Bizarre weather

[Marsha Lynn]

In March it was 80 degrees and the perennials broke dormancy early. Now it is April and back more in the normal range with freeze advisories the past two nights and frost again tonight. So temps are normal now but spring is still way ahead of its usual pace.

The most bizarre thing, however, is how little rain we have received. I don't think we got even an inch in March. And definitely no snow. Today I got out my soaker hose for the garden plus hauled gallons of water out to places not reached by the hose.

I thought my hydrangea plant was looking thirsty today -- they tend to wilt when it's dry. Then I looked more closely and realized that it has a severe case of frostbite. It got too enthusiastic in March's heat and has now been nipped back in April.

It's not as though we haven't had our usual spring thunderstorms and even tornadoes in the area. But for us they have been all bark and no bite -- as Jude says: "clouds without rain, blown along by the wind".

I don't want to say this too loudly -- April has the record for most days of consecutive rain in Indiana -- but we sure could use some April showers for our May flowers.

Marsha

[Susan Unger]

Your post is pretty much ditto for south central PA, although throw in fire warnings and sleet yesterday. It is just weird.

[Melissa DeBono]

Similar pattern in Boston. So far I haven't had any of my plants suffer from late spring. I harvested carrots straight through the winter. It's been weird.

[Cynthia Prentice]

It has been so weird here too. Our ornamental pear trees bloomed in October after it finally rained (after having blooming in the spring). Everything was green ALL winter (it is NEVER green all winter) after enduring the worst drought on record. Yesterday saw chest high hail in the Amarillo area ( http://www.naznet.com/community/show...l=1#post132496 ) . On April the 3rd we had a slight risk for severe weather with a disclaimer that if anything happened it would be only small hail, wind and a few small tornadoes...instead we had 17 tornadoes with multiple F2 and F3 and baseball size hail. I'm with you Marsha...it is just bizarre.

[Susan Unger]

It has been so weird here too. Our ornamental pear trees bloomed in October after it finally rained (after having blooming in the spring). Everything was green ALL winter (it is NEVER green all winter) after enduring the worst drought on record. Yesterday saw chest high hail in the Amarillo area ( http://www.naznet.com/community/show...l=1#post132496 ) . On April the 3rd we had a slight risk for severe weather with a disclaimer that if anything happened it would be only small hail, wind and a few small tornadoes...instead we had 17 tornadoes with multiple F2 and F3 and baseball size hail. I'm with you Marsha...it is just bizarre.

And I would think yours takes the prize for most bizarre weather - from horrendous drought so intense you could lose a kid in the cracks in the ground alll the way to 17 tornadoes in one day.

[Cynthia Prentice]

And I would think yours takes the prize for most bizarre weather - from horrendous drought so intense you could lose a kid in the cracks in the ground alll the way to 17 tornadoes in one day.

You must remember that picture I posted Susan...the cracks in the ground were big enough to lose a kid in!

[Susan Unger]

You must remember that picture I posted Susan...the cracks in the ground were big enough to lose a kid in!

Yes, I remember. That was a really unnerving thought and image!

[John Kennedy]

It has been so weird here too. Our ornamental pear trees bloomed in October after it finally rained (after having blooming in the spring). Everything was green ALL winter (it is NEVER green all winter) after enduring the worst drought on record. Yesterday saw chest high hail in the Amarillo area ( http://www.naznet.com/community/show...l=1#post132496 ) . On April the 3rd we had a slight risk for severe weather with a disclaimer that if anything happened it would be only small hail, wind and a few small tornadoes...instead we had 17 tornadoes with multiple F2 and F3 and baseball size hail. I'm with you Marsha...it is just bizarre.

If only I could remember the words to "Texas, my Texas........."

[Gina Stevenson]

here you go, John:

"Texas, Our Texas" (sound file follows lyrics)

Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State!
Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great!
Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev'ry test
O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest.
(chorus)

Texas, O Texas! your freeborn single star,
Sends out its radiance to nations near and far,
Emblem of Freedom! it set our hearts aglow,
With thoughts of San Jacinto and glorious Alamo.
(chorus)

Texas, dear Texas! from tyrant grip now free,
Shines forth in splendor, your star of destiny!
Mother of heroes, we come your children true,
Proclaiming our allegiance, our faith, our love for you.

Chorus

God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.

http://www.lsjunction.com/song.htm

(midi file here)

[Cynthia Prentice]

If only I could remember the words to "Texas, my Texas........."

Careful there John...this native Houstonian still salutes General Sam Houston when we pass his statue on I-45.

[John Kennedy]

Careful there John...this native Houstonian still salutes General Sam Houston when we pass his statue on I-45.

Every time I hear TEXAS, MY TEXAS, I'm reminded of how glad I am that UT chose to use "The Eyes of Texas". HOOK 'EM!

[Gina Stevenson]

Still recall the first time on #45, as it was a not-so-good time of day.

[Vivian Cornwell]

It has been so weird here too. Our ornamental pear trees bloomed in October after it finally rained (after having blooming in the spring). Everything was green ALL winter (it is NEVER green all winter) after enduring the worst drought on record. Yesterday saw chest high hail in the Amarillo area ( http://www.naznet.com/community/show...l=1#post132496 ) . On April the 3rd we had a slight risk for severe weather with a disclaimer that if anything happened it would be only small hail, wind and a few small tornadoes...instead we had 17 tornadoes with multiple F2 and F3 and baseball size hail. I'm with you Marsha...it is just bizarre.

I heard there was 4' hail in the TX panhandle. There were pictures but I didn't see any that deep so thought the newsman must have meant 4", but you are saying "chest high." WOW!!

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

Every time I hear TEXAS, MY TEXAS, I'm reminded of how glad I am that UT chose to use "The Eyes of Texas". HOOK 'EM!

I get a little misty singing "Deep in the heart of Texas."

[Hans Deventer]

I get a little misty singing "Deep in the heart of Texas."

Reminds me of the Ray Conniff Singers. My dad used to love them:



Start at 3:15

[Jim Franklin]

Normal spring for Idaho meaning yo yo temperatures such as near 80 one day and about 30 the following night. Great swings in temperature are normal for a fairly arid climate. I noticed in the song Gina presented that it said "all hail" and it sure did in the Amarillo area.

[Marsha Lynn]

I don't want to say this too loudly -- April has the record for most days of consecutive rain in Indiana -- but we sure could use some April showers for our May flowers.

Wow! Be careful what you post on NazNet! After weeks with no significant precipitation, we have had over an inch of rain today.

Let the serious gardening begin! (As soon as things dry out a little.)

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

Reminds me of the Ray Conniff Singers. My dad used to love them:

Hans, here's how we most often hear "Deep in the Heart of Texas"

[Gina Stevenson]

Astros game! Haven't been to one of those since a cpl of them in the 80s.

[Hans Deventer]

Hans, here's how we most often hear "Deep in the Heart of Texas"

Ah, songs in stadiums! Ian has been posting one the other day on Facebook. As a true Scott. Even moves me!

[Marsha Lynn]

Thanks to an arctic blast, we're going from a high of 80 yesterday to a high of 52 today, but that's not why I'm resurrecting this thread. It's more about the weather past.

We not only had drought in Indiana this summer, we also had many days over 100 degrees. That didn't set well with our summer crops. The green beans sulked because of the heat. The cucumber vines dried up and died. The flowers lacked enthusiasm.

Then it finally cooled down and started raining again. And suddenly things started to grow. There were several indications that there was some confusion about what time of the year it was. Someone reported on Facebook that their lilacs had blossoms. My "everbearing" strawberries bloomed with enthusiasm.

In September I planted fall crops -- radishes, carrots, turnips, peas, etc. -- and had to pull up volunteer tomato plants that tried to get in on the act. I apologized to them as I did it, but explained that September was just too late for a tomato plant to get started in Indiana. Where were they in June?

A pumpkin vine that had somehow popped up in my roses and languished in the heat through the summer months suddenly took off with take-over-the-world enthusiasm and produced fruit. I broke off all except a couple of pumpkins, hoping the vine could put all its energy into quickly ripening those two, but it's not going to happen. Time has run out for the pumpkins. The leaves wilted in a light frost a couple of weeks ago (but I noticed a fresh bloom last week).

My dahlias, nasturtiums, cosmos, and others have loved the rain and cool weather of the past few weeks and produced large and beautiful blooms with a riot of color. I even had a gladiolus bloom in early October. And I still found a few late green beans out there yesterday, not pole beans that will often produce until frost, but bush beans that still had unspent energy left over after their summer of dormancy. Green beans the week before Halloween! How bizarre.

Marsha

[Marsha Lynn]

I used to think thunder in January in Indiana was completely bizarre. It's thundering right now. I still think it's a little bizarre, but not so unusual as it used to be.

[Greg Crofford]

Ah, songs in stadiums! Ian has been posting one the other day on Facebook. As a true Scott. Even moves me!

Rise to be a nation again? I thought Scotland already IS its own nation, in the same way England and Wales are. So what does that make the U.K.? So confusing...

[John Kennedy]

Ah, songs in stadiums! Ian has been posting one the other day on Facebook. As a true Scott. Even moves me!

Hey, this is mild. Can you imagine how the Brits must've felt hundreds of years ago, standing on the plain in the north country watching these people coming over the hill wearing skirts, faces painted blue and those pipes skirling? Talk about psychological warfare.

[Gina Stevenson]

Talk about bizarre ... we had 57F here today ... weird! AND it's been thundering & thundering ... how about a "nice 57," instead, so we feel we can go outside (sort of avoid those thundering times, realizing that involves lightning, too).

Ho-hum ... such is life in Michigan, where it'll soon be right back down to about 20 or so ... even saw a single digit evening temp in the forecast ... winter's NOT over yet ................

[Hans Deventer]

Friday morning I went to work on my bike at -7.5 C (18.5F). This morning we're at +12.5 C (54.5 F) That is + 20 C higher in just a couple of days! Doesn't happen very often in this country where we have a moderate sea climate (think of Seattle WA, Vancouver BC). Hasn't been that warm during the night in January in 112 years.