The latest political catchphrase floating about is “dirty weather,” as in Mr. Al Gore’s claim that “Dirty energy makes dirty weather.” Any big meteorological event deemed out of the ordinary is tagged with this moniker to designate the event as a product of man-made climate change. Of course Hurricane Sandy got the label, even though the storm’s dynamics and timing were not as extremely unusual and unexpected as folks were led to believe.

Perceptive forecasters like Joseph D’Aleo and Joe Bastardi of Weatherbell Analytics had warned that the United States was overdue for hurricane effects in the Northeast based on their analysis of natural (not man-made) climate conditions related to ocean circulation changes in the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.