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Post by woodstove on Mar 13, 2009 20:49:07 GMT
Three days straight of badly needed rain here in Austin, Texas. Unusually cold rain at that, with daytime highs in the 40-45 Fahrenheit range. What was brown (just about all of the southern plains) should be green within about 72 hours with a great burst of wildflowers here in Central Texas within ten days. Two of my tomato vines overwintered somehow (I'd cut them back to near nothing) and are growing rapidly. Also thriving: frisee, chard, strawberries, chives, and several herbs. Don't yet know about my carrots, although I have high hopes for them!
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Post by scooter on Mar 15, 2009 4:18:25 GMT
I am glad that you got rain in Austin, all that happened here is 4 days of drizzle amounting to .8" here in the Poth area and all it did was settle the dust. Further south and down to .2". I still have cracks over 1" wide in the yard and praying for a 3-4" rain in the next couple of weeks. Cattle are hungry, hay is gone, and no green grass
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Post by woodstove on Mar 15, 2009 13:24:26 GMT
I am glad that you got rain in Austin, all that happened here is 4 days of drizzle amounting to .8" here in the Poth area and all it did was settle the dust. Further south and down to .2". I still have cracks over 1" wide in the yard and praying for a 3-4" rain in the next couple of weeks. Cattle are hungry, hay is gone, and no green grass I hear you, Scooter. We could still use a lot more rain here, too, but it was nice to hear it on the roof and watch the grass relax for a minute or two. That said, the drought vibe, even here, even after the precipitation, lingers.
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Post by jimcripwell on Mar 15, 2009 13:59:42 GMT
I could not really join in this thread until now. Here in Ottawa, we are just getting our first signs of spring. Understand the ground is still frozen for about 2 feet down, and my garden is covered in snow, so nothing is growing yet. The first sign of spring is the "sugaring off". At this time of year, if you drill a hole in a sugar maple tree, sap will pour out. To get the high osmotic pressures, you need cold nights and warm days, which we are now getting. Minus single digits C by night, and plus single digits, or more, by day. So the "sugar bush" is open and the "sugar shacks" are boiling down maple sap to make syrup. When my children were young, it was wonderful to take them out on this first sign of spring. The other first sign is the cardinal, a bird which does not migrate. The male of this bird species is bright scarlet, and cannot survive our winters unless it is fed. Many households have bird feeders through the winter, so here it thrives. It is a very territorial bird, with a distinctive song. So when I go out for a walk, I hear the song, and look up into the trees, which are, of course, completley bare of leaves. You can see this scarlet bird against a clear blue sky, and know spring really is coming. I hope people who dont know about our neck of the woods appreciate this little story.
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Post by byz on Mar 15, 2009 19:10:11 GMT
I could not really join in this thread until now. Here in Ottawa, we are just getting our first signs of spring. Understand the ground is still frozen for about 2 feet down, and my garden is covered in snow, so nothing is growing yet. The first sign of spring is the "sugaring off". At this time of year, if you drill a hole in a sugar maple tree, sap will pour out. To get the high osmotic pressures, you need cold nights and warm days, which we are now getting. Minus single digits C by night, and plus single digits, or more, by day. So the "sugar bush" is open and the "sugar shacks" are boiling down maple sap to make syrup. When my children were young, it was wonderful to take them out on this first sign of spring. The other first sign is the cardinal, a bird which does not migrate. The male of this bird species is bright scarlet, and cannot survive our winters unless it is fed. Many households have bird feeders through the winter, so here it thrives. It is a very territorial bird, with a distinctive song. So when I go out for a walk, I hear the song, and look up into the trees, which are, of course, completley bare of leaves. You can see this scarlet bird against a clear blue sky, and know spring really is coming. I hope people who dont know about our neck of the woods appreciate this little story. Jim I enjoyed reading this, as it is so different from here in the UK ;D Today we had an absolutely lovely day, I spent the whole afternoon in the garden. It was so warm I even rolled up my sleeves
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Post by w7psk on Mar 15, 2009 21:46:34 GMT
Today in the Seattle Area we were greeted with a nice blanket of SNOW.
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Post by flyingmonkey on Mar 15, 2009 22:15:52 GMT
www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Global+warming+longer+happening/1391903/story.htmlWater mains buried to the standard minimum engineered spec of 2.6 meters cover for this area , measured from pipe obvert are freezing/breaking . 2.8 meters cover water /sewer pipes still flowing-but March is when the frost depth usually reaches maximum. Unprecedented frost depth at 54 degrees of latitude. It is a good year to be in the hole digging business-maybe I'll get to retire early ..(:
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Post by jimcripwell on Mar 19, 2009 16:23:44 GMT
Since I am probably one of the few who can report new signs of spring, let me give you an update. We have had a number of days of maximums temperatures above 0C . The production of maple syrup is proceeding apace. Apparently, this industry is recession proof. Producers can sell every last cc of maple syrup. The only question remaining is, how much will there be? Warm days and cold nights dictate. We have had that for the last 10 days or so, and the 5 day forecast is for more of the same. The snow is going from my garden. This happens unevenly. As the snow disappears, the frost in the gound can disappear from the top. The first flowers I get are winter aconites. Today I saw them for the first time. The yellow flower bud is a lovely sign of spring. I know under the snow near the ones I can see are others in the same state, blooming under the snow. Let us hope the weather holds for the maple syrup until the end of the month, and then hopefully we will see some really nice spring weather.
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Post by woodstove on Mar 19, 2009 16:35:08 GMT
Since I am probably one of the few who can report new signs of spring, let me give you an update. We have had a number of days of maximums temperatures above 0C . The production of maple syrup is proceeding apace. Apparently, this industry is recession proof. Producers can sell every last cc of maple syrup. The only question remaining is, how much will there be? Warm days and cold nights dictate. We have had that for the last 10 days or so, and the 5 day forecast is for more of the same. The snow is going from my garden. This happens unevenly. As the snow disappears, the frost in the gound can disappear from the top. The first flowers I get are winter aconites. Today I saw them for the first time. The yellow flower bud is a lovely sign of spring. I know under the snow near the ones I can see are others in the same state, blooming under the snow. Let us hope the weather holds for the maple syrup until the end of the month, and then hopefully we will see some really nice spring weather. Hey Jim. The retro-modern folksinger Gillian Welch has a fine song called "Acony Bell" that you might enjoy about now. On iTunes...
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Post by byz on Mar 19, 2009 18:32:55 GMT
Warm weather all the last week in the uk ;D Some frost here in the south on Friday night, however I'm enjoying having daylight when I go to work (6:15 am). But it's still dark when I get up, ad it'll be darker in two weeks when we go to British Summer Time (BST)
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Post by byz on Mar 25, 2009 12:14:10 GMT
It looks like the aurora borealis has started up.
Does anyone know why they pick up in spring & autumn?
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Post by jimcripwell on Mar 26, 2009 11:09:52 GMT
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Post by twawki on Mar 26, 2009 12:36:41 GMT
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Post by w7psk on Mar 26, 2009 14:12:42 GMT
Woke up this morning to 29 degrees (seasonal avg is supposed to be 40-45). Seasonal averages says are supposed to be nearing 60 and today we are going to be lucky to have 50 , and that's with a forecast of a sunny day. Forecasts for the next 10 days is 40s and Rain.
Winter is still here in the Puget Sound area of Washington State
IM READY FOR SPRING TO COME,
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Post by william on Mar 26, 2009 16:14:14 GMT
Spring is also late coming to the Canadian Prairies. Today started with a low of -12C, with a forecasted high of -7C. March 9th, we had a low of -41C which is the lowest in record history for this location. Previous recorded low was -29C. The Engineering standard for water mains piping here is a minimum burial of 2.8 meters. Due to extreme winter conditions, 3C colder than the average, and the late spring, water mains piping have been freezing. www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/data/anomnight.3.26.2009.gif
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