Temperatures not close to 1911 extremes

A vocal, self-proclaimed authority of world climate says Arctic Ocean ice is about to disappear. The latest “Ice Road Truckers” programs (History Channel) show heavy trucks traveling over Arctic Ocean ice to an island 25 miles off shore.

The National Weather Service has had a location at Cedar Rapids for about 125 years. If you check the records, most of the hot growing seasons occurred before 1940 - 1901, 1931, 1934 and 1936, to name a few. On July 1, 2, 4 and 5, 1911, the temperature reached 105, 105, 106 and 110, respectively. For the past 70-plus years, no four-day period has come close to temperatures recorded in 1911.

The 2009 northeast Iowa corn crop is very wet. The wet October certainly has contributed to that but this fact remains. The crop went into October low in test weight and high in moisture because of lack of heat during the growing season.

Charles Jacobsen

West Union