Spring in February?

Posted on February 22, 2017 by luckyotter

If you doubted climate change is real, the past two winters are enough proof to me that it is. The past two winters are the two warmest winters on record (for this region, anyway), and I have never seen anything like this:

springinfeb

Yes, those are cherry blossoms on those trees. Other trees are blooming too. The grass in my yard is ready to be mowed and flowers are starting to bloom everywhere. The temperatures in the daytime have been in the 70s.

This is in the mountains of North Carolina, not northern Florida. In normal years, our highland climate isn’t very different than that of southern New Jersey or the Mid-Atlantic states. Winters here tend to be of fairly short duration, but they are normally quite cold and we do get some snow.

I love spring (it’s my favorite season), but this isn’t normal. These trees should not be blooming for another month.

The weather in other places has been very strange too. Freezing cold temperatures in the Pacific Northwest (where it’s usually fairly mild in the winter), and days of flooding rains and tropical storm force winds in coastal California.

What a perfect time for the president to silence and attempt to shut down the EPA.

I’m attending a March for Science here in my city on Earth day — April 22nd. It will be my first protest activity against this administration (besides my incessant rants in this blog and on Facebook and Twitter). I’m fed up with the science deniers who act like global warming isn’t real, and now we have a woman under Trump (Betsy DeVos) who has plans to remove the teaching of science in schools (and defund the public schools while she’s at it).

If you want to help save science education, there are Marches for Science in many US cities. Their website is here, and by scrolling to the bottom, you can find out where there will be one near you:

https://www.marchforscience.com/

Spring in January?

Posted on January 15, 2017 by luckyotter

januarytemps

I adore spring (it’s my favorite season), but the temperatures all along the East Coast have been unseasonably warm for at least a week (like , 60 – 70 degrees every day) — and there is no sign that it’s going to get colder any time soon — even though the forecasters are promising winter isn’t done with us yet. Apparently, it’s warmer in New York than it is in Florida — at least according to this map. Now, that’s weird.

What concerns me is that the trees here are looking a little “pregnant” — that is, they’re starting to get that sort of full look, with a muted reddish tint, that trees always get in the late winter just before they start to bloom. Usually that doesn’t happen until March in this region, or sometimes as early as late February. But mid-January? That’s not normal.

The grass is also starting to look like it needs a mow.

I also saw a bee buzzing around. And the birds were singing as if it was May.

I think I recall in 2007, the same thing happened. Shortly after Christmas it got warm and stayed warm for two weeks — and the rose bushes outside started to bloom. So did some of the early-blooming shrubs. But it got cold again, and by the time real spring rolled around, the shrubs decided once was enough: they weren’t going to put on their flamboyant show of color again. So they just went from bare to green.

If it stays warm, then, well, maybe global warming is true after all (and now we have a President who thinks it’s a myth started by the Chinese) and we can start to plant palm trees here on the East Coast. Hey, I hear they plant them on the Jersey Shore now! They’d probably have an even better chance here in the South.

But if it gets cold again, which most likely it will, then I’m afraid we’ll be in for another barren, bloomless spring, like we had in 2007.

Spring, you know I love you, but please be patient! It’s too early.

Too much of a good thing?

Posted on July 8, 2016 by luckyotter

thunderstorm_photo

This summer’s weather has been crazy. All of June was very dry in my part of the county (western NC), barely any rain at all. April and May were dry as well, which is unusual since normally these are two of the wettest months (November and early December are generally wetter though–or they seem to be).

My grass was turning brown and my flowers were dying. It’s been nice not having to mow the yard every weekend (or really, at all!) but the prospect of drought and possible wildfires was not a pleasant one. Like people all over this region, I prayed for rain. But day after day passed with not a drop.

I suppose God got irritated with all the constant rain requests, because for the past three days we’ve been hit every evening with not just rain–but downpours of almost Biblical proportions, complete with thunder, lightning, hail, and very high winds. Last night and the night before, we had severe thunderstorm warnings and these storms were a little scary! Last night’s storm produced flooding rain and the wind was gusting at 65mph, enough to blow the lightweight furniture off my porch and knock over a few of my potted plants. My cats came running inside when they heard the clap of thunder, cowering and their poor fur standing on end.

Tonight is predicted to be much the same. Right now, it’s calm but we’re under a severe storm watch and storms are popping up on the radar all over the region. And it doesn’t look like this pattern is going to end anytime soon. Check out this week’s forecast.

weather_forecast2

Cold spring.

Posted on May 20, 2016 by luckyotter

I don’t know about other areas, but with the exception of a few warm, almost hot days, April and May have been exceptionally chilly, making jackets and sweaters necessary, even during the day. Today was more like mid-November than mid-late May–overcast, rainy and only about 60. It’s windy too, making it seem even colder. Earlier this month, there was actually snow in some higher elevations (and this ain’t exactly the Rockies). Two nights ago we were down in the low 40’s. I’m actually running the heat right now. It’s so fall-like I half-expect the leaves to start changing colors. It’s also been very dry–so dry there have been fires in some places, which is unusual in the spring. My area is finally getting some rain, but it’s still not exactly warm.

The year 1816 is remembered as the “year without a summer.” Temperatures in the northern hemisphere were much lower than average all that summer. The bizarre weather was a “volcanic winter” caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies. While I haven’t heard about any volcanic eruptions and there’s no reason to think this summer won’t be as hot as always, right now I’m tempted to pull out the fall decorations.

I’m planning to spend Memorial Day at the lake, so I sure hope it warms up a little.

Snow in MAY?

Posted on May 4, 2016 by luckyotter

I just heard my local forecast on the news. Some locations in my area are predicted to get SNOW tomorrow morning! Temperatures were unseasonably cool today, and tomorrow is actually going to be cold, at least in the morning. Guess I better bring in the plants overnight.

This has been the craziest year for weather ever. I remember how warm Christmas was–it was about 74 degrees here and I sat outside in flip flops and a T-shirt. Guess Mother Nature is bored and is mixing thing up for shitz and giggles.

It’s hot here.

Posted on December 26, 2015 by luckyotter

I’m tempted to turn on the AC. It got up to 75 today. Hot short days. Very strange.

I wore my FLIP FLOPS today.

The Warmest Christmas Eve the East Coast Has Ever Seen
It’s not just in the South.

Factoid:
In New York, the forecast high temperature of 74 degrees on Thursday is just 1 degree Fahrenheit shy of the actual high temperature on July 4, 2015, the National Weather Service said.

No white Christmas this year.

Posted on December 24, 2015 by luckyotter

tropical_santa

I’m not a big fan of snow or cold weather, but this entire month has been unseasonably warm, and after two or three days of moderately cold weather (but still above freezing), the springlike weather is back. Her’es a screenshot of the weather forecast for the next week.

christmas_weather

As you can see, thunderstorms are supposed to move in tonight, with possible flooding or even severe storms possible–and stick around through Christmas Day. As much as I usually dislike snow, I really wouldn’t mind seeing a little of the white stuff on Christmas. Somehow, thunderstorms and rain don’t seem to fit the mood of the season. Maybe the weather isn’t feeling much in the holiday spirit. It’s just been a very weird month, weather-wise.

The scientific reason why the east coast has been so warm.

Global warming, you say?

Posted on May 1, 2015 by luckyotter

It’s almost May and it’s 47 degrees outside and windy. Brrrrr!

March madness.

Posted on March 20, 2015 by luckyotter

March is a weird month.
Yesterday was sunny, extremely windy, and in the low 70s.
On Sunday, temps climbed into the low 80s.
Today was like late November, cold and rainy, temps in the low 40s.
This weekend is supposed to be pretty, but then they are talking about SNOW after that.
Tornado season starts about now, too. Fortunately i don’t live in a Tornado Alley state.