Happy New Year everyone!! Here's hoping 2021 is a whole lot better than 2020 was for us all!
January 1st - a clean slate for a brand new year. It seems some things never change from year-to-year or day-to-day . . the weather! What does change is the weather patterns. To me, it seems the last few years there have been more storms, fires, flooding, snow, tornadoes, etc.. worldwide than I ever remember before.
So, this thread is about YOUR weather. What's the weather like where you live? Here in the USA, the weather can be so different from coast to coast.
I live in the Midwest, in Central Illinois. Today, we started out the day with freezing rain. The trees are coated in ice, as is the driveway and roadway and anything else that might be sitting outside. Late this afternoon it started to snow. I just went out on the front porch a little bit ago to take some pictures of the low hanging branches that have the ice and snow on them. I could hear branches snapping on our front property. I'm sure we'll lose several tree branches from this ice. The wind is blowing too, so the branches slapping against each other makes noises.
The lights have been flickering tonight, and I wouldn't be surprised if we lose power. There have already been spots around town that have lost power today.
What's happening weather wise where you live?
Bucky
Wow, Bucky, You are sort of close to me weather wise and we had a cloudy day but no precipitation. I think the sun peaked out a little today and the air is so humid. I don't have many memories of having humid weather in December. One day this week the wind was bad when I was in town west of me and it was so damp that it felt like it was going right through me.
We have had a few storms this winter but don't match any we had years ago. Seems like the snow has been melting some and roads are not icy or snow covered now. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the really bad wind and 3 day storms to come like back in the 70's and 80's. Maybe that is gone for now. Don't know that the Farmers Almanac is getting many weather predictions right these days.
Hope all is well with you. We are all hoping and praying for a better year all way around. Take care. meirish
My daughter and I just started new crochet projects, we are each doing "temperature afghans" to cover the year; a stripe of a colour designated for the temperature at noon of each day. My graph has 11 colours, from silvery white for <-20C up to bright red for > +32C. Today at noon it was -4C (24.8 F) and I made my first stripe in a deep lavender. My daughter lives just 45 minutes away, and her temperature at at noon was -5C, which put her in the next colour down, a deep purple. We've agreed to try not to show each other until next year (like either of us is capable of that!) so I may have update here, just to satisfy my need to document it! She mentioned starting one for her brother in Alberta, too, and that may show some really striking temperature differences! She loves to crochet, and has been earning some extra income with her work, but the more she has to do, the more she finishes! It amazes me, the amount of crochet she can turn out!
In addition to the lovely mild temp, it was very still as far as wind (and we've had some major winds lately) and for the most part bright and sunny. All the outside decor came down, poor hubby working away by himself because I'm still having some ambulation problems since my collarbone incident, compounded by a PMR flare, but he got it all done (not that we put out a lot). I got the little tree inside , and my Christmas knick knacks and window decor put away too, so we are very plain looking around here!
Not to take things too much for granted, we are expecting our first real snow tomorrow, only 15-25 CM, (6-8 inches) but enough to cover the completely bare ground! We just had the greenest Christmas I remember, even when there's no fresh snow, there's usually a few little banks left in the woods, but not this year.
Hi everyone!
meirish - who would think of humid weather in MN in January!!
Linda - never heard of a "temperature afghan" - sounds interesting. What happens when the weather changes throughout the day - do you change color of thread to reflect that?
The last few days here it has been foggy. In the past, we've had a foggy day here and there, but this time, it's been foggy for at least three or four days in a row! Yesterday, the sun peeked out for a short while, and then late afternoon the fog was here again. It was foggy this morning too.
The poor trees are suffering from the ice and snow on them. Many branches are touching the ground, when "normally" they aren't suppose to do that. Par for the course, NOTHING is normal anymore - not even in nature.
Would love to hear from others what the weather is doing where you live.
Bucky
Bucky, You are right...even Mother Nature is not doing her thing this year. Such a mild winter. We are having temps down below 20 at night at lot but my goodness that is nothing compared to the 35 below we had years ago. I drove to work on a lot of bad roads. Our country road 3 miles to town was always the worst. We always said if we could get to town the state highways were always plowed for early shift nurses to get to work...Unless the wind was blowing like crazy and making pin drifts. Back then I really needed my 4 wheel drive.
I remember driving home from work one day back in December of 1983 when the wind chills was 80 below at night and it didn't warm up hardly to 20 below zero. I came out to go home from work one day and all 4 tires on my van were almost flat. So cold that the air had contracted. My work was 1 block to the gas station so I took a chance and drove on my flat on one side tires down to get air. I had about 13 pounds of air in each tire. Wind blowing, sun shining on the snow...sun dogs like crazy. It was just beautiful out but so dangerous driving home. Farmers equipment was all freezing up and milking and feeding the herds was very difficult and dangerous. That spell lasted about 3 days. We called that an Arctic clipper in those days. That spell was the worst we had ever seen in my life...for southern
We also had terrible blizzards in the years of 1965 and 1966. We lived in the country then also and I couldn't get to work for 3 days. We had big curves on both sides of our drive way that would fill in. Many a time people got stuck and would walk up to our house day time or middle of the night to get help. This went on for many winters out on the farm.
One of those stormy blizzards the farmer down the road south of us had a fairly flat road in front of his farm, but he had a bunch of trees or windbreak. That year the snow bank was about 25 feet high. The county had a terrible time getting that plowed and they had to get a big plow from the railroad to come in to plow They had to dig from the bottom up much of the time cause the drift was so deep.. That closed our road south for 10 days plus all the other smaller roads were closed.
Farmers had to dump their milk every day twice a day for 10 days because the milk trucks couldn't get there to pick up milk. Some of the time during the storm they had to milk by hand because the electricity had gone out also. These days farmers have generators but back then it wasn't very common for a person to have a generator.
Back in those years it was so nice to be home with the wood stove, kids and hubby home from school and work for a couple of days. Made home made soups and chili, etc and just hunkered down...after we would spend hours plowing the driveway and digging out the paths to the barn and sheds. The good old days were hard but had some good memories.
I hope people have some stories to tell about the country and the weather. There are lots of stories to be told. meirish
There are several ways of setting up a "thermomoghan" (my new word for it LOL) but I've chosen to use the temperature recorded each day at noon. Another time I might do half a row for the lowest and half a row for the highest recorded temps in a day. The second choice might have been better for this one, since, after 6 days, I've only used two colours, the first day was a few degrees cooler, but since Jan 2 its been stuck in one range so only one colour and things don't look any more varied for the next several days! I'm thinking now to use the colour for New Year's Eve to border it, rather than adding a new unconnected colour, but that's a long way away!
In order to give a bit of variety with the single colour, I decided to add some textured rows, like bobble stitch, v-stitch or a row of filet when I use the same colour two days or more. It's sort of a sampler, and hopefully will become a daily habit, I really enjoy doing something creative every day, and this project, being easy and taking very little time, is great to accomplish that.
Meirish, I remember driving to work in such extreme storms, and often being one of very few who did! In a sense it was lucky that I lived outside the city, because highway driving, even when you couldn't see the highway, was easier than getting around town, and by the time you got to the city streets, it only made sense to push on, land the car in a drift, and get inside the hospital, sometimes only to be stuck there for a few days! In my second year of nurses training, I went in for day shift on Christmas Eve, and didn't leave until December 29! I had had my student experience in the operating room, so I got to be emergence scrub, and direct another student (who lived in the hospital attached residence) to be my circulating nurse! Heady stuff for a lowly student LOL. Because of the limited staffing, as we completed a case, we moved with our patient to recovery, and stayed there until they were taken to a room, then we became housekeeping, and cleaned up the OR to be on standby for the next case. It wasn't until I watched M*A*S*H in the 70's that I had something to compare that experience with!
Your crocheting pattern for afghan sound very interesting. Sure have to keep track of the weather to do that for sure.
That is interesting about your long stay at hospital during a snow storm. I had to stay 3 days and nights one time and had hubby home with 2 kids. He was sure glad to see me cause the boys had strept throat and needed their liquid meds 4 times a day. Kept him busy!!! The big deal was I do't remember just where we slept for a few hours. The hospital beds were all full in a 100 bed hospital. This was back in the old days in around 1969 or so. Don't see a hospital with that many bed in a 15,000 populationed city these days.
It is times like these that younger nurses really learn a lot isn't it. Makes for good nurses that is for sure. I was the only nurse on a cardiac 25 bed cardiac floor in the first semester of my sophomore year. The doctor on call had a fit!!! It was winter storm and nobody could get in. It was not an intensive care unit and also back in the old days so not high tech by any means. I did have one aide so I wasn't alone plus the doctor hung around off and on. Those snow storms are hard on medical personal, first responders, police, etc.
I have to say that many of us who become nurses are pretty much hooked on it. I tried a few other part time jobs(non nursing) when kids were young and was so bored cause they sure didn't have a lot of excitement like nursing did.. :) meirish
Hi everyone - happy Saturday to ya!
Here it is, a week after our ice storm and the trees STILL have ice on them! This is very unusual for us - usually, within a day or two the ice usually melts off. Our temperatures haven't moved much, so the ice hangs on. Driving around town you see so many tree branches broke and the poor evergreen trees drooping under the weight of the ice and snow.
merish & Linda - ahhh, the nursing stories you two could tell!! I've never had to stay at work overnight (or multiple nights like you two), but I do remember once back in the late 80's where I had left really early to start the trek to get to work in the snow. Living in NE Ohio at the time, there are hills everywhere. I tried to plan my route to work with the least amount of hills (not an easy feat) - finally got to work, nobody is there! :o Within an hour, four or five employees trickled in (out of a business that had 75+ employees!). After a little bit we were told we could go home - I told them, "no way, it took me a long time to get here, I'm staying", so I did stay and work on a few things that needed taken care of but left early afternoon to head home. Being receptionist at the time, the phones were ringing anyhow (although, no one was there in the various departments to help them).
The part that scares me the most (even today) is traveling in the snow when it's dark out. You just can't tell where the edge of the road is, etc. I traveled from MN to OH once in a blizzard BY MYSELF!! It was not fun!
It seems from the evening news that other countries are having harsh weather too.
I know there are more members other than the three of us who have some sort of weather happening where you live - come on, post on this thread and let us know about where you live. If you come to the forum to "lurk and read" - become a member so you can join in the conversation.
Whatever weather you have where you live, enjoy your weekend.
Bucky
Bucky, I am amazed that it stays that cold to keep the ice so long on the trees. You are some miles south of southern Minnesota.
I can just imagine you trying to avoid the hills on your way to work. In my high school days I had no clue cause my short 5 block walk was all flat land. However, when I married and moved to the country I headed out to work about 5:30AM for my drive 20 miles to my job at a hospital in another town. A group of 5 of us car pooled and we got stuck in 3 drive ways because of the snow. We got to work late. WE didn't know it was going to be so bad.
We left work the usual time and when I got on the cty road out to our place it was horrible. I had a big car in those days...1965 and made it slowly to the big curve before my place....which always snowed in. I got stuck and had to walk about 1/2 mile plus home in a dress uniform,,not pantsuits back then. Also had a long heavy coat on and boots that were only ankle high. The snow what up to the sit of my girdle...didn't wear panty hose back then either. :D
Anyway, I made it home and went to my MIL who lived across the drive way from us. She was worried sick and had been watching me walk home. I was 4 months pregnant at the time so it was kind of a concern for me also.
The funny part of the thing was our neighbor lady across the road had watched me walk home also. She knew all that went on out there. Later I talked to her and she told me how worried she was about me cause the wind was so bad. I newer did tell her I was pregnant at the time. She and her hubby were so nice and we sure missed them when they passed away.
That storm kept me home 3 days and the snow was about 4 feet in our whole yard and driveway. When the road got plowed my hubby took me to catch a ride to work that morning and the snow was about a foot higher than our car. I was a city girl and I sure learned about life in the country in the winter that year. meirish
P.S. That was tha famous St. Patricks Day sow storm that was historic in our area and around some of the other states.
meirish - wow, that was some snow storm you walked home in!! I don't remember that storm, I was too young - playing with my Barbie was more my speed than the weather in 1965. ;)
Good news here in IL - it finally warmed up the last two days and the ice castle encased trees with snow on them melted off. Yay! I really thought we'd lose a big branch on our red maple in the front yard as it was touching the ground with the weight of the ice and snow. Thankfully, it has since rebounded and is no worse for the ware.
I haven't walked around our property yet to survey the rest of the trees. There is one tree in the woods behind the house that did break off - I can see it from the kitchen window.
One thing that really bugs me about winter weather is when delivery vehicles (post office and others) have packages for your house and they leave them at the road instead of driving them to the house. I get it that our driveways are snow covered and some might be icy, but to leave these packages sitting on top of your mailbox or lay them on the ground next to your mailbox isn't a good practice at all! I live in a rural area and I can't even see our mailbox from the house unless I step out on the front lawn with the binoculars. Twice this week I've seen neighbors have packages on top of their mailboxes. Geesh, no worries of porch pirates here - they can just do a drive by and help yourself!! :-\
Last winter, I had home deliveries made to where I work. Unfortunately, I'm on unemployment until Spring, so we are having deliveries made to the house. It's hard to sit there and wait for them to deliver as it could be a large time span difference from day-to-day. Some days the mail comes at 10:30 a.m., other days it doesn't come until 3:00 p.m. I can usually hear them coming down the road stopping at all the stops, but not always.
Bucky
I had the same problem with the delivery of packages when we lived on the farm. However, I could go to the living room and look out the picture window and sometimes see the package.Living in the country is an experience but I miss it.
Glad your ice melted off the branches before the next storm comes. We are supposed to have rain through the night turning to snow in the early morning...and probably some ice also. I am having one eye surgery for cataracts tomorrow and my DIK is taking me. We have no clue what the weather and roads will be doing so will leave early. It is mostly 4 lane divided highway so that helps a lot. But, it also helps to have the roads plowed too. Sometimes that can leave a lot to be desired.
This is the arrival of the polar vortex that they have been talking about for 2 weeks. The weather has been pretty nice here the past week. Some really sunny days but usually with wind. Monday it was 40 degrees which is totally not normal for January weather. Take care now. meirish
Thermomoghan update!
One month in, and I've used only three colours so far! The temperatures here, recorded at noon each day, only ranged from -11 (one day), up to +2, so that covered three ranges. The majority of days have been between -3 and +3, for which I use light blue, so the purple for -4 to -6 make a beautiful contrast, and the one row of white, for -11, really stands out!
I'm getting impatient to use some other colours! In the absence of colour variety, I'm using textured stitches when I have a few rows the same colour in sequence, so that makes it a bit more interesting. I'll probably complain in the summer when I have to use the yellow and red, for higher temperatures LOL (especially since, by then, I'll be sitting under half a very large afghan every day for about 20 minutes while I work that day's row!)
That is so interesting. This year the weather has been pretty consistent in my neck of the woods also. We aren't as cold of you but seem to stay in 10 above to 25 above every 24 hours. This is very much tolerable weather for us.
We are not getting much for snow in spite of the weather reports. The north edge of the storms going through will just miss us or we get a couple of inches. My granddaughter at college in Iowa is getting much more snow along with some wind. They even had a snow day a couple of weeks ago...she lives on campus so didn't affect her at all. Since they have mostly online classes it is really a different type of year for them. I am so glad that she is a senior and was lucky enough to have some normal college years until mid Junior year.
One thing we are very lucky with is that we do have snow cover on the fields along with the cold weather. So, in spite of the winds there is not much dirt blowing in from the Dakotas. Some years our snow looks like the tree rings....get the brown/black streak through the drifts alternated with the clean snow. Makes for really muddy yards in the spring.
My DIL that is nurse says that they are seeing very few hip and leg fractures this winter as older people are staying home and we are having less ice than usual. This year will be remembered for so many different reasons.
I would love to see your afghan when it is done. For sure you have a point about getting hot in the summer working on it. Hang in there...when spring comes one end of the afghan should look like flowers in bloom with color. meirish
I am wondering how cold everyone is lately...outside temps that is. It has been colder in MN than it has been in a long time. As low as 20 below one night and often below zero or just zero when the sun comes up. Never gets up to 10 above. This is unusually cold for us lately and we all wonder if the high school kids are going to dress warm enough.
My boys were raised in the 60's through 80's when we had lots of snow and blizzards and lots of really cold days. They were trained to carry snowmobile suits, face masks, extra mittens, socks, etc and blankets in their cars. They were also trained in what to do in emergencies as there were no cell phones back then. It was scary being a mother with teenagers for sure.
We lived on a tar road that was 4 miles from the town stop light and there was a big curve on each side of our 7 acre as. We had many people stuck over the years and hubby would have to pull then out with our old tractor. WE had one young fellow that went in our garage and laid in our van until he got so cold that he dug around and found out house key and came in. Kids found him on the couch. It took him hours to thaw out.
Another time we found the neighbor man (in his late 20's been out drinking) laying on our front steps. He was hardly able to beat on our door. He had gotten stuck and after sitting in his car for hours figured he would try to find our place in the blowing snow. He would have frozen to death soon if we hadn't found him. He could hardly walk or talk. It was really scary at times. We were always aware of people getting in trouble.
There was one man who had moved to our area and lived several miles down the road. He got stuck far away from our driveway in the middle of the curve and walked to our house in that blizzard. He wasn't dressed for it and had no idea how bad it was. When we let him in he was carrying a dozen eggs under his arms. Didn't leave them in the car as he thought they would freeze. That shows how his thinking was affected by the stress of the storm. He was lucky also. He sent us flowers a couple times at Christmas.
Pardon me folks, I am reliving my younger days on the hobby farm....which I dearly miss.
Soooo...so much for global warming for the moment at least. Talked to BIL from Mesa on Sunday and he said they were in the 50's for about 3 weeks when a lot of the snowstorms were coming through the middle of the country. It is up in the 70's now so they are happy. Would be interesting to hear from folks with cold weather stories from present or past. I know most people will have some type of events that happened to them or their family. Take care all. meirish
We are in a Polar Vortex in Canada right now. It's been ridiculously freezing for over a week, and will remain so for at least four more days. Lows at night of around - 45 degrees Celsius and most days of -30 to - 40 degrees Celsius with the windchill.
The dog won't easily go outside to do her business, so we carry her to the end of the driveway and within 30 seconds she is lifting her freezing paws. So she now goes out every two hours or so. And no, she will not wear boots or a jacket.
With being in isolation from the pandemic, this cold weather is just making us all pretty squirrely. Even more squirrely, I guess!
By Tuesday we will have a high of - 12 Celsius. Yippee! Heatwave!
carebear, That is really some wicked cold you are having. I you tube and have a family I follow in Alaska who have been dealing with some bad cold also. The vortex is in a different place this year...further south I think as southern MN is below aero much of the time but only down to 10-29 below. Days are up to single digits above zero so does warm up a little. I can believe that you folks are getting a little squirley with that weather. Most of us are about worn out on TV and also on the computer. I find that some really good movies are helpful but those are far and few between.
I am having trouble calling this a Polar Vortex cause years ago the weather men around here called them Canadian or Arctic Clippers. The northern edge of this clipper is usually down in Iowa so we are just on the edge here in Southern or South Central MN. Please stay safe and keep an eye on the wood stove. WE used to burn wood in the country for awhile until I could not take the fumes from the smoke. I know we sure watched the stove and the chimney especially when it was this cold with the high winds. A fire can catch so easily in the chimney.
Around where I live people are doing puzzles like crazy. Some work on them along in their apartments and others work 2-3 together out in the social area. I have never liked doing puzzles but find myself thinking about starting one so I know that I am really bored. And, yes, the dogs are having a rough time of it also. My boys families all have dogs and getting them outside has been a chore. Stay safe and warm. WE are on the down side of winter now. Of course, we have March to get through yet so we can't talk too smart yet. Take care. meirish
In Eastern Canada we've been faring a bit better as far as cold goes, we did have a bit of a cold snap, but the coldest we saw was about -18C. During the days, it goes up to the -10 to -2C range. We haven't even had much snow this year either, enough to cover and look sparkling, but haven't dealt with being snowed in at all, which is a wonder for us, even the banks are under 2 feet tall for the most part!
They tell me these are the kinds of days that promise a great maple syrup season, the shift from cold overnight to warmish days really gets the sap flowing!
Lots of backyard and community rinks being set up, since public arenas are either closed or very limited in capacity. Even the home and community ones are restricted to gatherings of less than 10, and they are redesigning the community ones (other than the hockey ones which are, of course, sacred) to ovals with filled in centers and one way skating only. Hiking and power sledding (snowmobiling) are providing lots of people with outdoor activities, too. I'm quite content with watching out the window, or going for drives (somewhat limited mobility right now due to back issues under investigation, once I have an idea of what's going on, I'll share LOL)
Here in the pacific northwest we just got around a foot of snow west of Seattle. It's so beautiful and doesn't happen very often in the lower elevations so I"m enjoying it now. The problem is it doesn't last long and when it starts melting it turns totally rotten. It's like walking or driving thru lard.
Hello - sunny 33 degrees from Central IL this Saturday afternoon.
It's so nice to see the sun shining today and our temperatures in the 30's, so much better than the below zero temperatures of last week!
We've got snow - I would "guess" around 7-8" on the ground from several snow events this past week. We had to have our driveway plowed one day this week (first time this winter - last year we only needed it plowed one time too, which I'm thankful for, as multiple times plowed can add up $$$).
Our temperatures are going to be in the mid 30's this week - yay, I'll take it! Can't wait for Spring to arrive - I'm ready for it!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the folks in TX who are dealing with snow, freezing temps, frozen & bursting pipes, and no power. That has got to be so difficult trying to keep warm and having enough food for your families. When you live in an area that is not accustomed to that type of weather (and more extreme circumstances than those of us who are accustomed to it) - it makes that so much more challenging.
Take care everyone,
Bucky
Good news. Here in Orlando the trees are blossoming - yes SPRING IS COMING!!!!!
Katie1111
South central Minnesota is 32 degrees this am and it has been a few weeks since we have seen it this high. We had several inches of snow yesterday..a nice slow snow with nice snow flakes that were so pretty. When it warms up like this it usually snows. I did hear that more snow is due this week end. It isn't March yet and that can be our most wicked snow storm and blizzard month. But, Spring is closer. meirish
Just zero (32F) here this morning, and overnight we had our first real snow! Must have had at least 30 cm down (1 foot), I have banks outside my window about 1.5 M (maybe 4 1/2 feet?) and the trees are bough down with heavy snow. Looks like a Christmas card, but we did lose a few branches to the weight :( Hubby is out playing with his Tonka toys (sorry, tractor and equipment) and I have a ham bone on to boil down, ham and bean soup for supper!
That is a day that memories are made of, Linda. I think back to those days during the snow storms when hubby was plowing us out and the 3 boys were out shoveling snow or doing things to get out of shoveling snow. lol. I loved the sound of the tractor in the cold air and, like you, I would be making a big pot of homemade soup or chili plus keeping the wood stove burning. Being home safe and warm with family during a storm makes comfort for the soul. have a great day. meirish
Katie - lucky you with blossoming trees in FL! I had a friend that lives in SC and she posted some pictures of blooming flowers. We won't have either for quite a while yet.
Linda - I saw your picture - wow, a foot of snow! Didn't you just say the other day that you hadn't had much snow this winter??!! Mother Nature heard you! LOL
Today, our temperature was a lovely 50 degrees!! The sun was shining and the snow was starting to melt. I think we're suppose to be in the 40's tomorrow.
Only 5 more days left of February . . . again, the time is flying by quickly.
Bucky
Linda, I was wondering if your area always welcomes snow instead of an open winter. The area I live in wants snow as it keeps our soil moisture up and it helps save the topsoil from blowing away off the fields. We are very much farming area and get the winds from the Dakotas that bring in a lot of dirt if little snow. meirish
We do appreciate our snow, Meirish. In addition to the farming (big pototo, strawberry and blueberry producers, as well as "kitchen garden " type mixed veggie farms) we have several popular ski, hiking, snowshoeing and sledding (manual and power) areas. We used to be quite q winter recreation destination, when people could still travel!
We do , however, being a tidal area, have problems with flooding , so the spring freshet, in years when we've had lots of snow (average cumulative total for the whole winter, not all on the ground at once of course, is about 2 M or 8 feet) can be a big problem if it hangs around, then warms up and melts fast.
The United States has been having more and more floods every year in the spring or with big rainfalls. Seems like areas will get either drouth or a whole lot of rain at once and then the floods start. Our floods have become monstrous at times.
Today TV showed pictures of Mississippi River starting to break up with large ice floes heading south. Hopefully, this will not happen all at once or there will be flooding down south and it seems like we have had to many weather emergencies lately. Don't which flooding on anyone.
I wish you a good spring season , Linda. meirish
What a beautiful day it is. Yesterday was gorgeous also. Sun shining, air smelling like spring is around the corner and snow is melting a little. My son told me it is to be in the 60's end of week. WE have all been waiting for that haven't we. Have a good weekend. meirish
It's March Merry-go-round time here, Monday was mild (-2C or 36F) and started out with rain showers, great, March came in like a lamb! Not so fast, by 2PM it was snowing, heavy wet slushy stuff that made driving miserable., maybe a sheepish lion?
Tuesday was our coldest March day on record, -16C with wind chills of -29C, -3F and -20F, with very high winds. It didn't snow, but the swirling snow from the ground, and the ice crystals in the air, made visibility zero in many places, and highways were restricted when possible. I was out in that mess (an art class I've been missing because of pandemic shutdown and it would have taken a lot more than a little chill to keep me away after a 5 week shutdown!). Took a drive down by the river where the ice fishing shacks are, and couldn't see them! 20 meters, 65 feet off shore and they were only visible as vague shapes in the swirling snow!) This stock photo was taken from just about where I was sitting in my car, and all I could see most of the time was a wall of white behind the lighthouse
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d0/a9/44/d0a944c49bbbc4b518d8f720cceb451e.jpg)
Yesterday, Wednesday, was a beautiful day, calm, high temp of 0C, 32F, bright and sunny, and today promises a repeat of yesterday, but maybe even warmer!
Well, I had to add my 2 cents about the weather cause it was an interesting day. Woke up to what was ground fog tht went way up and almost looked like a fine snow. Ended up misting most of the morning and then it tried to clear up around 2 PM only to get really dark in the north. It got worse and worse and then the wind picked up and soon the weather alert on radio kicked in. We were in a tornado watch til 8PM.
I was running errands and the weather progressed to get worse so I went back home to wait the weather out. By the time I got home there was a tornado warning for a town about 20 miles north of us. That did dissipate and the weather then cleared. Makes me wonder that such a early weather watch after a not very bad winter can have a dismal prognosis at times. Could this be what we will endure all summer? Could very well be and like just about everything else that is going on in the world there is not a darn thing any of us can do about it except smile... :) It makes people wonder what we are up to. meirish
It is snowing in southern Minnesota since morning and it is a nice snow that is coming down consistently but hardly any wind. Supposed to get 6 inches where I live. Time will tell. It is still March!! meirish
May you all have a blessed Easter Sunday and may the weather be great also. meirish
I've enjoyed reading everyone's replies.
You've probably heard about the Texas Flash Freeze as we call it here. It came in February I think and our electrical grids could not keep up so many people had no heat. My friend had no power for a week. We were lucky and had only 2 episodes of no power. One for 2 hours, another for 4 hours. The 4 hour one was a rolling black out that the power companies used.
North Texas gets pretty cold but here in South Texas we were in shock that it lasted several days. :O)
Marie, The weather sure is changeable. I live in south central MN and we have such weird weather lately. The wind has been blowing more the past couple of years and this spring it has blown every day and almost blows cars off the roads at times. We are needing rain and didn't have much snow this winter either.
The dust blows when it is dry and windy and I am expecting this to be a dry and windy summer if things don't change soon. Some friends put their dock in at their lake ono Easter Sunday which was really, really early. They may get snowed on yet cause this is Minnesota.
Have a good week. meirish
Man, it has been so windy here then past week or so and the wind chill has kicked back in. Have had a few snow flurries but not enough to cover the ground. WE could sure use some warmer weather and a few nice spring rains. Almost afraid to ask for rain as sometimes it starts and doesn't stop.The trees are trying to bud but very slow. They know it isn't quite spring. Weather is always keeping us on our toes. Take care. meirish
Same here meirish re: the wind. Also the part about no rain. We need it desparately for the crops. Right now it's overcast and mild temps. My husband came in this AM from a walk about outside and said 'I think we got rain, 5 drops.' ;D
It is now the 18th of April and we have gotten the other 5 drops and that is it. The buds on the trees are just sitting there with one eye open waiting for the rain. It is cloudy much of the time lately and we had a 50% chance of rain today and still not a drop. Patience is definitely needed that is for sure. meirish
What a lovely way of putting it; "buds with one eye open waiting". Sort of like we Sjoggies, squinting through one partly open lid looking for drops! Admittedly that sounds more poetic when applied to tree buds LOL
We thankfully have had a great balance of moisture and dry, and the trees are just reaching one of my favourite stages, tiny tight buds you have to look for, but they give large areas of treed land a beautiful light green/grey shimmer in the sun, specially on a sunny hillside in the distance. The next stage is one I like to call "Fifty shades of Green" and I love it, too!
It all looked ... um ... interesting with the 5 CM of fresh SNOW we had a few nights ago! :o We still have cold nights, often right around freezing, but the days are getting much warmer, often jumping up as much as 15 degrees C (a bit more than 25 F). I often start the day with a heavy sweater over a sweatshirt and jeans, and by supper, I'm down to a t-shirt, just in time to start layering again!
You're right Linda196, Meirish is eloquent and could've been a poet!! We just had a stretch of beautiful 70's weather here in the PNW. I have a pair of Canadian Geese nesting in my pond and I've been watching over them. I also get eagles hunting here and whenever one shows up, the geese raise holy heck. Eagles are also very people shy, so when one shows up I always walk down there and they end up leaving. I sort of feel like I'm supposed to help the geese. LOL.
sixty, you are a goose caretaker and that is important to save our birds. Thank you. They might show up in my neck of the woods some day.
Here we sit in southern Minnesota with the slowest spring in a long time. The farmers are planting but they are brave souls as I can't imagine the soil is very warm. The sun shines occasionally and we did have a bigger spot of rain a few days ago but still not a good rain. And the big thing is the cold wind that never seems to stop. Yesterday it was cold and drizzly in the morning and just stayed that way til 5 pm when the sun came out and the temp was up to 60. It is Thursday to day and on Saturday it is to be 80 degrees. Will be interesting to see if the warmth is more indicative of spring. Our wind feels like it is blowing over snow banks on the way here. Gives us a chill and need to stay home by a warm bowl of chili.
In out neck of the woods it is common to have a slow steady entrance to spring with farmers working steady in the fields and most corn planted by the 20th of May and then they hurry and get the beans in. About 10 years ago or so we had a really, really early spring and it was so warm in March and it just stayed that way and went into summer and the farmers had a good spring planting which is seldom the case.
We sit and agonize through all this knowing that things are different in the world in every aspect. I just read that our area is to have an above warm summer so it could be a doozy. WE are known to have 80 % or more dew point the past years which makes life miserable and AC is really necessary in order to sleep at night. Some times the temperature doesn't go below 80 at night and it is terrible. The weather is changing and isn't like when I grew up. I have fond memories of being snowed in with hubby and the boys and making home made soup...s[ending many hours plowing out our hobby farm and just enjoying being home. Don't get that much snow or blizzards anymore even. take care all. You all know I love to think back to the old days. meirish
I'm back to let you know that it just can't warm up in southern Minnesota. We have had a some sunny days off and on but usually with a chilly wind. Te last couple of days it has been so chilly and cold. I have had to turn my heat up a lot. The sun will be out in the morning and then the clouds blow in and dolls down. Doesn't seem to rain much though and we could use a nice warm rain. Just wondering how the rest of you are tolerating your weather. meirish
OK folks, I am still updating on our weather around the upper midwest. Spring must be here because the trees are either in bloom or slowly blooming. The lilacs are just starting to bloom also. If I wasn't so stuffed up I would enjoy being able to smell the fragrance.
I was very chilly, drizzling and cloudy today again. WE will get some sun and have a few days in the 60's and one in the 70's but the wind keeps blowing more than usual and the air still has the chill many days of the cold temps way up north. Also, a good share of the corn is planted and we have not had a good enough rain yet. The drouth word is being mentioned. One hates to talk to much about rain because when it is dry it is dry and often when it starts raining it won't stop raining. We can't be pleased I guess.
All in all it is a very unusual May for us. But I do remember when the boys were young my hubby took them fishing on Memorial Day but they had to come home as it was snowing so much and windy on the lake and it was miserable. This is the upper midwest, lest I forget. Hope y ou are all comfortable and content with your weather patterns this spring season. meirish
Meirish, May is unusual for us too way down here in So. Texas. Our temps have been much cooler than usual for the most part but we're all happy for it.
We finally are getting some much needed rain. Really perked up the crops.
Marie
OK, It can stop raining now. ::)
We have gotten 5-6 inches in most areas around here. Lots of standing water and the mosquitos that come with it.
Wishing everyone mild days. It's a long time til fall. :D
Well Minnesota finally got some rain last night and into today. It was a nice rain and has developed into a chilly rain. It is cold and windy and tonight it is to be in the middle 30's but not to freeze. We really did need the rain badly and I think they the farmers will take some more of it. The D word has been thrown around here lately as it didn't rain much during the planting season.Generally MN gets to bunch of rain during planting and harvest and every one thinks there will be a crop failure. Strange how these rains will let up and the wind will dry the ground and the crops keep coming.
Not every year is a bumper crop but our country is blessed to have some farmers who know how to farm and take it seriously. Wait for the next installment of how the weather turns. Take care all. meirish
Thot I would add another post here as it has been quiet for a while. We did get rain in southern MN and it seemed great but wasn't many inches and guess we are still in a drouth. The rains did come in time to save some of the crops as they were getting pretty droopy.
It was a gorgeous day today and made the fair goers happy around the state. Such very hot weather this summer and hope that it continues to be more changeable. The humidity can be so bad here and always has been bad off and on in MN summers. Sweet corn is being sold on the street corners now and I would love some but my new diagnosis of Ecocrine pancreatic insufficiency is really acting up lately and corn is sure out of the question.
I have been packing and my daughter in law comes once a week and spends hours helping with some of the issues. Thank goodness for her as she is so strong and can get stuff done that I can't. She is a nurse and takes some of the better items I am getting rid of to work and the girls on staff have it spoken for before the day is over. I like being able to get things to those girls as many are out on their own and may have a child and money is very tight for them.
This is the third time I have moved since hubby passed away and probably be the last unless I end up in a nursing home. It is really a stressful this to move at any age but when one is on the downhill side of 70 it is really hard. I find I am having a much easier time throwing things. One of the receptionists at my doctors says she ends up moving about every year and she said that she takes pretty much what she can get in here car. I assume she isn't counting some furniture. Oh, to be able to travel that light. Take care all of you and have a good summer. Almost time for moms to buy school clothes!!! meirish
We've had wild weather here in the Canadian Prairies. Weeks of dry, extremely hot temperatures. Then things turn around, to very cold temperatures. And the wind! Boy, it's something else.
We are surrounded by wildfires too, especially to the west. Smoke has been bad, creating poor air quality. Not good for my poor dry eyes, I'll tell you. It's far worse right in the wildfire zones though, so we are comparatively lucky.
The grass is very crunchy right now. No sign of rain for the near future, I'm afraid. Time to water.
My heart goes out to you folks in Canada where there are wild fires. We, in MN are getting a lot of smoky air with cloudy skies and strange sunsets. WE are dry here also and may have more fires as the season goes on. Where I moved to more north and east in the state it is really dry. My son has around 5 acres and his lawn is all brown and it looks like it should be almost winter only it is "crunchy" for sure.
Where I moved from more south central they are very dry also but have had intermittent rain fall that has been just enough to save the crops so far but dig down a little and the ground is dry as a bone. Such strange weather and it isn't over yet they say. As a Minnesotan I have to admit that I would not be at all surprised if we had a really cold, windy and very snowy winter cause that often happens after these hot summers. WE live with what we get and have to adapt. WE have no choice. Take care all and stay positive cause the stress isn't good for us. meirish
Well, I am back. The weather continues to be of great importance this year, doesn't it. In area North and West of the cities in Minnesota where I live now, the "cities" in MN means the Minneapolis-St.Paul area, the weather was quite hot for some time in August and is now just gorgeous. We seem to have blue skies and sunny days with a good breeze and temps in the 70's-low 80' s and sometimes in higher 60's. Just gorgeous plus it has rained some. WE have had several days with rain but it has been the rains that come in spurts and will downpour for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour and then rain a little here and there during the day. Even had some good thunder storms a couple of nights
South of us about 50 miles I heard that they had 7 inches 2 different times over a couple days. Very uneven and unpredicatable and too late to do much for the farmers. It probably did help some of the later garden crops. I have been reading some of the Farmers Almanac winter weather reports and to sounds like we could have some very cold spells in some parts of the country. I don't know if they predicted snow but it did say that the west would remain dry which is not what we wanted to hear.
I hope that yo folks are all having acceptable weather. WE have to take what we get but we always like to talk about it. Good luck. meirish
We've just entered what seems to be instant autumn! From daily temps in the 28-38C range (82-100) to 15-19C (59-66) overnight, with a couple of rainstorms as whatever tropical storm/hurricane is current winding down over us dropping anywhere up to 150 mm (6 inches) of rain and being a coastal city with the highest tides in the world, some flooding. Today is a beautiful, bright, but so far (at 9 AM) a bit chilly. Night time temps are notably lower, making sleep so much easier! No frost or freezing right here yet, but there has been some in the north of our small province about 370 KM (230 miles) away.
Well, it is September 20 and today we got a very good rain. It was a straight downpour that was good enough to cause a lot of rain to go down the storm sewers. We have had those few 15 minute rains that settled the dust and then last week a good couple of hours of rain that came with lots of wind and a couple of tornados in central Minnesota. This rain was one of the old fashioned soakers that was more calm and made the air smell good. At least it is raining. Lots of bad crops in our state but at least we know that it can still rain. So many places have had none to very small amounts. Reminiscent of many decades ago isn't it. Hope you all get some moisture----except if you have had too much in which case it is time for it to stop. meirish
Here it is the middle of October and I am still getting up to pretty much the same weather I did most of the summer. The runner days and blue skies still prevail but it is much cooler. Very few days with rain but it is quite windy every day.
I can't remember ever a year like this where we had consistent weather like this year. We have not had snow yet and when there was the snow storm in the Dakotas a week or so ago we had some dark clouds and wind go over really fast that evening. Just amazed that we did not get snow. We had some slight rain showers during the early morning but that was it.
My fear is that this is till Minnesota and we may not be able to hardly see the street from our living rooms when the snow hits. Oh well, it is what it is. Take care all. meirish
Anybody had snow or nasty winter weather yet? meirish
We are slated for snow next week. In the meantime it dropped from the 70's to the high 30's today and the temp will start moving up again tomorrow and then crash next week.
We get all the smoke from the forest fires and now we are the ones who have the forest fire and lost a pilot drying to drop fire retardant on it. I am afraid for what is coming.
Scorpions have killed 3 in Egypt and sent hundreds to the hospital because of their weird weather.
Stay safe!
We had a few flakes a couple of weeks ago but it got so nice again with beautiful sunshine, etc. The past 3 -4 days have been cloudy, damp and windy and makes us think it is going to get really nasty. Today I had to drive out of town to a doctor(again) and between going into the office and coming out the wind really came up. It was around 40 degrees with sun off and on and after lunch the dark clouds and bad wind came up. If it had snowed we would have been in drifts quite fast.
It did snow just a bit and the wind made to rather hard tp drove but never did get the nasty weather we all expected. I thought I would freeze to death coming out of the grocery store as the cold wind was terrible. Been so long since I have been in really, really bad wind that it makes me wonder just what kind of a winter we will get. Bought some heavy pants and shirt cause it gets cold in my apartment on the 4th floor. Take care and stay warm. meirish
Well, there might be more chance of people responding to this post as the weather has certainly changed nation wide. I was sidetracked with some health issues and forgot to keep track of the weather. However, I do remember Thanksgiving and it was all that cold then. It has since turned cold, some days windy and this past week we have snow that is staying. The coldest was close to zero here northwest of the twin cities in Minnesota. It was around 18 above to day and the past 2 days it has snowed 2 inches each day. I think it was on Monday night that it snowed around 12 to 15 inches around Duluth and some of the areas west of there. They got some significant snow around the area north of the the twin cities. Twin cities refers to the Minneapolis/St.Paul area.
I live on the 4th floor of my independent senior living but I missed the snow as it snowed during the night both times. I am guessing that winter is here to stay as I watch a You tube family in Alaska and this past 3 days or so it was so cold. One day it was down to 42 below zero and today it was up in the 20's. They have had some very unusual cold the past 3 weeks or so and it started off there winter with a bang. There fuel cost was astronomical and they also used up a lot of wood so they are thinking it is going to be a hard long winter. That has to be some of what has fueled the cold weather down in the lower 48.
Be interested to hear what other folks are experiencing these days. It occurred to me today that there should be some interesting books coming out down the pike. There will be some industrious individuals who will journal these past couple of years with covid and all the many trials and tribulations our families and society has gone through. Good luck to them as they will have to suffer thru wrapping their head around all the misery and experiences and documenting it. It does need to be documented at least for the historical value. The politicians of all persuasions can do the humongous books on all the other stuff that has happened here and abroad to contribute or cause these eventful years. Eventful was the nicest word I could think of at the time. We have to endure what has been laid upon us but we don't have to like it. meirish :o
Dec 11
Snow? What is that? I live near Denver, CO and we have had one day when it spit snow where I live. Denver had no snow in November!
But if you have lots of money who cares? You can bring in snow for that special day. You can let South Africa be locked up so no vaccines can get in and no one can get out. No one can get in. No doctors, no medical supplies.
Well, another storm passed through MN portals and this one dumped about 15 to 20 inches in the middle of the state. Son south of cities said they had about 8-10 inches and that the wind came up during the night. Where I live we had about 4 inches and it was beautiful out today but cold and windy as usual.
I just document often here as it is kind of interesting to look back and see what weather was had in the past in different areas. Take care all. meirish
Wow, I guess the old winter weather has come for sure. It has been 20 below zero where I live and had a few days with snow. Warmed up and sunny a couple of days in the past week and so beautiful. I looked at the sunny day and looked away and looked again 3 minutes later and the sun was gone and clouds were moving in. We are to have more below zero weather and snow. This could be a long winter that is for sure.
With all these snow events it is seeming to send warmer temps and thunder storms to the south which is not good. Hate to see so much suffering from the weather. Take care all and stay safe and warm. meirish
Well, time to talk a little weather again. WE had such a nice weekend in the high 50's and low 60's both days. It is Thursday and today it was blustery and windy and so cold this am. Supposed to snow tomorrow again. Temps backing the 30's and freezing.A few snow flurries are threatening the past few days.
This is hard to take when so much of our snow had melted. We could still get a really bad snowstorm as that what happens in Minnesota much of the time. Just curious what the rest of you are living with. We did have one day this week when it rained lightly all day. Nice to have but would have liked more.It is still dry here as we have not had enough snow this winter. A lot of nights it snowed but frequently not even as inch. Take care all. meirish
I thot I better check in and see if you folks are having better weather. Minnesota had some very cool spring months and May was quite chilly. Farmers are very late planting and many planting in June. People doing gardens later and even raking lawns later. It seemed to rain just enough to prevent the raking and the snow was late to leave also.
The other thing we have going on is the wind. I moved up a couple of hours northish of where I lived for over 40 years las July. The wind was blowing a lot when I moved here and it has blown almost every day since. I mean it is not 5 miles per hour. Windy enough to even cause a person to avoid walking even when the sun is shining. I want to get out walking again but hate walking with the wind blowing in my face so hard. I know that it is blowing more a lot of places so I just figure that this is the new norm. Would enjoy hearing what other folks are experiencing with their weather. meirish
I've been gone for awhile because the link to the site was messed up, so I finally figured it out and changed my password, but at least I didn't need to re join. Anyway, the weather here in the Pacific NW is really wierd this year. We've had a really wet, cool spring and start to summer. Most all of the days in May were colder than normal. Finally for the past 3 days it's been warm, in the 80s. Last year around this time is when we had the record breaking heat wave of 106 degrees (in the Seattle area) and up in Canada it was 120 degrees! I sure hope that doesn't happen again.