From: Mollie McAuliffe (MollieM@pandaenergy.com)
Date: Wed May 08 2002 - 08:04:17 CDT
way to go, John. well said, very informative (as your posts are), and
nice to see someone so discourteous and disrespectful put in his place.
any of us who read/listen, respond, or just delete learn from many of
your fellow posters. you handled this as a gentleman should. it's a
pleasure to know you via this medium.
Mollie McAuliffe
ASM, Troop 838
Dallas TX
I useta be a fox....
>>> Johnlebl@aol.com 05/07/02 04:18PM >>>
In a message dated 05/07/2002 8:37:57 AM Central Daylight Time,
tootie@stic.net writes:
> Mr. LeBlanc:
>
> Try to stick to subjects you are more familiar with. While there may
be a
> drought in the Cimarron area, the weather there cannot, under any
> circumstance be compared to El Paso, Texas. There's nothing
comparable in a
> desert environment and a mountainous environment. The "just a few
miles
> south" doesn't wash either - the distance is about 350 miles as the
crow
> flies.
>
> The fact that you have a noticeable presence on the Philmont list
doesn't
> make you an expert on every subject - please refrain from trying to
be.
> Most other list recipients don't want to be upbraided or talked down
to.
> Each of us, as Scouts/Scouters, want to do our best to act as
guardians of
> Philmont and Scouting but no one wants to be chastised.
> Please take a more even-minded approach and let us deal with moral
and
> behavioral questions in peace.
>
> Gerald W. Lee
> Schertz, TX
>
Dear Gerald,
Well now, what a reply. I normally ignore people who write like you
did, but
since you choose to post it to the list and since you choose to also
post
some very erroneous information to the list, I will attempt to correct
the
misinformation you posted.
If you have further comment, then please address it to me off list.
First off, I will ignore your accusation that I stick to topics I am
more
familiar with simply because I am doing that already.
Weather is something I am very familiar with (not from watching TV, I
may
add) and just to enlighten you a bit, the weather in Cimarron and the
weather
in El Paso have a lot more in common than you know, obviously.
In fact, the issue is not weather, but weather patterns.
In case you haven't discovered it yet, both these locations are as I
posted
and you verified, pretty close approximation to each other. 350 miles
IS
just a few miles interms of geography. They are in fact both in what
is
commonly called the Southwest. The weather patterns in this area is
controlled by exactly the same factors.
Surely you know that the Sangre de Christo Mountains are one of the sub
ranges of what is commonly called the Rocky Mountains. The Franklin
Mountains are also, by the way, part of that same mountain range.
They run
north from El Paso, the southern tip of them being the namesake, the
pass
where the Rio Grande flows around or through, depending on which theory
you
subscribe to.
Now surely you recognize that the Rio Grande begins it's journey in the
mountains of Colorado and that weather in those mountains has an effect
on
the deserts to the South?
The mountain ranges to the west of both Cimarron and El Paso provide
the same
barrier and the same uplifting in the El Paso region as the Sangre de
Christo
does to Cimarron. The fact is they are both on the same side of those
two
locations, the West. That is a key point, remember that.
The fact that these mountains are on the West side of the respective
locations means that they in fact DO have a similar effect on the
weather
patterns of the respective areas in that both areas get most of their
precipitation from Monsoonal flows from the Southwest, namely from the
Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. Fancy that, Philmont weather governed
by
events out at sea in the Pacific?
It is this monsoonal flow that has been interrupted for the last
several
YEARS which has thrust the entire southwest in the short term drought.
Entire southwest including El Paso AND Cimarron. I say short term
because
even though it has been going on about three years now, that is short
term in
terms of drought. We all hope it remains short term and this cycle
comes to
an end soon and returns to the normal pattern or what we consider
normal.
The comment you made, "There's nothing comparable in a desert
environment and
a mountainous environment" is absolutely ridiculous and it shows a lack
of
understanding of geography and meteorology. Further education along
these
lines would be helpful to your understanding.
The fact is that the desert environment you speak of is a direct result
of
weather changes brought on by air flows around and across mountainous
environments. To say "nothing comparable" is grossly incorrect. Every
desert known to man on the surface of the earth is the result of
weather
patterns interrupted by mountains. Where you got your information is
unknown, but highly erroneous and suspect.
Just in case you haven't heard, the real problem with a short term
drought is
not so much water use which is what my post was all about since the use
of
water at Philmont has been the thread for about three weeks or more
now, but
fire.
Fire as in fire danger, fire as fire bans, fire as in animal
displacement and
increased bear problems, and on and on and on.
Also in case you haven't heard the news, the latest fire near Philmont
is on
the mountains near Evergreen, Colorado which is in the same
southwestern
geographical area as Philmont and El Paso. It is related to both
also.
This world is a bit bigger than some of us can grasp and the events
happening
in one location have an effect on other locations much more than we
ever
suspected they did fifty years ago. I find it rather unusual for a
person
today who can call up and look at this information first hand via the
Internet to make a statement such as yours.
In conclusion, I refrain from even commenting on the "moral and
behavioral
questions in peace". I'll leave that up to your imagination.
'Thank you for your response, but weather patterns are weather patterns
and
the fact that two locations are as you measured it "350 miles" and as I
commented "a few miles to the South" of each other does not mean they
are not
connected. In fact, they are connected. Not only are weather patterns
regional covering thousands of miles, but worldwide. In that context
450
miles is "a few miles to the south". We get the misnomer "local
weather"
from the TV and some start to think of weather as "local". The effect
of
weather is local, but weather itself is worldwide. The rain you get
"locally" today was probably evaporated from an ocean thousands of
miles away
many months ago.
As much as we try to make it so, life and this planet earth we live on
are
more complicated than some can comprehend.
Before anyone feels the need to referee this post, let me state that
the only
reason I choose to post a reply to the list is was to correct some
grossly
misinformed statements made by Mr. Lee and not to chastise him. If he
chooses to reply to this on list I will refuse to reply again. He can
send
it to me directly and I will carry on a discussion of geography and
weather
patterns ad infinitum so long as he should find a need to.
I recognize the need for this list to remain on topic, Philmont.
Sincerely,
John LeBlanc
-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Thu Mar 13 2003 - 10:38:26 CST