Countdown to Spring – Finishing February on a Warm Note

When I got home this evening just before 5 PM, I looked at the temperature and it was 54°F.  It reached the high 50s today.  Granted it wasn’t as balmy, pleasant and very wrong temperature-wise as the 75°F we hit last Wednesday, but it was welcomed nonetheless.  Tomorrow will also be in the 50s, then we’ll drop back into the 40s for Friday, when we’re predicted to have snow again.  Sort of like last Friday.  It’s a bit of a roller coaster, but I’m kind of liking the ride, especially when the snow melts away so quickly.

The migratory birds are starting to show up.  Some are expected now, but some are early.  Sadly, my first robin sighting was a dead one on my walk home this evening.  It was likely struck by a car.  However, I was told that there are flocks of them in the area, alive and well, which makes me happy.  Lots of territorial singing by the birds now.  It’s one the signs of spring that I always enjoy, especially at first light in the morning.  A quick note on that – loving the slowly lengthening daylight hours.

Trees and bushes are definitely getting ready to send out leaves to greet the day.  But except for my favorite pussy willow, which has slowed a little in putting on its fur coats, I’m still just seeing buds.  Bigger than before, of course, but still just buds.  End of February would be way to early for anything like leaves and blooms in anything but greenhouses here in New York, crocuses and snowdrops aside.  Too many unpleasant snow and ice surprises can happen right into early April.

However, as a final note, I feel the need to say one thing.  I know it’s premature to do this, given that there’s still three weeks until Spring. 

But, HEY, (Punxsutawney) PHIL, YOU WERE WRONG!

Only 20 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - The First Windy Day of March

With the passage of the cold front and its associated storm, the winds were very noticeable today, gusting up to 20 MPH and beyond.  Nothing like last Saturday's little tree and power line dropper, though.  I'd get out one of my kites, but I haven't had the time lately to even consider kite-flying.

The temperatures sank from the really nice 62°F yesterday evening to 42°F now and, of course, tonight's temperatures are going to be more like they should be for early March in my area.  The weekend, as promised, will barely get out of the 20s during the day and is promised to be in the 10s at night.  It's not forecast to stay at that level of chill for very long, but long enough to require reluctant return to wearing a winter coat again.

Yes, I'm looking forward to the vernal equinox – can you tell?

Only 18 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - Forsythia?

Yes, forsythia, although not in my yard yet.  However, I've seen it in bloom in other locations.  It doesn't help that it was in the 60s again today and likely will be tomorrow until the next cold front passes through.  Hoping to not have a repeat of Saturday's wild weather tomorrow.

Maybe with the beginning of March, winter will be reminded that there's still time for it to return before getting kicked out until December.  Time will tell.

Only 20 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - The Lost Weekend

No, no, not that kind of lost weekend.  It was a weekend lost due to lack ability to blog for this series.  Okay, yeah, boring.  But, so was my weekend without electricity.

It started Saturday afternoon.  As I watched the cold front approach from the west, I knew the weather was going to change abruptly and then be back to normal.  Even the National Weather Service only had us in a Severe Thunderstorm Watch area.  Nothing too bad to worry about, right?

It was breezy most of the afternoon, but it was still unseasonably warm in the mid-60s and nice.  It started to cloud up around 5 and around 6:30, it started to rain.  Nothing major, a light rain.  Surprisingly light, given the radar views of what was coming.

Within five minutes, the light rain turned into a deluge and was accompanied by winds that likely hit at least 70 miles per hour, if I remember my Beaufort scale indicators correctly.  The wind didn't last long, but between it, the rain, and the frequent lightning, the power went out within two minutes of the storm hitting.  No electricity between 6:30 PM Saturday and 12:30 this afternoon.  Ye-hah.

I was fortunate in that I had a kerosene heater to keep at least one room warm, although the rest of the house went a little ice-boxy as the temperatures dropped off into the 30s outside and low 40s inside (yes, I checked).  I was also fortunate in that I had a small generator, something I had bought just before Tropical Storm Irene hit the area a few years ago.  As a result of my little power-maker, my fridge stayed cold, although it likely would have anyway given the indoor conditions.  I also had a light, radio, cell phone charger and I even made coffee on Sunday morning.  The generator wasn't too happy with the coffeemaker's extra load, so on Monday, I made coffee by heating water on the kerosene heater and pouring it through the coffee in the filter – not bad.

I even had use of my laptop.  What I didn't have was internet access.  Network was down and my cell phone is so old, it can't pass the SSL protocols anymore.   I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss internet access, but I didn't go into withdrawal like I know some do.  I probably would have been in worse shape if I didn't have the laptop available, though.  Okay, so it's a lower level of tech addiction – sue me.  However, I didn't run the generator 24/7, so even the laptop wasn't available all the time.  I didn't feel like reading.  I didn't feel like writing, either.  I didn't feel doing much of anything beyond staring at the walls and checking with the power company's recorded message of when the power might be coming back on.  Self-induced boredom – it ain't pretty.

When the power finally came back on, I wasn't here.  The power company, after telling us the power would be restored at noon today, changed their message to inform those in the affected area that power wouldn't be restored until 6 PM.  ARGH!  While I knew I had enough kerosene to continue heating, I knew I didn't have enough gasoline for the generator, so I headed out to buy more gas.  While I was out in the great wide world, I met a fellow resident of the area who said that the power came back on about ten minutes ago, about the time I was pulling out of the driveway.  So, I came home, re-plugged in the stuff which had been connected to the generator, turned off the kerosene heater, and then did what I really needed to do – TAKE A SHOWER!  After that, I headed for work for the last three hours of the workday and then returned home.

So, that's the story of my lost weekend due to the passage of a cold front through the area.  Rather not have a repeat performance of the event anytime soon, thank you.  The temperatures are now down in the 30s and 40s again, normal for this time of year.  The crocuses and snowdrops managed to survive and were open to the warmth of the sun today like normal, although we've already established that it's not normal for them to be blooming here this time of year.  But life in general has returned to late winter normalcy.  Mixed feelings about that.

Only 21 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - But Wait, There's More

As we await the passage of a cold front which, after a lot of wind, a dowsing of rain and possibly even some thunder, temperatures will be returning to average for this time of year.  There goes that heating bill savings time.

That being said, I discovered my snowdrops are now up and starting to bloom, and the cream-colored crocuses are coming up along with what is now 20 purple crocuses.  Depending on how much rain we're supposed to get, I may cover the flowers until the downpour passes.  Crocuses and snowdrops do better with snow than they do with a deluge of rain.  They may be early, but I'd really like to enjoy the color for longer than the day or two they've been up.

Only 23 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - Well, It's Not the First Time

Many years ago, I planted a small patch of crocuses in a small rock crevice near the front of my house.  I planted light and dark purple, white, yellow and cream colored ones.  While the majority tend to bloom around the same time, the light purple ones have their own earlier timetable, opening their petals to the sun about a week or so before the rest.

Guess what was up this morning?

As I headed out to my car to go to work this morning, I looked down into that crevice and saw five purple crocuses which were maybe about a day from coming into bloom.  When I got home from work, the total was now ten.  Ten purple little buds ready to open up because it's been warm enough these last couple of weeks to wake them and convince them that it's time.

It's not the first time it's happened.  Since I planted this patch back in the 1990s, it's happened about three times, with one time when they were all in bloom and gorgeous in January.  There were also roses in bloom near the hospital in December where I worked at the time.  That was a very topsy-turvy winter temperature season.

My little purple crocuses might be in for a surprise come Sunday, when temperatures will drop back into a more normal range.  But they won't likely be shocked to the point of dying back, either.  Crocuses are a hardy breed of bloom.

And there's hope for a normal spring start yet.  My snowdrops are still snoozing.

Only 24 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - Back to Brown Ground

Well, not completely.  There are still hills of snow left by plows.  But, they were mountains previously.  Now they're back down to normal human height and will further diminish tomorrow and Saturday as well.  But for the most part, our snow is 90-95% gone locally.

We managed to break the record high temperature for this day locally by about 5°F.  It was 74°F at its best today.  Yes, yes, we all know it's wrong for New York and every other place along the eastern seaboard north of Florida, and it fed the wave of spring fever that normally starts to develop this time of year, anyway.  It's also feeding allergies, colds, etc.

I am not unaffected psychologically by this weather.  Like so many others, blue skies and warm days bring out the happy "ahhh" in all of us.  I can't help but enjoy not having to bundle up so I won't freeze going out to my car to start it in the morning, and to not hear my furnace come on is silent music to my ears.

However, I warn again, don't get used to it.  The return to normal for this time of year temperatures is coming.  It may not stick around that long, but arctic air and winter weather is still out there with our names on it.  Just because it feels like spring doesn't mean that Pennsylvania woodchuck, Punxsutawney Phil, was entirely wrong.

Only 25 days until Spring.

(Yeah, yeah, I know - I missed a day)

Countdown to Spring - Expecting to Get the Unexpected?

Today was a day that didn't get out of the low to mid 40s.  It still felt warm to me.  I didn't wear my winter jacket, although I did take it with me and I wore a wool blazer in its place for the day.  When I got back to work this afternoon, though, I heard someone remark that they expected that it was nice out and it was still cold.  It must be in the perspective.  Cold to me is below freezing (32°F/0°C) and it's not because I have an extra layer of body insulation (fat), either.

Are we starting to get jaded by this warming trend?  Are we beginning to expect these really nice temps will continue right through until Spring?  I sincerely hope not.  While it might happen, we've also had teens and single digits in March and even early April and it hasn't always been after a brutal February, either.

This past week and for what looks like the rest of this month in my area, we're going to have some very un-February temperatures – 40s, 50s, and 60s with one day maybe even hitting 70°F.  Once again, I won't get into the global warming versus normal variant debate.  I also won't get into the downside of having such nice weather showing up this early, either, at least not yet.

All I'm going to say is don't get used to it.

Only 27 more days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - The Gentle Sound of Chainsaws

For readers of this blog who I don't regularly chat with, and there are a few, I recently sold my home.  It was the family home since the late 1950s and it had become too much for me to handle both physically and financially.  The new owner is a very nice person and has been very thoughtful in his approach to assessing everything that needs to be done once I move out.

Given the nice weather we're presently experiencing, though, he decided that it would be a good couple of days to cut down dead trees and overgrown areas on the property.  So, the air has been filled with the brrrrrrrrrrrt of well-tuned chainsaws, with clearing of growth that won't be going green come springtime.

The difference is stark.  It looks practically naked out in the front yard, which is mostly hill, anyway.  There was a time when I would have missed having that lushness come summertime.  The last couple of years, though, not so much.

I asked the new owner to leave two things for a while yet.  One is a mulberry tree which is as old, if not older, than I am.  I watched it grow from a bush as a child to where it now towers over the street.  I don't want to be present when they take it down.  He agreed to that request, in part because it does tower over the street and no matter which way it might fall, it will take out wires.  It's likely going to have to be professionally taken down.

The other request I made was for something much smaller.  There is a bush of unknown species which grows just outside the south window of my main room. Both my mother and I used to watch it come into leaf in March.  It was a harbinger of spring, starting early because of its location and restarting its green coat about the same time my crocuses and snowdrops were in bloom.  It will likely get cut back later on.  But for the time being, I just want to enjoy it one more time.

Only 28 days until spring.

Countdown to Spring - March in February

Okay, so 62°F in New York on the 19th of February is not normal.  Whether you want to chalk it up to global warming or a normal variant that's happened in previous years going back further than somebody's been keeping weather statistics, I don't care.  It's just sunny, breezy and nice.

My furnace has a second day of only needing to come on to maintain its own temperature range rather than the whole house.  I wore a winter jacket this morning to do shopping because it was still chilly around 7 AM.  This afternoon, though, I went outside without jacket or sweater and didn't feel like I needed the extra layers.

Speaking of extra layers, there's markedly more brown and green ground showing today than even end of day yesterday.  Snow is melting very rapidly in these markedly above freezing temperatures.  I even saw leaves from my crocuses are up about an inch.  No, I don't believe they're going to bloom early.  That only happened once in all the years the crocuses have been there and it was more than 10 years ago.

This week, we're supposed to be in the 40s during the day, 20s to 30s at night,  with one or two days in the 50s again.  It's a wonderful way to just about finish out February in my book.

Only 29 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - Ahhhhhhhhhh

It hit 54°F today.  For some, that's chilly for this time of year. For this New Yorker, it was bliss.  I got to wear a light sweater for the first time since early November.  I cleaned off my porch of all the debris that winter had blown onto it and rearranged things on it to look more like the time of year the weather was imitating.  This evening, I made tea and went out on the porch to have it; it was still 48°F at 7 PM and I was going to enjoy it.  Even the cats ventured outside with me.

There's one more day of temperatures in the 50s before we go back into the 40s.  Nothing wrong with 40s, either.  But 50s do more for the winter-weary soul.

Only 30 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring - That Touch of Things to Come

It's not fooling me.  I know we're still in mid-February territory and the return to frigid cold and oodles of white, wet winter weather shall remain a possibility to be prepared for a while yet.

Still, we're expecting temperatures into the 50s over this Presidents' Day weekend and I am looking forward to it.  I'll get to watch as the mountains of snow that were built up by snowplows over the last two storms are slowly eroded by warm sun.  Not that they'll disappear, but I'll take any decrease in them I can get.  For two days, I won't have to bundle up to go outside, won't have to wait for the car to warm up in the morning, and won't have to listen to my furnace come on and worry about how many gallons of heating oil I'm going through.

Makes me smile to think about it.

Only 31 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring – A Brief Respite

Our morning of freezing precipitation didn’t get all that ugly.  Yes, we did have some, but not enough to make roads bad or schools close (they did delay a few hours, though). 

 

It’s supposed to warm into the 40s today and, even nicer, into the 50s tomorrow.  My heating bill will love it.  But then … yes, winter’s back on Thursday, with a little snow and a 20-degree drop in temperatures from the day before.  The 20s and 30s during the day and the teens during the night and for at least a week.

 

Yeah, I know, it could be much worse.  Let’s hope it doesn’t go there.

 

Only 41 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring: The Good News and the Bad News

The good news is that whatever snow they were predicting for our area never appeared.  I only heard yesterday that we might get anywhere between three and eight inches of new snow today, depending on how the storm tracked.  My immediate response was, "What!?  Why did I bother to shovel?"  I was too tired for expletives to delete.

The bad news is that we're still going to have the predicted single digit temperatures tonight and possibly tomorrow night as well.  There's supposed to be a warm-up after that.  Hopefully that'll stay around up to and through March 20th.

You may say I'm a dreamer ...

Only 15 days until spring.

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