weather forecast

[mitchmaine]

hey there, i like the idea of a journal, so at the risk of boring you all to death, here is our week. monday it rained 2" washing away 1.5' of mealy snow that was hard to move in and wouldn't pack well. the feilds were almost bare but for the inch of fresh snow last night. it was warm all week, but now it's 9 degrees with a thirty mile breeze. fine in the woods. 3-4" well packed snow, no wind on the ground, and sunny. good choppin'.

[near horse]

Well, I'll add something from the NW. We've had maybe 3" of snow since the first of the year. For at least the last 2 weeks highs in the mid to upper 40's and sunny. I'd take this weather 2 months from now!! People are starting to worry about the summer water situation but what'r you gonna do?

[Biological Woodsman]

Ridgewind Farm, Central Appalachia, 3000ft., snow cover since before Christmas, now about 27" of hard base on level ground and you can imagine the drifts. We have worked the 1/2 mile long right of way to the point that we have no place to put snow. Now we are just going with the pack it down and drive over it approach. Just had our latest snow of about 4 more inches and now 60 mph winds forecast...

I am beginning to believe some of my deep southern critics that say that Virginia ain't the south. Unless maybe it is the new south pole.... this is ridiculous is a common comment by everyone down here.

4WD pick up is only good on the road. No choice but to feed with the horses, they are the only way of moving hay to the fields for the herd of 16 Suffolks and one black mule.

Snow texture changes with the wind and air temps almost daily, so you never know what surface you have to work on tomorrow. Glad we have good horses to work.

Our total snow is closing in on 60" so far. Somebody said that was more than Anchorage Alaska and is surly more than Vancouver from watching the attempts to get snow cover for the Olympics.

Springs are running in places I have never seen them.

Enjoy the art work someone sent me... hope it doesn't offend anyone....

accurate sendiment but x rated

[dominiquer60]

Well Jason,

Down here, south of the deep south we are gearing up for a below average temperature spell with nights in the 40s and highs in the 60s. If it weren't for the fact the the 100% humidity likes to come at you sideways all night long this would not be such a bad thing. Going home every morning to an unheated uninsulated RV doesn't help much either. Enjoy those wood stoves and hopefully VA will share some of the next snow with the north. If it is going to be cold up there it would be nice to have some additional insulation on the berries and gardens. Stay warm you all, I am off to work.

Erika

[J-L]

Our situation is similar to Near Horse's. Damn little snow. We are getting very nervous about next summer and I am considering buying some cheaper hay right now as I may not be able to raise enough judging from the snowpack. But we had the same situation last year and April 1st or so we had 2' of snow one night and then June came along and we packed in a bunch of snow.

Jason, you're experiencing a Wyoming like winter there it sounds like. Most years we are in your situation but are used to it. Still, long about the middle of March you get really sick of it. I'm starting to tire of even this mild winter we're having.

My dad always told me no matter how easy the winter was, try to have half of your hay left the 1st of March. That way you can make it 'til turn out on grass in this country. I should be in good shape this year. We'll see about next. Loooong way until spring yet.

[LostFarmer]

We are having a light winter as well. It is not looking good for the snow pack and the irrigation season. I was looking to plant 20 acres of new hay but I think I will go a year of barley and cut it for grain. That allows me to get the crop off about the middle of August and that keeps me from needing the late water. I will have enough hay left over to last about half of next year. Hay is just one step above free right now. Wish I still had that shed and a way to store 500 ton for a couple of years.

Grandpa always said in this country you whine about a bad winter and cry about an open one. LF

[OldKat]

From the Southwest; a colder and wetter than “average” winter. Temperatures have been below average; with the lows seldom reaching record low levels this year, but consistently staying 7 to 10 degrees below the average. High temperatures have run 12 to 15 degrees below average for weeks at a time, and we have been in one of those spells for the last two weeks. Seldom snows here, but we have had two days this winter when it snowed all day long; once in early December and again in mid-January. Neither resulted in any significant accumulation, as the temps had been in the mid to upper 40’s for several days before either occurrence. It has been WET here also. Drought broke in October with few breaks of more than a day or two without rain. Unfortunately we got little late season growth on the warm season grasses as the days were too short and the temps too low by that time. November was fairly warm and dry, maybe only an inch of rain total. December was very wet and cold (by our standards). January rainfall totaled just less than 2 inches, probably close to “normal”. February has been VERY wet so far. I have measured over 4 inches through today; all of it a very slow, steady rain …meaning the soil is finally saturated. Ponds and creek bottoms are full to the brim, rivers are running nearly bank full for the first time in several years.

I think I heard that the Drought Monitor either did or was expected to show NO DROUGHT anywhere in Texas as of this week. I can’t even recall the last time that happened. I am just hoping that this carries over into the growing season. What has been most unusual for us though, is that we have probably only had 4 or 5 sunny days and about the same number of partly cloudy days here since early December. We seldom have more than a day or so of cloudy weather here a month in the winter, so we are unaccustomed to seeing day after day of cloudy, gray skies. This too shall pass …

[Robernson]

Well I am in the same boat with Jason. The snow has crushed buildings around here. In town the Wal-Mart and a bank have pretty nice little valleys in the roof. A friend lost a shed and a guy down the road had on of those metal car-port things collapse with is car inside.
Our damage isn't too bad,mostly just down trees. I have 5 pine trees that fell in the garden, the top of a cedar in the backyard, and lord knows what has fallen across the roads in the woods (old logging trails). So this leaves me with one question; "WHERE IS JASON WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!?!?!?!!?!?" Just kidding.....

That is about all I can tell you about our weather situation, or at least on the destruction end. They say we will get more snow Monday....I hope not. We have already missed 11 days of school this year due to this stupid snow!!!!

~~R

[mitchmaine]

Couldn’t sleep this morning, so I got up, pulled on my boots and went down to the barn to check the horses. All’s well. Noticed it was three am and 33 degrees out. Almost too warm for a sap run in the third week of February. We’ve been sugaring some time now and keeping a journal for 21 years of it. We’ve never tapped in February. Last year, we tapped on March 5, and it was minus 13 degrees with two and a half feet of frozen snow that you could run on top of. Last summer it started raining in the end of May and didn’t stop until mid-August. We got 29” of rain. Did all our haying in September. Turned out ok, ‘cause hay’s worth a fortune and we have a barn full. The point is things come and things go but you could always count on being able to predict the weather. I think that’s changing too.

[jac]

20th February 2010.... Frost again last night -5.. Unusual amount of frost in South West Scotland.. or should I really be saying "USUAL for 10yrs ago" ???.. We had a long spell of snow and when it melted the clear nights and ground frost has been here since.. Snowdrops all up now,an amazing little flower that can push its way thru the hardest frozen ground to let us know spring is getting close and when I was in the wood lot yesterday a beech tree had buds that looked ready to burst !!! way too early It seems that the weather and nature is unsettled both sides of the pond.
John