2017 What's the weather like where you are?

[imafan26]

Its 67 degrees right now. I was up at 2:30 last night to the sound and sight of multiple lightening flashes and thunderbursts. My cat was running around trying to find a place to hide. It poured for about an hour and the road was flooded for a little bit. Good thing I live uphill so the water keeps going downhill.

We had our first sale of the year and my phone went off when it started pouring again and flashed the flood warning. It was a little late as the road was already disappearing under the rain water and the sump pump was also inundated. We did have a crowd of diehard people who came out anyway to brave the weather. I didn't sell much but I still ran out of the usuals. Cucumber and cilantro and I did manage to sell almost a tray to kale. We decided to leave everything until Monday to put it back since the rain wasn't letting up much.

On the drive home I had to fight my way through the puddles on the freeway.

It has been raining off and on and the sky is totally socked in, but it looks like most of the heavy rain has passed. Funny thing though, I was cold because I was wet, but during the storm there wasn't much wind and the rain was relatively warm. The wind is only starting to pick up again now.

It was still a good day. Since the crowd was small, I had time to walk around and I talked to the bonsai guys and found out I can get akadama and wire from him cheaper than amazon and he told me where I could get some turface locally. Now I just have to find the rest of my bonsai stuff. It is packed somewhere on the lanai.

I talked to someone else who is giving an organic pest control class next month and we talked about what is available for pest control and where some things could be found. He was looking for tanglefoot. I saw it at Ace and at Koolau Farmer's a while ago, but not recently. I know who doesn't have it so it eliminated some other vendors. I also got a lead on where to get some large pots. I just don't want to buy a sleeve so I may have to think about that one. I picked up some pepper seeds. Not bad for a rainy day.

[pow wow]

If you keep posting these beautiful Alberta pics, I may be forced to make another trip up that way this summer!

So, the Canada geese don't fly south for the winter, or are they south of where they would be in summer? Maybe they came down from the Northwest Territories?

I think most do fly further south but there are a few spots where the water doesn't freeze over around here. I just learned of a spot nearby where the Robins overwinter instead of heading south. I plant to walk over soon and have a look. It happens to be a little stream through the cemetery where my parents are buried.

[gumbo2176]

It's been in the upper 60's to lower 70's for a while now during the day and lows of upper 40's to 60's at night. With Mardi Gras just starting, this is great weather for all the parade goers and a treat for the out of town visitors coming in from more northern areas of the States. They are predicting rain for mid week, but that can change in a heartbeat being so close to the Gulf of Mexico and shifting weather patterns.

Mardi Gras Day, or Fat Tuesday, is on Feb. 28th this year and will once again signal the end of the Mardi Gras season with the following day being Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, where many folks give up something they really like until Easter Sunday. We have an old saying here------"Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder." So whatever you give up should be something you really enjoy.

[imafan26]

I remember that the reason given for all the partying on Fat Tuesday was that people needed an excuse to use up all the lard, fat, and other stuff they were giving up for 6 weeks. Someone at work used to live there and she would make a King cake for us.

[gumbo2176]

I remember that the reason given for all the partying on Fat Tuesday was that people needed an excuse to use up all the lard, fat, and other stuff they were giving up for 6 weeks. Someone at work used to live there and she would make a King cake for us.

Bakeries here make a small fortune selling King Cakes leading up to Mardi Gras. Truth is, you can order them yearlong, but they soar in popularity during the Mardi Gras season, and a well made one is a real treat. Bakeries that are know for their King Cakes are usually so busy that long lines form before they open and they stay that way all day long.

If you ask any New Orleanian who makes the best one, you will get a half dozen or more answers to that question depending on the style of cake they like. My personal favorite is one from one of the several Randazzo's Bakery outlets, but Haydell's and Lawrence's also make a good one.

They have been making them with different "fillings" for many years now, but my favorite is the traditional one that is unfilled.

[Hbrocato]

Brrrr....you are all making me so cold even thinking about some of those temps. Here in Louisiana we've been having an unusually warm winter. It's been in the upper 70's to mid 80's for awhile now. To today is only expected to be a high of 68 though
The azaleas have been blooming like mad which makes me sad since Easter is still far away and I won't get those Easter pics in front of them with the kids. The tulip trees are almost all done blooming around town and in my neighborhood. (I think they're actually called oriental magnolias)
My knock out roses are blooming and my other rose bushes all have buds. The hydrangeas are starting to get more and more leafy.
It's all so bizzare to see this in February!

[gumbo2176]

Brrrr....you are all making me so cold even thinking about some of those temps. Here in Louisiana we've been having an unusually warm winter. It's been in the upper 70's to mid 80's for awhile now. To today is only expected to be a high of 68 though
The azaleas have been blooming like mad which makes me sad since Easter is still far away and I won't get those Easter pics in front of them with the kids. The tulip trees are almost all done blooming around town and in my neighborhood. (I think they're actually called oriental magnolias)
My knock out roses are blooming and my other rose bushes all have buds. The hydrangeas are starting to get more and more leafy.
It's all so bizzare to see this in February!

My biggest issue with this type warm winter season is the proliferation of garden pests when it really gets warmed up. I've noticed a big increase in garden pests when we have these type weather conditions with very little cold weather this time of year.

[Hbrocato]

I really haven't seen the garden pests yet but the mosquitoes are eating me alive!

[imafan26]

It is 74 degrees and very windy. My pots are rolling around in the yard and my kaffir lime keeps getting blown down.

[rainbowgardener]

It was 75 degrees today and sunny. Normal for the date would be 56 degrees. We had terrible drought most of last year and we got so far behind in rainfall that we never really caught up. Since Nov. we've been getting some rain fairly regularly, but never a lot. So we still count as being in extreme drought and have pretty much the whole time since last May:

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/



See that little red band across north georgia? That is me and that red dot has just been sitting over me for months and months.

Also all the flowering trees are blooming. Spring leaf out is nearly a month early! Below is a spring leaf anomaly map, showing how far ahead of normal the whole south east is at leafing out.


https://www.usanpn.org/data/spring

Much of the country is in a heat wave. We don't take it so seriously in Feb, because 75 degrees feels pretty nice. But that is 21 degrees above normal for me. If it were July and 22 degrees above normal we would be at 111 degrees!

February is likely to be another one in a long string of hottest months on record.

[imafan26]

It is 66 degrees now, but it feels colder. It is mostly clear and the winds are only about 5 mph. The palms are barely moving. It has been raining in spurts sometimes heavy and unexpected, but is still below average for the year. THe prediction is for another warmer than usual summer and possibly el Nino conditions. Which would mean a wetter summer and a drier winter.

My rainbarrels are overflowing. I need to empty them.

[applestar]

What is this ridiculous day!? How can it possibly be 74°F

[rainbowgardener]

There is an answer to that ....

Note the sudden jump between 2014 and the last two years. Anyone who knows how to extrapolate can hypothesize that 2017 will also be a VERY HOT year! ..

The southern hemisphere is already experiencing it: They had the hottest January ever with successive heat waves and now

Sydney Airport recorded its hottest February day with 42.9C (= 109 deg F) at 2:24pm, exceeding the previous high of 42.6C set in 1980. Observatory Hill in Sydney set a new record for the number of consecutive days above 35C (=95 deg F); several parts of Sydney exceeded 40C, while Penrith recorded 44.5C (=112 deg F) With all this they have had drought and huge wildfires. Note that Australia also had severe (out of the normal range) heat waves in 2015 and 2016, but not as bad as right now.

If this is February, I hate to think about August!

[john gault]

I love the heat, bring it on

[Gary350]

Tornado warning, rain and 100 mph wind this morning about 8am then sunny and 70 degrees after lunch. Tonight sky is clear stars show is amazing. The little stream behind the house has 20 feet of water from the storm it looks like the Colorado river.

[imafan26]

Yesterday was nice and sunny. Today it has been raining most of the day with gusty winds. It is 68 degrees right now and it is still windy. I had to close some windows and the door.

[imafan26]

Its a new day. It is 68 degrees and cloudy with some scattered showers. Look out west coast. It looks like the storm is heading your way.

[digitS']

I think the storm broke up fairly well. Most of the precipitation fell on the 4th but not a lot then and 40°f temperatures melted the snow.

It's snowing again hard right now!

I was just thinking that yesterday, I'd reached the milestone where I didn't have to walk in the same 2' path thru the backyard every single time! The melting snow against the south wall and under the deciduous trees had opened up a wider passage for me to tread ... (of course, I could have shoveled an 8' wide path instead of a 2' path beginning in November.)

It's 4:30pm, 34°f, and dark, despite the falling white stuff. Okaaay, I really don't think I'll be shoveling a 2' wide path again from this storm. It looks like if the maximum forecast falls over the next 36 hours, it will be like 1½" but ... still!

Steve

[sweetiepie]

Our driveway.

My garden fence posts are about 6 ft tall.

We had a two day blizzard and took all of yesterday to get out. The snow on my garden is the most I have every seen and lows of -18 again tonight. I really have spring fever, was so hoping for nicer weather. At least with the winds of 60mph we kept power especially with the rain we had first.

[applestar]

[Taiji]

Had the 2nd warmest February on record. For the next week at least temps are forecast to be mid to upper 70's. So, today I planted 20 some seed potatoes, (red norland) and set out 2 cabbage and one broccoli. I do expect that it will frost again though.

[rainbowgardener]

In Feb, 15 days of the month were 10 to 20+ degrees above average, some at record or near record highs. But here in March we are having some of the winteriest days of the year. Parts of Chattanooga are getting a little snow today, though not where I am in No. GA. Today we are having a high of 43 degrees, which is actually 18 degrees below average for the date. It is the kind of day that was typical in Cincinnati late winter- early spring: chilly, very damp, gray skies, cold that bites in and feels worse than the numbers sound. Intellicast says 43 right now, feels like 37.

We've had a couple of freezes lately. It's predicted to go down to 32 tonight. According to forecast we may actually get some snow accumulation tonight, so everyone is in panic mode, buying out the stores. After that we are predicted for 27, 24 !, 33 on the 14th, 15th, and 16th. 24 degrees is about as cold as it EVER gets around here.

We hardly had anything that felt like winter all winter, but we are getting a little bit of it here in March while it is almost spring. But after the 16th we have a big warm up and that's about at our average last frost date, so I am predicting we will be done with our brief, late winter.

[digitS']

Ummm

There is a little contrast between those "snowy" pictures ...

First afternoon here with temperatures above 50°f since 26 November. There is some flooding but I think that we are mostly okay.

About 2/3rds of my yard is bare of snow. There is a new storm a-coming but it looks like rain. Travel over the mountain passes looks okay but it's been difficult for the transportation departments to keep them open and several recent closures.

Steve

[OliverWonderland]

What's the weather like? We still have a heavy rainy day here with lightning strikes and wind blows. Can't go somewhere! Such a bad a day. Hmmp!

Hopefully, tomorrow will fine.

[applestar]

It's 21°F here right now and will get colder. Today's forecasted high will be 27°F late in the afternoon.

We didn't get the predicted snow accumulation yesterday, being in the transition zone just around freezing point. Freezing rain/mix then snow -- my street looked slick and frozen solid around lunch time, though it had warmed enough by late afternoon for them to plow up all the slush to the side of the street.

My mom said her earliest ornamental cherries had flower buds that were turning pink -- probably got covered by the slushy frozen rain that turned to snow yesterday -- she had power outages in the area -- then this overnight hard freeze.....

[!potatoes!]

peaches and plums were maybe a bit past full bloom - 17F this morning. hoping the 1-year-from-grafting pears we put in the orchard (which were starting to break bud) make it through. back to 'normallish' weather by the end of the week.

[rainbowgardener]

No snow, but we are having a cold snap. 24 last night and tonight, then we start warming up again. But 24 is very cold for here.

Chickens seem to be surviving it fine. The coop is unheated. We close them up in the nest box at night with lots of straw. I guess six chickens make enough body heat to get them through. They stay all cuddled up in a pile. By sunup they are eager to come out and eat and drink, even though it is still chilly.

[ACW]

London today was lovely ,my apple tree raspberries and black currants are bursting into bud, the lawn was dry so its had its first cut of the year ,Garlic planted in the fall is looking good .Broad beans (Fava) are just poking through ,my purple sprouting brocoli is beginning to head up .
Yes its spring in London !

[digitS']

The first 60°f day in ... forever .

Wind gusts to 40mph. Rain this morning

With all that, I could pick up the remaining (November) snow in my yard and throw it over the fence . Okay, I won't do that.

Steve

[Taiji]

Wow. After 2 weeks of 75 to 80 degree weather, this coming Wed and Thurs it's expected to drop 25 to 30 degrees down from that with some rain/snow expected. It's been 15 to 20 degrees above normal.

[rainbowgardener]

Sigh! Low temps the next 3 nights: 40, 36, 42 !

I have tomatoes and peppers and basil planted all over the yard Until today we've been having highs in the 70's and even 80. This time of year always makes me crazy. I've been out covering things the best I could with straw and leaves, plastic bags, plant pots, buckets. Garden's looking a little odd right now, but hopefully everything will make it.

[sweetiepie]

I am sighing too! We got another 11 inches of snow yesterday morning in just 2 hours. Was not expecting that. It nicely recovered our huge snowbanks that still remain. Low of 27 last night so minimal melting. My son who only lives 3 hours south of me, had to rub it in that they haven't had snow since January and it was a balmy 50 some degrees there with forcasts into the 70's for Saturday. I think I live in a snow globe.

[rainbowgardener]

Wow ten days ago lows were down near freezing. But that was a short term cold snap after lots of warm weather and then it bounced right back. Highs now in the high 70's, low 80's, lows mostly right around 60. But here's what's most important:

US Drought Monitor for 4/11:



Less than one tenth of one percent of the country is still in extreme drought. See that one teeny red dot in No GA? That is pretty much sitting right on top of me. You might not realize it if you weren't paying attention. Everything is looking green. We have had some rains and are predicted for some more next week. But never very much. Never even normal for a month, much less catching up. We have had a string of sunny days around 80 degrees. I was out watering today. This time of year in this area, I should not have to water! But all the stuff I've been planting was wilting...

[applestar]

I guess you might need to put some serious thoughts into automating the irrigation scheme. I need to inspect and inventory my hoses, if they need replacing, I might work in some upgrades. Not having much confidence in my energy levels this season so may need to have the garden take care of itself more with less daily energy investment from me....

.
.
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It went up to 88 °F today, and tonight's low is only supposed to go down to 60, though it might get a few degrees lower. I was SO tempted to move a bunch of plants and seedlings out altogether. But Tues-Wed low forecast is only 41°F -- potentially could go down as low as 37°F with typical difference in the actual.

[rainbowgardener]

Irrigation scheme? My irrigation scheme is me, a hose, and a bucket!

[applestar]

[digitS']

July, August and September of last year had an "official".64 of an inch of precipitation, where I live. Usually there is more but 1.5 inches is about what can be expected during those 3 months. Often the rainstorms are so minor that little water actually moves into the soil but simply evaporates, instead.

With large gardens on rocky soil, there is absolutely no way that I could grow most any vegetable without irrigation. My plan is to put about 1.5 inches of water on the garden each week. Any rain is mostly just ignored in that calculation since that's 3 month's precipitation in 1 week. It's a lot of water, about 1 gallon of water per square foot.

At one time, the water was not turned on for a lengthy time in one garden. It was my smaller garden but nearly 2,500 square feet. I considered showing up with the pickup bed filled with what water I could carry in 55 gallon barrels. That would be 45 barrels in 1 week at that garden! Move that much water by truck and by hand? It would be a monumental task!

Steve

[imafan26]

Right now it is 68 degees and somewhat overcast but the sun and some blue sky are peeking through. The forecast is for 40% chance of rain. The man with the umbrella is out, and he is never wrong. Its going to rain but it might be like yesterday when it poured and stopped three times.

[gumbo2176]

Our temperatures have been fluctuating between the mid 70's to mid 80's during the day and into the 60's at night. We had some hard rains pass through here today that got me to take a break from painting my house's exterior. No sense seeing $75 a gallon paint running down the driveway. I did get into my shop to repair some screen frames and rescreen them to hang once they are painted with the final coat.

Don't need to water the garden for several days now with all the rain we had. I'm picking bush green beans like crazy and it won't be long before I have more cucumbers than I can possibly eat.

[rainbowgardener]

We got some much needed rain over night!

AND yesterday we turned off the furnace and took all the storm windows down! I love it when we can open up the house again. It feels so fresh and airy. (We have the old fashioned kind of storms that you have to take all the way out and store somewhere and then put back in, in the fall. Bit of a pain, but once installed they actually work quite well. It does mean we can't just open the house up because we get some nice days when it will be getting cold again.)