Al Gore seems to have all the global warming locked up up tight this time around. So, if you are the type that likes the sort of summer you would get in Maine, what follows will be good news for you. For the rest of us, don't put your jackets away this year, the Canadian deep-freeze seems to be indicating that it wants to stick around.
    Looking for those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer? You had better look someplace else, because I don't think you are going to find it here in 2009. After a cold, slow-starting, sputtering spring, we seem to be turning the bend into a much colder than normal summer; those sweltering days that drive you to the beach will, I think be few (to non-existent) and far between this year. Look for plenty of cool days and downright cold nights (and) an early killer frost to cap things off. In other words, cram as much outdoor activity into June, July and at least the first part of August for the nicest weather, and I seriously doubt that there will be much to write home about even in that time-frame.
    Many (but by no means all) weather patterns of this type seem to have periods either a month or so longer or shorter than the seven (or so) warm/ five (or a bit less) cold months seasonal flip-flop. This phenomena could cause a couple of interesting scenarios for autumn. For example, if the flip is a bit shorter, we could see above-normal temperatures starting in late summer and continuing into autumn, in which case the early killer frost won't happen. Yet, if it is longer, we won't see our (relative) warm-up until mid or late autumn. My bet is on the longer period.
    I sure hope this forcast is wrong.
    Perhaps a note about "the year that summer never came" would be in order. It was 1816, and an eruption of Mt. Tambora the previous year scattered sulphurous ash high into the atmosphere, reflecting much sunlight back into space. Crops failed, and hundreds of thousands died, due to the spread of disease (tightly packed, close quarters and starvation). Folks fought each other over the privilege of eating roots and rats. In New England, temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees  (I would presume Centigrade) colder: there was snow well into the summer and extensive crop devastation. And you thought global warming is scarey.