I hate when the weather is wrong

Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:59 pm

I've been getting screwed around by the weather. Some days they say it is gonna rain hard then it is sunny all day. I had some seedlings outside and was worried about the rain so I brought it all in for nothing.

And then there are days they say it is gonna be sunny for a few days and then rain comes. Yesterday I had seedlings outside and as I was coming home it started to rain. But not just rain it turned into hail. I was thinking I was gonna come home to all my seedlings destroyed. But luckily they were fine. The hail was not that bad.

But one of the biggest things I hate is when it gets really windy. The other night I left some seedlings outside and it dawned on me that it was really windy outside. So I was lucky to have saved them. The wind started up late at night too and I almost went to bed.

I wish the weather was more accurate all these surprised are really making it hard on starting my plants.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:11 pm

I can agree with this 100%! Its 60 degrees here today, but we're due for a snowstorm wed and thursday, then back to 60 degress :shock:

Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:37 pm

I have not had many consistent sunny days. I get 1 good sunny day, then next day it rains, followed by 2 days of roaring winds. Then a partly cloudy day, windy again, then a sunny day, then more wind or rain.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:42 pm

I know what you mean. It is 70 degrees here today and weather man says storms this evening.

A few days ago weather man said sever weather, high winds, hale, tornados, lightning, etc. I got ready and nothing happened.

The day before that weather man said it would be a little breazy and we had 40 mph wind all day. It was nice out side so it was ok.

A day or so before that it was suppost to be sunny and it rained all day.

The day before that weather man said rain and there was no rain.

The weather is very weird 65 to 70 degrees during the day and 25 degrees at night.

The sun has an 11 year cycle we are in the 9th year. Sun spots and solar storms on the sun are making our weather hotter, winter and summer. 2 more year before the sun reaches its peak. It is not global warming its sun spots.

Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:52 pm

the best weatherman is you, going outside and looking up and to know your local climate well. i only use weather stations for a rough guide. specially here in California where we can get all 4 seasons in one day.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:12 am

soil got it.. learn your micro climate. :shock:

Yeah , we got about 1/4 inch of rain monday woo hoo....

Much wind, it knocked the front flap over on my upright portable green house - housing transplanted basil, comfrey, lemon balm seedlings.

PR, not sure if ever got that upright greenhouse deal from amazon, but that's what I'm refering to. Its working out OK, finding the right spot is key...

T

Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:02 pm

couldn't agree more.

The winter has been so screwy this year I am almost afraid to plant anything because we haven't had a solid week of freezing temps let alone a month. So the bugs will be out in force this spring.

Also the daffodils and lilies are coming up and the magnolia tree is starting to bloom. Last year we got a picture of the magnolia tree in full glorious bloom with snow on the blooms. The snow melted the next day by the end of the week no more blooms.

As to micro climate, Here in the STL metro area, there has been a trend over the last few years of February being warmer and drier then Jan. Then March we get freezing temps, bitterly cold rain, and or snow storms.

Makes planning anything to plant a bit difficult.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:37 pm

I think we talk about this every so often and sooner or later some of us mention weather underground and weatherbug. I have both apps (wunderground and weatherbug) on my iPhone and iPad, but you can also access their websites on the computer. I use both because there are no stations closer than 5+ miles but I have enough surrounding me and in wearherbug, I have the four closest pinned so I'm right in the middle.

For forecasts, it's a good idea to check different weather sites and find one that seem to provide the closest to reality in your garden. I like ones that actually seems to use the zip code you put in. It seems like lot of them base the forecasts on weather stations at area airports that may be nowhere near your garden. I finally found one that apparently bases my area's forecasts on readings at the county airport and/or a noaa weather station in my county.

Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:41 pm

So, let me get this straight: There are places in the world where the weather can actually be right? :shock:

Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:15 pm

no way

Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:26 pm

Today here is really cold and windy. My knees hurt.
We have one weatherman, John Coleman, who founded the Weather Channel. In all the years I've watched him I remember he's been wrong only once.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:56 am

Today it said it would be sunny. It was sunny in the morning and most of the day. When I was coming home at 5PM I see dark rain clouds. These are the kind of surprises I am talking about. Now when I look at the news on TV they are showing that it is gonna be windy and rainy. So I gotta bring some seedlings in.

You know, it may just be the website I am looking at for weather that is giving me wrong info. I have been looking up weather at weather.com .

Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:00 am

Rule of thumb, step out your door.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:48 am

PunkRotten wrote:Today it said it would be sunny. It was sunny in the morning and most of the day. When I was coming home at 5PM I see dark rain clouds. These are the kind of surprises I am talking about. Now when I look at the news on TV they are showing that it is gonna be windy and rainy. So I gotta bring some seedlings in.

You know, it may just be the website I am looking at for weather that is giving me wrong info. I have been looking up weather at weather.com .

Weather.com is the website I use. It is wildly optimistic. I like that in a weather website. The promise of a high of 40 beats the reality of weather bug's pragmatic, and often on the mark, promised high of 35.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:17 pm

I'm just happy if they know what the lows are going to be at night....as for seedlings...it depends, but this time of year in this area, the only seedlings I'm putting outside are brassicas - and they'd better be able to take a bit of rain.

just crushed by huge hail in april last year...i get the impression that freak hailstorms are a bit difficult to predict. many seedlings got pulped, but some survived.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:31 pm

After all those dark rain clouds last night and the reports on the news it never rained and no winds. And now when I look outside it s a nice sunny day.

Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:46 pm

this is why its better if you learn your local climates weather.

as an example our weather reports said we would get snow and rain last night. judging from the way the clouds were moving, how much rain we had earlier and even the color of the clouds somewhat told me we wouldn't get any rain or snow, and we didn't get a drop all night. i also knew from those conditions before we would get a nice frost in the morning which we did and prepared for that instead.

and im with potatoes, i like to know the rough nightly lows mostly which can be hard to predict.