How's the Weather Where You're At?

Cold, rain, and possibly a little snow for 7 of the next 10 days.    Spring can't get here soon enough. 

My outdoor thermometer is registering 51F in the shade. The snow is disappearing and rain is on the way. But Winter is far from over.

This morning it was minus 5 oC but the wind chill from the Beast from the East made it like it was minus 15 oC .
Even me in my storm coat ,  hat & gloves etc.  I found it too cold to be outside for much more than 20 min.

 Tonight we have an orange snow warning where warm moist Bay of Biscay air will be caught up in the jet stream of the Beast from the East .
 Last time that happened we had nearly four feet of massive damp snow flakes in 12 hours that saw the villages here in the South Wales hills  cut off for several days as the roads became black ice skating rinks for anyone foolish enough to venture out on them .  Forecast temps are expected to be minus 4 to minus 12 oC over the next few days plus what ever wind chill happens to come from the East .

 I serviced the petrol, genny , tested it so it's ready for running at the flick of a switch three days ago .  We also have  15 gallons of petrol in cans at the ready , plenty of dry food goods & pressure canned veg etc


 What is niggling me is that tomorrow  Ii was planning ( for the last two months ) to collect my new car from the dealership some 20 miles away , but if the snow does hit us hard  due to the numerous steep hills between us & the dealers it will have to be delayed  till everything is snow ploughed out , gritted & salted which could be a week or more .
 If it were a Canadian style winter snow it wouldn't be so awkward as that type of snow is super dry most of the time.

 Tomorrow is St Davids day & for much of the last year I've been teasing he staff at the local medical centre saying that their 18 inch long Daffodils ( national flower emblem ) they put out on display on St Davids day are English Daffs grown in Spalding Lincolnshire .
It caused some long faces there  I can tell you .
 I secretly managed to buy 16 guaranteed Welsh stock natural daffodil bulbs ( over $2 each ) in early Sept last year and potted them up .
 Knowing the weather forecast for tomorrow I decided to present them to the surgery staff this morning so they can have them for St David's day .... I added thre welsh dragon flags tot eh bowl and also printed off the warrantee for the bulbs  7 heat sealed in in a cler plastic envelope .

 I didn't mean to make them cry honest , but that's what happened , everyone of them was dabbing at their eyes  by the time we left the surgery .

Plantoid, What a sweetie you are with the gift of daffodils. But, I won't tell anyone.

AAawwwwww! How NICE!

SoCal fire areas may have debris flow (mud slides) cause by this coming rain.  Evacuation preparedness advised. https://sbc-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=469ab8e3057a4f56aee5e3f080dc7fb1

The stormy March is come at last,
With wind, and cloud, and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast
That through the snowy valley flies.


–William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)

Well, it's raining here. That is not a good thing.  We've had extreme flooding in the area.  We are  5 miles south of the Kankakee River.  A couple of levees broke,they tried to evacuate a nearby neighborhood - tried, but most wouldn't leave.  The river peaked on Tuesday so it would have been good to have some time for the river to drop before receiving more rain.

Other than a bit of water in the basement - but not bad, we've had much worse - we aren't bad off ourselves.  But we feel bad for those who've had more difficulties. 

There's one farm closer to the river which is completely flooded, but the house in the middle is on a rise.  The guy parks his truck just off the highway and rows a boat to his house.  During the day you see his boat tied up.  Here it is:

And just across the road:



This is not a lake, folks, just flooded fields!

Well the advised snow storm & gales didn't quite reach us this afternoon when we were advised of red alert  danger to life weather was imminent .. a few miles away things wern't so lucky it seems .
 We now have another 24 hr red alert this time for 24 hrs &  it may slap us hard .

So far today we've ha d a few inches of very fine powder snow  , at 10 this morning the day temp was minus 6 oC ,  it warmed up to minus 2 oC at 15000 hrs ,  then it dropped dramatically & the wind struck up with a very nasty tune ,

I'm going to hibernate .

 Oh,  I managed to collect the brand new car this morning .. It's the  first time I've ever got a new car on the day the new licence plates are issued .

I had a few boy racers tooting their horns & flashing their light as they whizzed past me doing 70 mph .. Goodness knows what speed they were doing .....I had to check that I had the engine turned on .

Not as bad as you, Plantoid, but temps dropping (now 37) and rain pouring down. Took this pic yesterday, and using it to cheer myself up, today.

plantoid wrote:Well the advised snow storm & gales didn't quite reach us this afternoon when we were advised of red alert  danger to life weather was imminent .. a few miles away things wern't so lucky it seems .
 We now have another 24 hr red alert this time for 24 hrs &  it may slap us hard .

So far today we've ha d a few inches of very fine powder snow  , at 10 this morning the day temp was minus 6 oC ,  it warmed up to minus 2 oC at 15000 hrs ,  then it dropped dramatically & the wind struck up with a very nasty tune ,

I'm going to hibernate .

 Oh,  I managed to collect the brand new car this morning .. It's the  first time I've ever got a new car on the day the new licence plates are issued .

I had a few boy racers tooting their horns & flashing their light as they whizzed past me doing 70 mph .. Goodness knows what speed they were doing .....I had to check that I had the engine turned on .

 I seem to recall you are in the UK, Plantoid.  Whereabouts do you live?

There is horizontal snow and 30 mph winds right now....

Scorpio Rising wrote:There is horizontal snow and 30 mph winds right now....

YIKES! I'm gonna put another log on the fire in your name, Scorpio. 

We have yet another 10 days where 7 of them are rain. At least the wind and threat of snow are gone, and no more signs of a hard frost. We really need this rain, but I am so ready for spring. 

Kate888 wrote:

plantoid wrote:Well the advised snow storm & gales didn't quite reach us this afternoon when we were advised of red alert  danger to life weather was imminent .. a few miles away things wern't so lucky it seems .
 We now have another 24 hr red alert this time for 24 hrs &  it may slap us hard .

So far today we've ha d a few inches of very fine powder snow  , at 10 this morning the day temp was minus 6 oC ,  it warmed up to minus 2 oC at 15000 hrs ,  then it dropped dramatically & the wind struck up with a very nasty tune ,

I'm going to hibernate .

 Oh,  I managed to collect the brand new car this morning .. It's the  first time I've ever got a new car on the day the new licence plates are issued .

I had a few boy racers tooting their horns & flashing their light as they whizzed past me doing 70 mph .. Goodness knows what speed they were doing .....I had to check that I had the engine turned on .

 I seem to recall you are in the UK, Plantoid.  Whereabouts do you live?

 South Wales at the left hand end of th M4 motorway .
The forecast heavy snow missed us by about ten miles either side .... The Amman valley & the Gwendrath valley channel sea air to out direction when the wind has a Southerly or South Westerly  aspect
 The top of the hills about 1 & 1/2 a mile away often also protects us from vicious storms from the Westerlies , Northerlies & some Southerlies .

 We've come off the red snow warnings & now have a yellow snow warning for tonight & tomorrow .. driven by storms coming up from Spain hitting the remnants of the Beast from the East .

So far it's only an inch or so deep but could be a foot or more deep  by morning if it happens as forecast .

Overnight last night, we windy snowy miserableness, had an inch of wet driven snow sticking to the north side of trees, etc.  Sun came out today, about 40*, melted most of the ground snow, but weirdly still stuck to trees! And cars, etc.

Windy and snowy overnight here, too, with ice underneath the snow. I was clearing/topping off beds yesterday and getting them ready for peas... but now it's winter again. I woke up last night because of the wind (suddenly, completely awake ) and went out at around 3:30am to grab the cover off the wrapped but didn't-survive-the-winter rosemary plant and bring it in because I knew it had come loose and I was afraid it would blow away. My weather station recorded a 21mph gust at 3:33am - I'm betting that's what woke me. Half the snow melted this afternoon, but the forecast doesn't look like pea-planting weather any more.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Windy and snowy overnight here, too, with ice underneath the snow. I was clearing/topping off beds yesterday and getting them ready for peas... but now it's winter again. I woke up last night because of the wind (suddenly, completely awake ) and went out at around 3:30am to grab the cover off the wrapped but didn't-survive-the-winter rosemary plant and bring it in because I knew it had come loose and I was afraid it would blow away. My weather station recorded a 21mph gust at 3:33am - I'm betting that's what woke me. Half the snow melted this afternoon, but the forecast doesn't look like pea-planting weather any more.

Ha!  Yes it wa super crappy and windy!  Rosemary, I have done that for many years, but last year , I let the darned thing die of thirst.  It needed potted in a larger pot...didn’t get done.

I love it especially with lamb.  That plant was 5 years old....why do I not care?

Here. Sunny cold.  Nice to have sun.  Drying out finally.  Cold but seems warm but it isn’t.

Click on the heading "Enlarge this image Click to see full size" to see the 10 day forecast for my area for March 1 - 12.

There is over a foot of very solid snow on the ground, the driveway is a canyon with walls 4 foot high in places. We sheared sheep yesterday. There are chicks in the mud room. Today it is snowing and blowing and currently 20* F. Lambing is supposed to start later this week.

Spring is coming...... It better be.

Turan wrote:There is over a foot of very solid snow on the ground, the driveway is a canyon with walls 4 foot high in places.  We sheared sheep yesterday. There are chicks in the mud room. Today it is snowing and blowing and currently 20* F.  Lambing is supposed to start later this week.

Spring is coming......  It better be.

YIKES! The next time I gripe about the weather, invite me to your house.    Here, it looks like the worst is over. It isn't quite spring, yet -- maybe "apre winter" would be a good label. Looks like I could start setting out hardy plants in another week or so.

Turan wrote:There is over a foot of very solid snow on the ground, the driveway is a canyon with walls 4 foot high in places.  We sheared sheep yesterday. There are chicks in the mud room. Today it is snowing and blowing and currently 20* F.  Lambing is supposed to start later this week.

Spring is coming......  It better be.

You guys are shearing?  Hope Spring arrives!  

I've been entertaining thoughts of transplanting seedlings, but awoke this morning to the sight of my garden blasted, once again with frost. Those poor seedlings are not hardened off yet, but I'd prefer to plant them soon, rather then leave them under the grow lights and having to pot them up as they outgrow their containers. I'm glad I don't have to depend on farming for a living- I'd never sleep!

Yardslave wrote:I've been entertaining thoughts of transplanting seedlings, but awoke this morning to the sight of my garden blasted, once again with frost. Those poor seedlings are not hardened off yet, but I'd prefer to plant them soon, rather then leave them under the grow lights and having to pot them up as they outgrow their containers. I'm glad I don't have to depend on farming for a living- I'd never sleep!

Same here, YS. My indoor planting area is bursting at the seams. I had to transplant all of my Jiffy Pellet seedlings into larger peat pots. My onion stumplings had to go into regular nursery pots, but can't go outside, yet. The 10-day shows nights in the mid-30s all the way, so we're probably looking at another 2 weeks before anything can go outside, since our nights are usually 4-5 degrees cooler than the forecast. AARRGGHH!!!!!