Utah's Funny Climate

If it rains in December and snows several inches on May 24th, where are you? If it frosts on Father's Day weekend and hits 90 degrees on October 1st, where are you? The answer could be hell, but it is just Utah. More still, there is no way to dress on a clear day under high pressure (which is the dominant feature). "Here kids! Come and get your coats on, it's cold...(6 hours later)...Where is your coat?" "Oh, I forgot it at school. It was so warm that I took it off during recess."

I have a very elementary understanding of the reasons for Utah's climate. Factors such as elevation, continentality, cyclolysis (or frontolysis), low dew points, and large areas of internal drainage shape the climate. The result is the second driest state in the United States.  There is very little dynamic about Utah's climate. The storms come few and far between and are usually dying when they reach us (cyclolysis). The weather of Utah reflects the stability of the climate. A perfect example is the so-called "Blizzard" in northern Utah in November just before Thanksgiving. There were locations that experienced "blizzard-like" conditions for an hour or two. Some locations even saw a few inches. However, a blizzard it was not. The warnings were laughable. Strangely, a couple weeks later many locations stretching from Bountiful to Cove Fort saw a foot to twenty inches. This is not indicative of dynamism. On the contrary, Utah is completely predictable almost all the time. On that rare occasion when a storm survives to reach the Beehive state, it is just a crap shoot. There are favored areas for snowfall (e.g. Bountiful Bench, Olympus Cove, Tooele, U of U campus, the cottonwood canyons, Ben Lomand, etc.). There are also rain shadow holes like Lehi or Vernal that usually get little precipitation comparatively. The same works in the macro scale. The Great Basin is a hole between the mighty Sierra and the lofty Rockies. By hole is merely meant that it is relatively low not actually low in elevation. When cold air flows over warm, wet land or water, storms flourish. That is why the East Coast from the Outer Banks to Nova Scotia experiences amazing storms. When cool wet air flows over colder dry air, storms die quickly. That is the story with the Great Basin. The storms that do come are only slightly less likely to dump snow on Utah in May as they are in December. During stable times, watch out. Spring, Summer, and Fall can bring 50 degree 24-hour temperature swings. Winter can bring days, weeks, or even months of inversion fog.

The original proposal for statehood (called Deseret) included parts of the southern coast of California. When that was rejected in Washington, any hope of variety was squelched. At least we still have St. George.

As A Man Thinketh

Everywhere you look, you see the grand blame game flourishing. In the political realm, every problem is blamed on the other party or other point of view. Homosexuals blame the misery they suffer on the religious for holding fast to their principles rather than their own diseased minds. One hears: "If only that Scoutmaster had been more understanding, my son might have..." "My daughter's coach was too hard on her, she quit sports because of him." "I would've graduated if it hadn't been for that stupid Professor." The list could go on forever. The only victim of the blame game either for society or for the individual is self.

In 1903, writer James Allen published a masterpiece As A Man Thinketh in England. In it, he lays out the intellectual and spiritual law of the harvest. This should be required reading for every citizen of a free society. I just poured over it for the first time since I was in high school. Here are some gems: "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." "cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things" "Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny." 

Here is a link to the free ebook. 

Senator Robert Bennett

Most voters pay little attention to the political process except during campaign season. They react, every 2 to 4 years, to the key phrases and slogans of their favorite spin doctors and walk into the voting booth armed with full rights and a grossly incomplete canvas. "I voted," says the sticker. My how easy this representative democracy is! Go about your life, listen to a spin or two from your favorite spider, join the prevailing crusade, win.

The United States of America must be in God's hands because we often get so much better than we deserve in Washington. I know that goes against the prevailing thought that every problem from pollution to terrorism could be solved if we simply got rid of all incumbents in Washington. So be it! I care nothing for the phantom that now controls the Republican Party in Utah and so many other states.

Senator Bennett has done more for Utah and the nation than most Utah voters now realize. His record of accomplishments includes such notable items as health flexible spending plans resulting from his sponsorship of a bill amending the rigid 1986 Internal Revenue Code. Any of you workers supporting families ever heard of that? He championed the idea of contractor accountability for our armed forces. The military outsources much of its work to contractors. These contractors had virtually no accountability for their actions. In a few cases, active duty military personnel were injured or killed by negligent actions of contractors. It was Utah's Senator Bennett who co-sponsored the Act that makes contractors responsible for their actions. In 2009, Senator Bennett fought hard for small businesses to be considered for contract work with government agencies (e.g. federal highways, etc.). As is, the process is so over-regulated that small businesses don't have a chance in the bidding. Specifically contracts are often given to large and even foreign businesses for no other reason than they employed a certain percentage of minorities. These were based on national standards rather than Utah demographics. Thus, Utah based companies bidding for contracts have no chance. Sadly, Senator Bennett lost this battle in a Democratic Party controlled Senate. However, he managed to gain some support from the other side. Oh, how much he could have done with his influence in the slightly more balanced Senate.

There are still Utahns who think that Bennett voted for Obama's stimulus package. Of course, these were lies perpetrated by his opponents elsewhere in the party. He did, however, introduce legislation (Main Street Revitalization Act of 2010) that would have cut taxes and reduced regulations on businesses. No true Republican can deny that this would have jump started the dying economy much faster and without the long-term ill affects of Obama's horrifying stimulus. This legislation needs the support of only a few Democrats to pass the Senate now. Good luck Lee, here's looking at you!

Utah is losing one of the great legislators. That is what we are supposed to elect, legislators, not "no voters". Many don't realize that Senator Bennett's father was also a senator from Utah. One of Senator Wallace Bennett's aides, Neal A. Maxwell, praised him for his unselfish service as a senator never worrying about praise or the press. (A More Excellent Way, 136) The same can be said of Robert Bennett. He has never been much of a media hound. He simply went about quietly doing his job with integrity--perhaps too quietly. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post (with whom I disagree on nearly everything else) said back in April, "Bennett is not in trouble because he is a liberal. He's in trouble because he's a legislator." Utah voters won't have to wait long to miss Bennett.