Last week, there was an ice storm Sunday night, a thunderstorm Monday night, and a snowstorm on Tuesday night. And the temperatures on the days that followed fluctuated just as much with a high of 46 degrees Monday, 59 degrees Tuesday, and 35 degrees Wednesday.

Weird? Yes. Direct results of climate change? No.

If living in Iowa for most of my life has taught me anything, it is to be prepared for terrible weather. I hear people complain all the time about the weather in this state — pointing to it as the result of global warming and climate change.

The fact is, these thoughts are ridiculous, and misleading leftist propaganda looking for something to link to climate change.

National Weather Service meteorologist Mike McClure said that weird weather such as this is not an example of climate change. 

“It’s really difficult to assess or say that climate change is responsible for these more frequent intense storms,” McClure said. “There’s just not enough evidence.”

Though I can say that I agree with most that this weather is not ideal, I cannot say that this overly surprises me. Now I am not saying that I absolutely love this weather, but I realize that these fluctuations can happen.

And according to state climatologist Harry Hillaker, they really are not uncommon.

“It’s not all that unusual to see this,” he said. “Certainly you wouldn’t expect a steady diet of this sort of thing. But every once in a while, you will get storms like these.”

Hillaker said this January had a statewide average of 21.8 degrees, which is 2.4 degrees above the normal temperature for the month and only 4.2 degrees cooler than last year.

The truth is  actual climate change is measured over extended periods of time, not by day-to-day weather. And as Hillaker pointed out, there is no indication of climate change based on the recent weather.

“We’ve got records of these as far back as we have records,” he said. “It’s not something unprecedented.”

So, if you hear people complain that climate change is causing all the weird weather, just shrug at them and welcome them to Iowa living.