jays. Lots of hype, it seems the Jays are going to make a run of it this year in the AL East and I wish them luck.

I remember the first home opener, April 7, 1977 - a generation and a half ago. In true Canadian fashion it snowed, the picture here shows a whitening of the field before the game at Exhibition Stadium 36 years ago. The snowed was "squeeged away" during the opening ceremonies.

I mention this because it snowed yesterday too, it was cold and windy, not unusual for early April. Around here that snow is called an off-lake (Lake Huron - likely) snow squall. It whitened the ground, but the strong April sun melted it in just hours - no squeegees required. It didn't make any difference in last nights ball game - the Blue Jays now have the option of playing their games under a roof in a climate controlled stadium, and the roof was closed.

My point is the weather hasn't changed much in 36 years, April is still April, and sometimes it snows.

An article in Forbes Magazine this week, made me think about the weather outside my window. The author of the Forbes article and I are roughly the same vintage. I'm not sure if he is a baseball fan, but we seem to share many memories and a point of view.

He wonders where global warming is because its was the late '70's when the doomsayers (he calls them "warmmongers") first broke into the news headlines trying to save the planet. Here is a quote from his article:

"Climate panic, after all, is fear of dramatic, life-altering climate changes, not about tenths of a degree. We are told that we must “take action right now before it’s Too Late!” That doesn’t mean: before it’s too late to avoid a Spring that comes a week earlier or summer heat records of 103 degrees instead of 102. It was to fend off utter disaster that we needed the Kyoto Treaty, carbon taxes, and Priuses."

Yes, I know weather isn't climate, but I also know that since the climate panic was ignited the political and economic repercussions have had much, much greater impact on humanity (on each of us in Ontario) than either climate change or weather. It's a good article, he asks the right questions.

Oh, the Blue Jays lost last night 4 to 1 to the Indians of Cleveland - where it also snowed. Only 161 games left to try and make the playoffs. Go Jays!