Weather Check In '23-'24

The old thread was getting ridiculously long and I wanted to make a comment about the weather, so ...

We have had heatwave warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology here for the last 3 or 4 days. I'm a little surprised how much I'm feeling the heat, but 9 years in Doha were followed by 3 years in England, so I suppose I'm just not used to it. Weather app says 31.9℃ (say 89℉), feels like 30.5℃, but I reckon it's hotter than that here. We have had a few thunderstorms over the period, and there's a half-promise of another tonight.

We're having a warm (hovering around 0C) and dry December, and November was much the same. Almost no snow, no precipitation in the forecast. It's bad for the soil moisture levels and water supply, not to mention the value of snow for insulating perennial plants and trees. Plus I really love snow. It's pretty and shovelling it gets me outside and provides exercise.

We in SE PA are having quite a bit of rain at the moment, with flood warnings here and there. We've already had a couple of dustings of snow, which is more than we had last year. Most days are around 50 (F), though, so nothing lasts long.

Raining and 55 F. (13 C.)
in California, San Francisco Bay Area at midnight.

Like haydninvienna (unsurprisingly), we have 30°C-feels-like-35 right now. But the forecast is thunderstorms and showers overnight, and cloudy tomorrow with a maximum of 19°.

>5 hfglen: Wish I could say the same, Hugh!

Pretty awful here today. It's 60° F, but raining sideways. Wind gusts are close to 60 mph in some areas. The ferry from Orient Point to Connecticut has stopped running. And that is very rare indeed.

So far the only white we've seen in our December is a bunch of Styrofoam popcorn blowing down the street courtesy of an accidental garbage spill by one of our neighbors. Other than this, the only sign of a rather (so far) warm winter has been a couple of old snowmen out in the front yard (puddles of rain water).

Northern Wisconsin - Windy and in the low 20s. We got a dusting of snow and that's all we have. Really bare out there and boring and un-photogenic.

We weren't supposed to have snow until after the 25th, but we're supposed to get a few inches tonight. It won't last long though. The ski hills south of here have been getting a good amount of snow.

No snow here in central Oregon. Our winters and snows have shifted and we usually don’t get much until the end of January now. We have been getting fog the last couple of weeks. At one point visibility was only a 1/4 of a mile. Glad I wasn’t driving in that! Sad to say we won’t have a white Christmas this year. I miss the snow.

Had a first today - today I saw an airborne mosquito. I never thought it would be possible to see something like this in the Great Lakes region this time of year - oh yes, it's currently 55 F.

Sunny and 50's here today, though we had snow earlier in the week.

Thunderstorms three or four days in a row in Brisbane, and promised again today.

Started raining yesterday in Durban, and forecast to continue for about 10 days with few partly-cloudy breaks. Currently 14°C.

Christmas Day in outer London was grey but unseasonable warm at 14C. Today is sunny and still strangely warm.

I think we hit 54°F (12°C) here yesterday. I took a long beach walk with my daughter, and I had to peel off layers because the sun was very toasty.

>12 alco261: I also saw a mosquito when I was filling my bird feeders! Though that's probably not quite as rare here as it is for you. Last week I had few moths on my outdoor lit trees.

3°C, dark, rainy and windy. There was something bright and shiny in the sky yesterday, I wondered what it was ;)

Rainy, overcast, 45 F. Not the usual December weather.

Sunny and high 40s (F). Way too warm for this time of year. It’s nice running weather, though.

Max of 37°C (97.6°F) today, and still 28°C (82.4°F) at 8.30 pm. Possibly hotter tomorrow, then a thunderstorm on Saturday.

So is anyone experiencing "normal" weather? Anybody at all?

>22 MrAndrew: *raises hand* We are! We are! At least normal weather for a wet year, which thankfully this seems to be for us. Northern California.

>22 MrAndrew: not here in NH so far. It's been in the 40s and 50s and raining fairly often for the past couple weeks; usually we have several snows by now. If it doesn't get cold soon we will have to mow the lawn. I'm worried about the vegetation - the grass is turning back to green when it should be dormant now, and some trees are budding. That won't be good for them come spring.

>22 MrAndrew: For a given value of "normal", here in Durban. It seems to me that the normal weather is revolting for exactly the duration of school holidays. This is South Africa's premier holiday city, and rain is predicted every day until 5 January. Welcome to "Sunny South Africa"!

>22 MrAndrew: We're pretty much in the normal range in the Bay Area (South Bay) portion of northern California: mild to a little chilly during the day, mostly 60s C, and down into the 40s and below at night. I have the heat on and an extra blanket at night, but I haven't needed a medium-weight jacket outdoors more than once so far.

This is not far off the usual variable range. The other seasons have seemed much less typical by the standard of, say, ten years ago.

We're getting some rain, which is a whole lot better than no rain, but it hasn't yet added up to much.

We currently have a clear sky and the Moon is looking beautiful. Temperature is 6C, which is not untypical for this time of year. It was 12C a couple of days ago. It is quite windy, but we are over a storm that lasted for a couple of days.

Strongest tornado to hit the UK for 20 years landed in Stalybridge (Greater Manchester) as part of Storm Gerrit on Wednesday night.

BBC report

I didn’t realize the UK got tornados! That storm sounds like it was a doozy!

Perfectly normal weather.

We just had a blizzard blow through the mountains. Since I’m on the eastern side, we “only” got about 10 inches of snow. Today is a Snow Day! I’m reading by the fire in my pjs today. :)

>31 catzteach: Wow! My sister is still waiting for that storm in Christmas Valley. She said so far only heavy winds.

>32 MrsLee: We are supposed to get heavy winds today. And more snow to come. I guess we are expecting 7 to 15 inches Friday - Saturday. It’s been years since we had a heavy snow winter. It took The Husband and me 45 minutes to shovel the driveway this morning. And then him another 45 minutes to drive to work. It usually takes him 15 to 20 minutes. He saw three accidents on the way.

>33 catzteach: My sister is driving down on Saturday to see me. Sure hope it gives her a break.

We finally got a real accumulation of snow yesterday. Only about 5 cm, but it's lovely. It's also -21C (-31C with wind chill). I went out first thing (even before my shower) and shovelled the walks and driveway, then put the recycle out for collection and filled the bird feeders. Now I feel justified in spending the rest of the day under blankets (with a cat or two), reading, drinking tea, and maybe nibbling a bit of cheese or fruitcake.

I adore really cold weather when I don't have to go anywhere, but I also love going out in it to prove how hardy I am. Perhaps tomorrow, which is forecast to be even colder, I will walk to the library and back.

We had heavy rain all day yesterday. The we had horrendous winds go through last night, causing us to lose one of two garbage bins. My husband has gone round the neighborhood to see if he could find it again, but without success. (Winds were clocked at 45-50 mph.) They promised us sunlight today but so far just the clouds.

The next storm is due on this coming Saturday.

We have extreme cold warnings today and for the next few days. So far it got down to about -31°C this morning, but has come up to about -28 at the airport. Usually town is a couple of degrees warmer. The overnight lows for the next few days are supposed to be -36. I'm hoping the forecast is wrong. It is sunny, though.

My ski today might be a bit shorter than usual.

Until now we have been having an unusually mild winter. I should have known it couldn't last.

>36 jillmwo: We're getting the same shitty weather, with flooding and beach erosion to go with it. :o( I stacked up all my patio furniture and lashed it together yesterday afternoon. And thankfully I put my garbage and recycling cans in the garage. And yes, there is more of this on the way, sadly.

>37 NorthernStar: Yikes! Stay warm!

>35 tardis: Enjoy the down time, it doesn't sound like you allow yourself much of it.

>33 catzteach: It sounds as though you're going to get all those snow days that you haven't gotten for the last few years.

Fairly normal right now, but below freezing temps and snow are expected by Sunday. We had an inch of snow last Saturday, which was completely gone the next day. Yesterday, it rained, it drizzled, it sleeted, it snowed, and then rained again. In other words, the usual mixed bag in Missouri.

>36 jillmwo: have you checked in Kansas?

>40 MrAndrew: Hah! No, it was easier to get to Home Depot to get the replacement -- although sometimes I think my East Coast born-and-bred spouse would benefit from being dumped into the middle of the country and seeing how folks there manage real life.

We are under a winter storm warning. My city could have a total of 20 inches of snow by Sunday. The mountains are supposed to get up to 3 feet in just one night. This along with high winds and frigid temps. We are getting the arctic air blast that a lot of the country will also be getting. No school on Monday due to Martin Luther King Day. That should give people time to dig out their cars (and the schools time to dig out their playgrounds.)

It was -15C (5F) today. We're expecting some more snow tomorrow and on Sunday, and up to -17C (1.4F) on Friday. I don't feel like going out, but I am only allowed to work from home two days a week, so...

It was so cold today they had to jump start the candles in church.

>41 jillmwo:
That sounds like fighting talk.

>40 MrAndrew:
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.

I hope everyone keeps warm and safe with all this extreme weather. We are lucky with temperatures so far this winter not dropping below -4C.

This evening's walk was pleasant and cold.

Not so cold here. It's a good year for us. Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. El Niño helps us recover from drought, long enough for everyone to forget there were droughts and go back to their water wasting ways. :/

.>45 pgmcc: I would never fight with the spouse who got up this am and shoveled out the driveway and the car so that he wouldn't miss his opportunity to be a part of the local bowling league competition. He argued with me over the priority of such a communal activity but did text me to let me know he'd safely reached the bowling alley and then again when he was coming home on treated-but-still-icy roads. He then tried to order take-out tonight only to lose to badly automated ordering software. Then after resorting to actually speaking to someone on the phone, he went out and brought back the head of the vicious cheeseburger monster so that we'd eat dinner. I offered the alternative of left over roast for dinner rather than him going out, but he was hell bent on doing things his way. I suspect he's going to want to go to bed rather early this evening. I'm just trying to be a sweet and docile companion.

>49 jillmwo: ... the head of the vicious cheeseburger monster ...: Hunter and gatherer in the jillmwo household?

It was -5 F here this morning. It’s now freezing rain. The western part of Oregon is in the midst of an ice storm. My brother has been without power since Saturday! Hopefully it doesn’t get as bad here.

>51 catzteach: Oh no. That's a long time to go without electricity with temperatures that low! I'm assuming he's got some alternative heating source. I hope you keep your power. Stay warm!

>51 catzteach: Brrrrr! My great-nieces are on a two hour delay tomorrow in Christmas Valley. Hope it's enough!

First morning it is about zero this week. 4*F at 5:30 AM in central Minnesota. Stay safe.

Well, Sunday was cold! -45°C in the morning, warming up to about -36 in the afternoon. The good news is that by Monday morning it had warmed up almost 20 degrees - to about -25, and today it is about -22. It feels warm after the -40s. For those of you using °F that would be -49, -33, -13, and -8.

>55 NorthernStar: Argh. I have experienced temperatures like that since my college days in Postdam, NY and my decade plus in Northern Illinois, and I don't want to ever deal with them again. Connecticut was balmy by comparison. (And here it's even better!)

Snow, snow and more snow here! At least it is a little warmer, 18F at the moment. Luckily we are in an area that hasn't gotten nearly as much snow, 30 miles south of here they are expecting as much as 60" from this storm, after last week's storm dumped about half of that.

We are having a cold snap here in the UK but our temperatures are so warm compared to those in the US (around freezing) that it's barely worth mentioning! There is snow further north and in Scotland but none in the South East where I live.

It's been cold or stormy here for days, and up until now it's been so warm that this weather feels even worse than it really is. Looks like there's a big warm-up coming for much of North America that might last through the end of the month. Keeping my fingers crossed.

*murfle* The car won't start this morning. Stupid battery is dead because of the cold! Has thrown off the day's planned prep for tomorrow's snow "event". (Honestly, this is small potatoes as these things go, but my husband is annoyed with AAA and a seemingly slow response. The local guy we'd normally rely on couldn't make it at all.)

>60 jillmwo: I have an electric battery charger. Assuming that your car is either in a garage or near an outside outlet (you could run an extension cord if you have to) this might be something to look into. If memory serves me correctly it takes less than an hour to charge a dead car battery. Yes, having someone come jump start it might be faster if they could get there right away, but this device has served me well for about four decades now.

You don't have to pay a small fortune for the lithium battery powered ones. Here's what I'm talking about:
YONHAN Battery Charger 10-Amp 12V and 24V Fully-Automatic Battery Charger, https://a.co/d/95QFaZb

>60 jillmwo: >61 clamairy: Because I telecommute from home full time, I don't do a lot of driving. I therefore keep one of these on the car battery to make sure it doesn't go dead from lack of use: Amazon.com: Battery Tender. If car is parked outdoors, use an extension cord and keep the charger and connection points under the hood to prevent any moisture issues.

>62 ScoLgo: That's probably a more durable unit than the one I posted. Mine is used for emergencies only, and I wouldn't leave it out in the rain. (Those emergencies almost always involved one of my kids' Subarus, back in the day. I bought it for my first car, a BMW 320i, that was on its last legs by the time I traded it in. When I say I've been using it for decades I mean it.)

>61 clamairy: and >62 ScoLgo: Thank you so much for this info. I wouldn't have known what to look for on Amazon. Makes a whole lot of sense.

Is *murfle* the sound a turtle makes when you hug it?

>65 MrAndrew: Hah! I don't know. The newer protective shells have a large percentage of silicon these days. Turtles have evolved in new and very interesting ways....

Meanwhile, the meteorologists are saying we'll get something in between 3 inches of snow precip to 7 inches of snow precip. Apparently, it's a case where reasonable minds and predictive models may differ.

It snow. Again.
And Again.

Waves of snow today.

Yesterday I left the house for the first time in a week to run a few errands. Today it is 14F. We had a bit of snow overnight. Another wave of subzero temps are predicted for over the weekend.

It's still cold, just like the forecast promised: -18C (-0.4F). It was very sunny today, though, it looked like everything was shining. I had several layers of clothes on when I went out today, it felt lovely and refreshing.

>60 jillmwo: Trish's car had exactly the same problem earlier this week. AAA came and towed it to get a new battery. She drives so infrequently, we likely need one of those battery tenders.

>67 gilroy: I hear you, same here. Been snowing every day this week. We might get a break on Sunday.

I am at 2*F now and a -10*F wind chill. I live on a lake, which is frozen, so it is probably colder. I have not gone anywhere and my car is in the garage. Next week should be in the 30s. Just a touch of snow yesterday. Stay safe.

You know, I was going to mention that, despite being below freezing for a week, with temps in the mid-teens Mon/Tue, that I had miraculously gotten through it without pipes bursting, etc. And sure, I kept a fire going in the fireplace for three days (meaning I couldn't leave the house), and slept on a mattress I had dragged down from upstairs (because I have no sofa.)

But really, the worst I suffered was static shock from walking across my carpet. Had to attach a grounding wrist strap to my laptop because whenever I first touched the keyboard, a spark (so powerful that even Thor is in awe) would arc from my fingers and the screen would go blank.

I am humbled by what you fellow denizens of the Dragon have been going through, and I wish you well and warmth.

It's -18C (with wind chill feels like -28) this morning, but according to the forecast it will go up to 0C on Friday next week, and well above 0 after that. I hope that doesn't happen - it's better if it stays below 0C, because the freeze-thaw cycle always causes an icy mess, and sometimes the trees start budding, only for the buds to be killed when the temperatures inevitably plunge again.

>52 clamairy: They do not have an alternative heat source. My SIL was going out to her car to warm up and charge her phone. My brother works for the Department of Transportation, in the winter he plows. He was sleeping in his truck because he couldn’t make it home safely in all the ice.

We got more freezing rain last night. Although schools were closed, I still had to go to a bargaining meeting. The drive home was awful. We are supposed to get more freezing rain tonight but thaw by tomorrow afternoon. It’s supposed to be in the 50s by next weekend. It’ll feel like summer after these oh so cold days.

We are looking at three days of rain ahead of us. Not freezing or ugly, just rain. The cats who normally are indoors/outdoors are moody and subdued. The new one, Grár, is in heaven pestering them. I may have to let Jinn go up the chimney, but I've been trying to keep Grár from discovering that.

>75 MrsLee: Loki is very unhappy that it is 10F and snow everywhere, so he can't do anything but huddle miserably in the corner of the patio with no snow. He stays out about 2 minutes and gives up.

>72 WholeHouseLibrary: Is your carpet wool? I hate the shocks.

It is 10* F and wind chill of -5* F. I am on a small lake and could see three ice houses that were there overnight.

>77 mnleona: No; it's some synthetic carpet-like fabric, beige. Not that the color makes a difference in its electrostatic generation, but it's a terrible color for flooring. Once it gets dirty, it stays dirty.

You could run a humidifyer, which would cut down the shocks and also make it feel warmer.

Storm Isha is battering us at the moment. Winds of up to 100 mph are forecast for coastal areas. There is a Red Wind Warning for coastal areas with Orange Wind Warning for the rest of the country. There are many households without electricity due to the storm. We are one of the lucky ones...so far.

At least it is not freezing like it was for the past few days. The temperature today was a balmy 11C.

Keep safe everyone.

>81 pgmcc: Oh, yikes! Stay safe! Have you been experiencing more of these kind of storms the last few years than you used to?

>81 pgmcc: That’s a crazy wind! I hope you keep your power.

We have finally warmed up and all the ice is melting. Driving the last couple of days was not fun. Neither were the parking lots and walking. The rest of the week is supposed to be more normal temps. Wet, but warmer than it has been.

>81 pgmcc: Bundle in those blankies!

>81 pgmcc: Ouch. Stay safe!

>81 pgmcc: Coastal areas including the Irish Sea, or only the Atlantic? Either way, stay safe -- the GD needs you.

>82 clamairy: Yes, they are becoming more frequent and violent.

>83 catzteach: As of this morning over a quarter of a million premises have no power due to the storm. For a country that only has 5m people and 2.2m addresses that is pretty high.

>84 MrsLee: We are well wrapped up and will be cuddled by the fireplace if the power goes.

>85 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you!

>86 hfglen: The North West was getting the worst of it, but all coastal areas were under warnings of the high winds. This storm has been unusual in that it has affected the whole country at the same time rather than crawling across the country over time.

This morning things have calmed a bit, and thankfully we have not lost power.

>87 pgmcc: I'm glad you and yours stayed safe. X has a lot of photos & videos of downed trees, many humorous posts about weirdly diverted flights and multiple odes to lost wheelie bins.

>88 clamairy:
I met some wandering rubbish bags yesterday on my walk. I must look for the ode to lost wheelie bins.

Flying trampolines are often a feature of storms here.

Apparently storm Jocelyn is arriving tomorrow. Great fun. I hope this does not disturb my plans for meeting my friends in the pub tomorrow night.

>89 pgmcc: Here is one. Perhaps it is more of an oath than an ode: https://twitter.com/CountBinface/status/1749363219712422132?t=hHps9QHciZnaRdn15H...

The replies are even better than the original tweet.

I did see your area has another storm incoming! Best of luck to all of you.

>87 pgmcc: Thank you. I'm glad to hear you're safe, but how's the Most Important Member (George) of the family coping?

>91 hfglen:
His excursions outside are much shorter than normal. :-) He may like going outside but he is not a stupid cat.

>90 clamairy:
We are much better bin owners. All our bins are microchipped and have our address on them. We would not like to think of them lost with no way of finding their way home.

We had rain/snow/sleet/ice overnight and all roads are currently icy. Mr Retired is working from home; all area schools and non-profits and many businesses are closed.

Today we went from -18C (-0,4F) and similar to 5C (41F). There is ice everywhere, and puddles of varying depth. Walking outside and going to work was quite an adventure!

It is 28* F where I live in Minnesota so warmer.
Stay safe for those in icy areas.

Mostly sunny, 67 F. (19 C.) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Feels quite balmy after temps in the teens last week.

We are wet and dreary. It is expected to warm up into the high fifties for the next few days and then back to cold weather.

We're a bit grey today but it's not pouring down rain the way it did yesterday. Today's expectation is that we'll hit the low 'fifties' with temps dropping down into the 'forties' over the course of the next week.

Edited to say that of course now the sun has come out all bright and shiny as if to say, why aren't you all out enjoying the nice out-of-doors? Sure, make a liar out of me, why don't you, Mr. Sun!

It has been in the 40s and only a very few patches of snow in the shade. The lakes still have ice but I would not trust them. I saw a Bluejay the other day which was a treat.

We are having fun afternoon thunder and lightening showers this week. Fun depends on who you ask. One cat is up the chimney, the others are in secret spots.

Hey, we've got SUNSHINE here.

>102 jillmwo: Here, too! Let the trumpets sound!

After some record breaking high temps, we will be getting snow this weekend. Sunny right now, though.

>102 jillmwo: Yay! We've had sunshine here as well! We've had 6C (42.8F) and similar for a while now, and nearly all the ice has melted. According to the forecast, by the end of next week we'll have -10C (14F) and more snow...

Ice is almost off the lake as there is still a little by the shore. Neighbor put his dock in yesterday. I am on a small lake. 51*F now. Because we have not had a lot of snow and it is all gone, fire is a danger. Last year I had feet of snow in the yard.

Clear and 66 F./19 C. at 11pm in Fernandina Beach, Florida.

Has anyone seen the pontoons for my car? Rain again today, at least two creeks near me are approaching flood stage.

>108 gilroy: Raining here again (still) as well. We've had almost 4" so far in March.

We are supposed to get two days of sunshine before the rains start again. I'm hoping to get some sunflower seeds started tomorrow.

>109 clamairy: yep raining here too. it's not particularly warm rain but last night I saw frogs out already so I guess spring is here early...

>111 Darth-Heather: Oh! But don't you still have some snow on the ground?

>110 MrsLee: Best of luck with the seeds.

Stupidly warm. Bare ground. Migrants returning early. I just transported a bat someone found in their basement to the wildlife rehab place I volunteer for. Poor thing probably woke up since it's warm, but in the wrong place. Not a lot of insect life stirring yet, but I predict tick season will be BRUTAL.

>112 clamairy: after several rains over the past week, we are down to just a few crusty piles of snow left in shaded corners. many years we start hearing peeper frogs in the vernal pools even if there's still some ice in them, so I guess they know when it's time, but that is not usually until at least April. This year has been a bit off.

>113 Bookmarque: Thank you for taking the bat to safety. I am very concerned about the ticks and mosquitoes. :o(

>114 Darth-Heather: Uh oh.

>109 clamairy: Yes. For the past week or two, we've had stretches of three days of warm rain and then two days or so of chilly sun; it's kind of got a rhythm going but the ground is fairly saturated. The phrase "wet and spongy and squelchy" springs to mind. In that difficult seasonal phase where you want to take the heavy winter blanket off the bed and put a lighter cotton one in place, but you're still just a tad skeptical that it's time.

>116 jillmwo: Agreed. If I take off my electric blanket, which I think I've only turned on a half a dozen times all Winter, the temperatures will surely plummet.

We've had a lot of sunshine for the last few days! It feels like the sun has put its spring outfit on, and the sky is gorgeous. The nights are still cold, though, around -4C (24.8F). During the day it's around 5C (41F). In various corners here and there, there are optimistic spring flowers (snowdrops).

>114 Darth-Heather: Oh my goodness, I hadn't thought about it, but we've heard the peepers around our house lately too. Definitely early.

Here in Georgia several plants are blooming. Pear tree, Forsythia almost done, and beginning buds on wild blueberries in the woods. Baby Carolina Wrens are nesting in an outdoor hanging flower basket. Mama is busy flying back and forth to feed them. I think they’re around 2 weeks old. Yesterday was nice and sunny, high around 74F. Today is overcast, 60F, and rain moving in. Squirrels are making a nuisance of themselves at all my bird feeders.

Ice on the lake this morning. It has been 18*F the last two mornings but will get in the 40s today. My daughter has owls and bats on her land.

Sunny and cool - 51F/10C - just before noon in North Carolina

An insane 60 F and will be warmer again tomorrow.

Gorgeously sunny and 8C here. Two degrees above the forecasted high. This is most likely second false spring but you never know! I heard geese going over.

For your edification, the seasons in Canada are:
1) Winter
2) False Spring (aka Fool's Spring)
3) Second Winter
4) Second False Spring (aka spring of deception)
5) Third Winter
6) Mud
7) Actual Spring*
8) Summer*
9) False Fall*
10) Second Summer*
11) Actual Fall
Some lists include 12) Hello Darkness My Old Friend.

* 7 through 10 are sometimes combined into Road Construction.

>124 tardis: :-)

"Mud" reminds me of early winter in Ireland when sugar beat was still grown here. The trucks with the beats would be travelling the country roads* and would shed mud everywhere. The roads became filthy and I always got stuck behind one of the beat trucks on dark, wet nights. Even with my wipers going full blast the window would still be covered in mud.

As part of international trade agreements it was agreed to stop sugar production in Ireland and leave it to less developed countries. A whole industry disappeared, as did the big, dirty, mucky trucks.

*And there only were country roads in those days.

>124 tardis: :))))) *applauding*

This sounds a bit like all of Scandinavia ;)

>124 tardis: Oh, we have an additional one that could be 7a) The Pollening

>124 tardis: Pretty sure the list in New England was the same. It's better here, but not much.

>127 gilroy: Ah yes. It finally gets nice enough to have the windows open, and everything gets covered in yellow dust.

A fine sunny day today, around 10C (50F). It will get colder (again! again!) next week with -5C (23F) during the night and 5C (41F) during the day. But we are getting more and more spring flowers, so that's good, at least...

Quite nice yesterday (high of 11C, sunny), so I went out and pruned the saskatoon, but I woke up to snow. We've had a couple of centimetres so far, and still coming down, but it's only -3C. The snow won't last - we'll be back above 0C by Saturday and into double digits next week. I have to go out later to pick up some stuff at the pharmacy and the library, and I think I'll walk.

Sunny, low 30s and breezy. Normal for this time of year.

Yesterday it was 11C (51.8F), with glorious sunshine. Lovely! There are lots of spring flowers now.

I took a nice walk, here are some photos:

>132 Alexandra_book_life:
Lovely photos.

Sunny, light breeze and 82F./18C.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, in the mid-afternoon.

>133 nrmay: Thank you :) Your weather makes me envious!

A classic round of fool's spring, then a turn to the cold again in the last few weeks here in southeastern Michigan. April is looking bright, however.

Our annual April snow storm, although that's too strong a word for what we're getting. It's just snowing. Should only amount to 4 or 5 inches. Green Bay area is getting hammered with over a foot though. Glad it isn't here.

Our weather has been typical Central Oregon: 79 degrees (26 Celsius) on Tuesday, then 4 inches of snow on Thursday. This weekend it’ll be in the 40s and 50s. And then in the high 60s again by the end of next week. One never knows what spring is going to bring.

Snow didn't amount to much, but it managed to be heavy enough to break off a tree in the yard about 15 feet up. Of course it's leaning and caught on another tree and is a dangerous situation. When a tree does this I think the general term is widow-maker. If it doesn't fall down by itself we'll probably have to get someone in. Bah.

We've had April snow storms as well! Winter returned this week, it got as cold as -6C (21F), and it snowed at least three times. Yay. The weather people are talking about 15C (59F) in a couple of days, but I'll believe it when I see it.

We've had snow the last couple of days, too. People complain, but they're all conveniently forgetting that we often get snow well into May. In fact, the only months that (as far as I recall) don't occasionally get snow are June and July. I mean, it's rare, but it has happened.

Just to give a different view, it isn't snowing in Brisbane! However, it is raining. Being convinced that this has been an unusually rainy summer, I checked the daily figures on the Bureau of Meteorology website, and yes, they have recorded rain on more than half of the days this year. This must the Sunshine State: the licence plate on my car says so.

>141 haydninvienna: We've been getting lots more rain this year as well. Our normal average for year to date precipitation is just over 10 inches thus far. This year, this area of Southeast Pennsylvania has gotten very nearly 16 inches!!

>141 haydninvienna: We're supposed to be in the throes of an El Niño drought, but it started raining yesterday and is still doing so.

ETA: Story in the local Sunday rag suggests that the weather here in the next few days includes rain, high winds (the trailer of a horse-and-trailer rig was blown off a major freeway in the Western Cape yesterday) and snow on the Berg.

Well the widow-maker is no more. While I was at a table doing some jewelry work, I heard a big crack and then watched it go down. Luckily the north-easterly wind pushed it a little and it landed perfectly on the lawn and didn't hit the woodpile which it will soon join in a more orderly fashion.

It's now raining and unfortunately, also in the part of Norway we're headed to at the end of the week. Looks like that will continue through most of our vacation unless things change. Sigh.

Perfect Brisbane autumn weather since Wednesday — temps in mid to high 20s and teens overnight, and calm clear blue skies.

I looked up the seasonal summary for the summer just past on the Bureau of Meteorology website and the summer was indeed warmer and wetter than average, in particular wetter: 30% more than the long term average. Record wet day for Queensland: on 18 December 2023 the town of Mossman in North Queensland recorded 714 mm (28 inches) of rain.

beautiful one day, flooded the next.

I had planned on working in the yard, but it's extremely windy again. I guess I will give it a shot anyway. At least the sun is out!

I’m sitting on my porch right now enjoying the moisture while we wait for the predicted thunderstorms and 1” hail. That’s supposed to start later this afternoon. The painting of sample house colors will have to wait a few weekends.

Oops, got my threads crossed. Our weather is cool and rainy. Loving it.

>146 MrAndrew: Which is what happened. Mossman is north-west of Cairns, and according to Apple Maps is 1781 km from here by road.

We did get a couple of days of 15C (59F) in the beginning of April, but after that we went right back to our April winter. It's been 0C (32F), and up to -3C (27F) during the night for weeks.. We had snow last weekend, and we had snow yesterday morning, then rain. This must be the coldest April in years, and everyone I know is traumatized, lol. The forecast promises spring weather and sunshine next week, but we'll see ;)))

Today, we're seeing cloudy skies and a coolish 60 degrees (Fahrenheit). However by Tuesday, it's predicted we'll reach the upper 80s during the day. Packing for travel later this week is going to require some thought.