odd winter weather

I've lived in various parts of Colorado most of my life and there have been unusual seasons occasionally for one reason or another, but I can't ever recall a winter quite like this. The front range has had temperatures ten or twenty degrees above normal and hardly andy snow fall. The have been red flag fire warnings out off and on for weeks due to low humidity and high winds, but fortunately no big fires so far. Mountains snow pack on both sides of the divide around around 60% for this time of year. I watered my lawn and trees a week or two ago just because it was so dry. I track a couple of bird migration arrivals each year that have shown up a good two or three weeks early this year and tulips are a couple of inches out of the ground. There is weather and climate and then climate extremes. I think this year is in the latter. We can still get some good snows in March and April, but the only thing in the 10 day forecast is a little rain! I think you folk near the coasts are stealing our snow.

Not the Pacific NW coast, we aren't! We haven't seen one snowflake all winter, and only a few frosty mornings. Only had to scrape the windshield once. The ski resorts are crying for snow. We will suffer this summer for lack of snow pack. Daffodils are up here too, and flowering cherries are in bloom here & there.

We have had a lot of snow compared to recent years, with many comparing this to our terrible winter of 2014 - 2015. We had some issues with an ice dam in the gutter and water leaking into the house, which was not a high point (and it was a common issue for other homes in the area).

Definitely no tulips or daffodils just yet, not even our very early little snowdrops, because there is still a whole lot of snow on the ground.

Our tulips are poking up.

we had one largest snowfall this year, but otherwise it’s been pretty easy.

last year was the year of snow and ice, snow and ice and more ice. It was very, very hard on city workers who had to attempt to clear ice off streets. it was a big issue in the St. Louis mayors race, and I do not blame the mayor at all that she didn’t have the manpower or even technical power to get ice off streets. but the new mayor looks good because she plowed streets that have NEVER been plowed in the 30+ years we were there.

meanwhile, in Hermann, our little town’s workers keep the streets clear because they are hard workers.

This has been a horrible winter... It started shortly after November with the snow and wind. Trekking with my family to a restaurant on Christmas was like braving the tundra, fighting with the snow, wind, and drifts. My car, which is terrible in the snow, twice got stuck simply getting out of the driveway, so I try to avoid even leaving the house. We were excited about the temps getting to 30 today, because they have hovered between -20 to 20 all winter long--but the winds are just as high, making the temperature feel like 6 degrees.

The closest I've gotten to thoughts of gardening are catalogues in my inbox from Johnny's Selected Seeds.

I ordered seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. It was funny, because when they arrived yesterday, DH was amazed I had ordered from them. Unbeknownst to me, he had requested their catalog. He never noticed it when it arrived, so he was pleasantly surprised to see an actual seed order arrive from them. I believe they are based in Iris Lily Land.

I posted on another thread about replacing radiators this winter. That actually led to us having the most comfortable winter ever.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rosarugosa

I ordered seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. It was funny, because when they arrived yesterday, DH was amazed I had ordered from them. Unbeknownst to me, he had requested their catalog. He never noticed it when it arrived, so he was pleasantly surprised to see an actual seed order arrive from them. I believe they are based in Iris Lily Land.

I posted on another thread about replacing radiators this winter. That actually led to us having the most comfortable winter ever.

---

Jeremiah Gettle started that company when he was just a teenager. My husband talked to him at a farm conference back in Missouri, probably almost 30 years ago. He was just a homeschooled kid living on the family farm.

Baker Creek seeds have excellent germination rates. I have things started indoors but am losing interest in gardening this year since it will be a real struggle with the current warm, dry situation.

I don’t start things from seeds, but DH does. We have a few vegetable seeds in trays sitting in our sunroom right now. I should get him a Baker Creek .seeds catalog.

Chicago area: we got a ton of snow on the Saturday/Sunday of T'giving weekend. By the time Christmas came, it was all gone and it was maybe 50 on Christmas.

January was cold and snowy, but not huge storms. Just a number of smaller snowfalls. We had a three week cold snap.

Maybe 10 days ago, we had a record high of 65.

Now, it's in the 30s for a few days, but 40s to low 50s this week. Been a while since we had more snow than a dusting.

Last weekend we drove to Northern Iowa. Des Moines had a dump of snow, and that entire region was hit, but lighter than the immediate des Moines area.

Believe me I was NOT happy to be in a car on roads barely cleared seeing dozens of cars in ditches from the previous 24 hours. As God is my witness, I will never live North of interstate 80 again!

I am content where I am. Went to the outdoor pool yesterday at 5:30 pm… stays light until about 6:45 these days! Hated living in the north where daylight was so short!

okay----i've lived here like---a few months short of 40 years, okay? And like----every year it is different, with one kind of weather one week, and another kind of weather another week. Or even---the same kind of weather 2 or 3 weeks in a row. See? it'sd always different, but the same. And no, manya these people can't drive in ice & snow. Ha. So, i stay off the roads, on account of those people, if at all possible. See? hope that helps you some. But yeah---don't move here, you'll be wanting the gummmint ta DO something about this crazy weather. Yup.

We're on a run of several days with highs in the 80's, and setting records never seen before. I guess technically it is still winter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rogar

We're on a run of several days with highs in the 80's, and setting records never seen before. I guess technically it is still winter.

---

it was stupidly, cold, and windy here for the past couple of days but soon it’s going to be 80. I do not want it to be 80 yet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rogar

We're on a run of several days with highs in the 80's, and setting records never seen before. I guess technically it is still winter.

---

It sure is, yesterday we reached a high of 28 degrees although we're expecting to reach a high above freezing today, but not yet. At 10:30am it is 30 degrees out.

Give me the 70s and 80s! Those are my favorite temps. I'm tired of being cold. LOL

Much of my area went on stage 1 drought water use restrictions today. You are supposed to ask for water in restaurants, limited outdoor watering, and other cut backs. It was a cloudless 90 degrees here which is another hot record, plus the trees have not leafed out for any shade on yards. The last time we had water use restrictions waa 2013. I guess it's not technically winter and realistically more like summer. You talk to people and they say it's sort of scary, but it could all change.

Our peach tree bloomed and leafed out about three weeks early here in the high desert of New Mexico. It's been in the 70's and up into the 80's here with absolutely no moisture...most years it seems we get a hard frost in late March and early April just as the blooms are coming on, which results in no peaches. Last year we finally had a great peach year after about four years of virtually nothing. I might add that our peach tree produces the most delicious peaches I have EVER eaten!

Hopefully we will get some monsoon action this summer because if we don't our well may very well run dry for the first time. We rely on on rainwater cachment and our 400 ft. deep well. If we don't get anything we will have to get water delivered and that is very expensive.

We hit a record high of 80 today in the Chicago area.

Its raining here thank goodness so it can wear away at the remaining snow pack. It is so good to see ground again. My roses under hay are trying to leaf out and I am slowly pulling the hay away but it scares me to do so. Siouz, my brother lives out there and his wife is an avid gardener and the dryness makes her crazy. Hopefully the peaches come through for you. I can't believe you have trees leafing. We won';t have that until the first or second week of May.