2017 What's the weather like where you are?

[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.)

[gumbo2176]

I too love opening my house to allow fresh air in to freshen things up a bit. My old house has functioning shutters on the windows and all my screens are on the inside of the house and move up and down on the window frames. To open the shutters you have to first raise the screen to the upper level of the window, unlock and open the window, unlock the shutters and open them, then pull the screen back down to the lower half of the double hung wooden windows.

I also have a nice transom window over the back door that opens inward and also one over the front door that also opens inward, along with 2 side windows on the front door assembly. With my 10 1/2 ft. ceilings, plaster walls and house situated where only the front and back get the brunt of the sun, I can use my windows for a few months a year. The only issue I have is the ballpark half a block away that has a dirt infield that the people who keep it up tend to run a grate over it a few times a week to level it off and that kicks up considerable dust when it is dry. If I leave my windows open for a couple days, the entire house needs to be dusted------and that is a PITA sometimes.

[rainbowgardener]

I will see your baseball field and raise you a horse ranch! Right behind our back fence is a riding ring for a horse ranch! Last year when we had so much drought, the horses in the riding ring stirred up clouds of dust!! All our windows have screens, but the dust particles are very fine and come right through and settle on everything.

[gumbo2176]

At least my baseball field doesn't smell of horse manure and urine, just beer and sweat. Wait, I think you have the better deal.

[applestar]

Wah! It started raining buckets!! Left my oldest tomato seedlings outside Lightning struck just around the corner -- 2 blocks away ...don't think I'm going out there....

[imafan26]

Its been raining for the past three days. It is 71 degrees and no wind. The rain is warm and it is muggy without a breeze.

The weeds are coming up all over the place.

[sweetiepie]

I just looked at my last post and it was more snow. Today more snow, I would just like to get past winter. Unfortunately we pretty much go from winter to summer and back to winter. Spring and Fall only last a week. Ugh!

[applestar]

Ha. I can't believe I'm looking at sweetiepie's snowfall photo

Yesterday's high was 86°F, today right now, it's 52°F and forecast is for 43°F Thursday pre-dawn.

[sweetiepie]

Ha. I can't believe I'm looking at sweetiepie's snowfall photo

Yesterday's high was 86°F, today right now, it's 52°F and forecast is for 43°F Thursday pre-dawn.

HaHa, We finally hit 55 on Saturday and I was at my son's track meet and we both burned horribly. Lows are at least above freezing now. I started my peppers when I usually do but for some reason they are maturing faster than years past and are trying to blossom. I still need to wait for May 22 before I can plant. Oh, well they will do fine, I am sure.

[applestar]

High of high 50's - low 60's and low of 40's-50's for the next 10 days. Looks like we're going to have extended spring temps afterall. Good for the cool weather stuff, but now I have to decide what to do with the warm weather stuff. I think I will still start planting tomatoes....

[Taiji]

30 plus degree drop in daytime temps coming from what it was Friday. Nightime temps will be close to freezing. Tomorrow night/early Monday morn. will be the worst. It's gonna be close. Gotta get out the blankets and flannel sheets. (not for me, for the tomatoes and potatoes!) I pushed the envelope again.

[imafan26]

It is hard for me to think of any place still having snow or temps in the 50's. We had a lot of rain, but it was warm rain. The temperatures were still in 66-86 degrees, It feels hotter with the humidity and especially with the Kona winds. Today it was breezy, leaves came blowing through the door, everytime it opened. More rain is forcated for Monday and Tuesday. The weeds are loving it.

[gumbo2176]

We've been getting some unseasonably cooler than normal weather the past few days, which is welcome by me. It has gotten down as low as the upper 50's to lower 60's on a few nights and the daytime temperatures are in the mid to upper 70's this week. That is almost 10 degrees off our normal temperatures this time of year. I know it is short-lived, so I will enjoy it while it lasts.

[imafan26]

Well, as predicted. The Kona weather is back and it poured this afternoon just as I was getting off work. I had to buy an umbrella because my umbrella was in the car and it had been pouring for half an hour without letting up. It took another two hours after I got home for it to stop.

[MOFishin]

Missouri was recently in the news for our flooding. More storms coming tonight or tomorrow. My area is far enough from the major rivers to not have any catastrophic flooding. Today is easily the hottest day of the year so far. I'm taking a break from gardening right at the moment. Trying to get a lot done today before more rain comes.

[digitS']

We here in this corner of the US are still ahead of Devil's Lake, ND for spring warmth according to the Weather Service!

(But, not the other North Dakota cities ~
link)

This week, more than one day should be above 70°f. Soon, there will be more of those days in 2017 than I can count on the digitS' of one hand. Sunshine!

Steve

[applestar]

It's been stupid hot for the last few days -- 90°F even...100+ in the sun. I was barely keeping the overgrown seedlings in tiny cups alive, so when it cooled down today with 70°F forecast, I was all fired up to plant EVERYTHING.

GOT EVERYTHING LAID OUT, TOOLS, PLANTS, BUCKET OF WATER.... got 6 plants in the ground and it started to rain. Well, it was supposed to sprinkle, no biggie. I've gardened through spitters and even a bit of showers, and have worked until drenched when it started to storm at tail end of scheduled task when I was nearly finished.

...but it wasn't letting up, and coming down a bit much. I had my iPad with me as usual and I stood it up on an edge so as not to get it too wet...but it was coming down even harder. I finally had to call it, hugged the iPad, gathered up my good tools that will rust or have wooden handles and retreated. By the time I was inside, my hair and shirt were soaked, and of course no one had closed the windows....

I'm sitting here, poking at the dried off iPad with a cup of lemon tea, in a fresh, dry shirt... and you know what? It's not raining any more.

[applestar]

Just went outside to pick the berries before birds and animals get them... as soon as I was finished with the raspberries - current top priority - it started to POUR

[digitS']

I had nearly your May 20th experience in the garden the other day, AppleStar.

There had been a threatening sky all morning. In the windward direction, one could see some of the clouds dropping loads of rain.

I was trying to get organic fertilizer in the garden. You know, the low % N where you only get a few feet, then it's back to the bag to scoop out another coffee can full. Hustle back, shake shake ... back to the bag ...

I'd just started on the pepper bed. Ten huge drops of rain fall in front of me! Stops. Hustle, hustle ... five minutes later, I've nearly reached the end and a sheet of rain drops from the sky!

For the next 15 minutes I'm standing on the lowest branch of the plum tree at the edge of the garden. I've squirmed my way in there because it was the most sheltered location under the tree. Rain is falling so hard that there is standing water in the garden! At 50% glacial gravel "soil," this is very unusual!

The rain stops. Puddles begin to disappear. A beam of sunlight breaks through the troubled storm clouds and robins start to sing as I step out from under the plum tree ...

Steve

[gumbo2176]

Raining pretty steady today with temperatures in the low 80's expected for the day. It's actually been raining a good bit for the past week with us getting showers almost daily at some point. Just in time to keep the humidity level up to "Nasty".

I just went out on the back porch and saw where the garden is nothing but a huge puddle, but with the work I've been doing painting the exterior of my house and not really fooling with the garden, there isn't much in there to worry about. I'm thinking I'll take a summer break and get a good start again in the fall. Besides with our real hot months just a few weeks away, much of the garden would not make it, so it's not worth the effort.

[Allyn]

Rain!. The weather yesterday was... Rain! The weather the prior five days was...Rain! And not just regular rain, but torrential downpour rain with thunderstorms along with tornado and flash flood warnings intermixed with periods of blue skies and sunshine that lulls you into thinking the rain had stopped. . . and 20 minutes later...Rain!. It's pouring outside right now. When it isn't pouring, the humidity has been oppressive. We're into June now, so yeah, like Gumbo says, it's time to put the garden on hold until fall. I have about four or five weeks until I need to get my fall seeds started indoors.

[Taiji]

The usual for this time of year here. Mid 80's to low 90's depending on ones exact location. And dry as a bone. Summer rains still about a month away.

[applestar]

If it's raining where you are, Iwouldn't mind if you sent some of the rain my way. Just checked and closest Lightning is 500 miles away.

I shan't complain since we had nice share of rain earlier this spring -- of course it was cooler, too, and I haven't gotten all my planting done, but what has been planted were easier to care for, unlike last year with unexpected spring drought.

Mid 90's today, Mon, and Tues. Today was the first day I gave serious thought to needing to water the garden. Then of course it turned out that my favorite sprinkler was damaged over the winter. It's leaking -- there must have been some water in it or some got in (condensation, etc.). Had to buy a new one and another to replace one that was already a bit broken last year -- but I coaxed another season out of it.

I did get to test out the swales for the Spiral Garden and Sunflower House, and dug some new channels and waterways.

[PaulF]

Very hot and very dry and windy. It sucks the moisture out of everything.

[Shanghaisky]

Suddenly hot after a long spell of very cold (night highs in the mid to high 40's) and quite wet (now not looking like it's going to rain for several days at least). This is my first full growing season here in this house so I have no idea if this is normal for the area. Last year around here when we were living with relatives it was disgustingly hot and humid starting in May all the way through October. Seems it's just starting up now, mid-June.

[imafan26]

I came home yesterday from work and it was raining. I got up and it was still raining. It is overcast now, but I cannot see the sky. The wind is a mere 5 mph, not enough to even move the palm leaves. Warm rain, temperature 73 degrees right now and may peak at around 80 degrees. 5 miles downhill from here it is around 77 degrees. I am 4-9 degrees cooler in my elevation then along the coast. Good movie or mall day.

The cloud cover and lack of wind will mean it will be a muggy day. The rain will actually steam up as the day gets warmer.

Crazy summer rain. I will have to do some preventive fungicides as soon as it stops.

[applestar]

The forecast said there was something like 30-40% chance of rain yesterday. We had misty and spitting rain in the morning that I gardened through without getting particularly soaked -- sticky and muggy. But in the late afternoon just before sunset, we had a tiny thunderstorm cell fly over us -- opposite of the usual when everyone else but *us* get rained on. The red intensity center passed right over us and the beating rain dropped about 3/4 inch.

I'm going to have to empty all the catch trays first thing in the morning, but I'm more concerned about one small, uncovered pile of used potting mix on a slit open/flattened mulch bag, and a large (six 5 gal bucket's worth) of freshly blended SIP potting mix I had on a blue tarp -- with this one, I had folded the corners over to cover, but hadn't counted on a thunderstorm so no weights to protect from winds, etc.

[gumbo2176]

Going to be ugly around here for the next several days with rain predicted every day .until the end of the month with 80-100% chances daily. We currently have a stalled storm front hovering that came in from the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and they are saying 7-10 inches of rain are expected over the next 24 hours. So far it has only lightly rained, but it is definitely on the way as the entire sky is dark gray for as far as I can now see.

[applestar]

I am watching the weather map time lapse -- the rain clouds are yet again skirting around us. Picture ladies in voluminous grey skirts pulling them up and watching their toes as they mince step around the pin-dot that is my location. They dare each other to point their toes and take a quick long step without letting the bundled up skirts fall over the spot

--- with a nod and a grin to Queen ---


"Who Wants To Grow Forever"

There's no **cloud** for us,
There's no **rain** for us,
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us.

Who wants to **grow** forever,
Who wants to **grow** forever.....?
There's no chance for us,
It's all decided for us,
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us.

Who wants to **grow** forever,
Who dares to **plant seeds**,
When **sprouts** must die.

But dig the soil with your hands,
Hold the seeds with your fingertips,
And we can have forever,
And we can grow forever,
Forever is our today,
Who wants to grow forever,
Who wants to grow forever,
Forever is our today,
There's always next year anyway?

[imafan26]

Today it is a nice warm day around 87 degrees with the trades blowing. Hurricane Fernanada and a couple of other systems behind it are spinning somewhere in the Pacific about 1600 miles away. I am not too worried as the Pacific High is between us and them and should they should weaken as they move into cooler waters and run into wind shear from the anticyclone. We will know next week. Fernanda should be a tropical depression by then and maybe bring more summer rain. It is too early to tell what the other two systems will do.

[gumbo2176]

It is quickly becoming one of the wetter summers I can remember in a long time. I've been getting rain in my part of town at least 4 days a week and sometimes it is downright raining cats and dogs.

My problem with it is I can't get into my garden to do the things I want to do as far as preparing it for planting. The soil is so wet I can't even think of pulling any rows yet or I'd wind up making mud hills. The only saving grace is it is still too early to plant most of what I do grow in the fall/winter months, but there are a few things I'd love to get in there now that don't do well once it cools.

Mother Nature can sometimes be a cruel mistress.