The summer solstice passed a few days ago, the longest day of the year with the most sunshine. Only a couple of weeks before July 4th, thoughts are on hitting the beach or pool, with the only worry being about whether sunscreen is going to save your life or kill you.

Nat King Cole recorded “Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer” way back in 1963. In “Those days of soda and pretzels and beer,” summers were hot, and the only thing frosty was the beer. Not so much this summer.

But not this year. Portions of Colorado are under “a winter weather advisory this weekend” as reported by the Denver Post, with “snowfall expected in the mountains.” Wait a minute, it’s officially summer, isn’t it?

This is not just a few snow flurries. “Snowfall of 2-6 inches is expected this weekend for altitudes about 9,000 feet, and slush could accumulate along mountain passes. Some road closures have been issued due to adverse weather conditions.” Such a forecast is common in January, but not in late June.

Steamboat had almost two feet of snow, as reported by CBS News. CNN chimed in, noting, “The last time the city saw snow this late was on June 17, 1928.” Almost a century ago.

In Estes Park, Colorado, “Snow forced officials to briefly close Trail Ridge Road on the first day of summer.” This was after a late opening, “Crews try to open the popular road by Memorial Day weekend, but late spring snow kept the road closed until June 5 this year.”

CBS screen grab

Rather than swimming, many in Denver will instead build a fire and stay indoors. A message I received Saturday morning from my local club, “Due to the weather the pool will be closed all day today.”

Forget the 1960s surf movie “Endless Summer” and instead create a remake called “Endless Winter.” Colorado ski mountain Arapahoe Basin is still open, and contemplating staying open for the July 4th weekend. Conditions aren’t too shabby either, “The current base is 37 inches…and 8 runs are open.”

This news is most inconvenient for the global warming crowd. It’s difficult to imagine the planet burning up or sea levels rising, flooding Manhattan when continental America is facing winter advisories as they make July 4th picnic plans.

New York Times article

The chilly weather is inconvenient not only for summer plans, but also for presidential plans for some Democrats including Bernie Sanders. In remarks a few weeks ago, Sanders eagerly bashed President Trump over climate, saying that Trump,

Ignored the real crises facing the American public and the planet—including, most notably, the global climate emergency. And if you ask, for a start, the scientific community, globally, what the major crisis facing our planet is, they will tell you without a second's hesitancy, that that crisis is climate change... and if we don't get our act together in the very short near future, there will be irreparable damage done to this planet.

I thought Medicare-for-all, a guaranteed living wage, free college, and higher taxes were the real issues of concern for Bernie, but trying to shore up his other socialist bonafides, climate change is now suddenly a priority.

Not so for the voters, however, as the Pew Research Center found. Public policy priorities for 2019 are the economy, health care costs, education, terrorism, and social security as the top five. Climate change ranks 17th on the list.

Despite the abundance of hot air emanating from the 20-plus Democrats eager for the chance to be “schlonged” by Trump in the 2020 election, US temperatures are unseasonably chilly.

It’s not just the Colorado high country, but Midwest low country, too. Chicago is also waiting for summer, “On Sunday, temperatures reached 60 degrees setting a record for the coldest high temperature in late June, according to the NWS Chicago. The last time it was this cold in June was 1992.”

Montana is no better, as AccuWeather reports, “1st weekend of summer looking a lot like the middle of winter in Colorado and Montana.” In Spokane too, “It was a cold start to the summer”, as the local news reported.

It’s also wintery across the Atlantic. The Irish Times reports, “The country is wallowing in a cold, rainy spell that shows no signs of abating.” The French ask, “When is summer (finally) going to arrive in France?”

No lazy hazy crazy days of summer in London either. As one analyst put it, “Unseasonably cold, barely any sunshine and wetter than an otter's pocket.” Apologies if any animal rights activists are triggered by the otter reference.

Is it El Nino? Or El Nina? Is it the jet stream or a polar vortex? Is it Trump supporters exhibiting toxic masculinity around the backyard barbeque grill? Or rich free market capitalists driving their gas guzzling SUVs? Theories abound, with the science settled… at least until it isn’t.

After a decade of fear mongering over global warning, it was noted that the planet wasn’t warming as predicted, necessitating a new term of climate change to cover all bases, from warming to cooling.

How else could Forbes run a headline saying, “This is why global warming is responsible for freezing temperatures across the US”? While CNN at the same time proclaims, “Future summers will 'smash' temperature records every year.”

Which is it? Are we warming or cooling? Are we smashing records for high temperatures or low temperatures? The convenience of a term like “climate change” is that it’s a catch-all, an excuse for all manner of weather and temperatures.

Although we have long passed previously predicted doomsdays with no explanation or apology from those making the erroneous predictions, we now have new predictions, from AOC, Bill Nye, and others, telling us again that we have anywhere from 10 to 40 years before the planet burns to a crisp.

Where is the real climate science? Sunspot activity and heating-cooling cycles, both long and short term. Ice ages, long or mini, and interglacial warming periods. There is also a new theory, plate climatology, which may explain climate changes based on geology. This is real science, making observations, forming a hypothesis, then testing it against future measurements, modifying the hypothesis as necessary.

Instead we have handwringing, blaming every weather aberration on pseudo-science, with the media and socialist politicians singing in harmony, predicting the end of days unless the government confiscates much of Americans’ wealth to be redistributed as the self-proclaimed smart set sees fit.

God has a sense of humor though. It always seems to snow or be freezing cold whenever Al Gore makes a speech on global warming. And now we have a wintery summer just as the Democrat presidential wannabes screech about global warming.

The next time you hear Crazy Bernie, Sleepy Joe, or Pocahontas whine about global warming, check the thermometer to see whether the lazy hazy crazy days of summer are here or if it’s still a winter wonderland.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.