It has been
raining all day today and is forecast to rain all day tomorrow. The rain doesn’t bother me – I actually like
being in the house with the rain drumming on our metal roof while I read, sleep
or use the computer (retirement is a tough act.) But the thing that does bother me is the
warm temperatures.
Last year at this time we had day
temperatures in the teens and twenties with two feet of snow on the ground and
snow events happening about once every week or ten days. This year there is no snow and the temps
have been ten to fifteen degrees above normal all month and the next fifteen-day
forecast is predicting more of the same.
When the temperatures are high thirties to mid-forties it is too warm to
use the wood stove and so we are using expensive oil to keep house temperatures
comfortable.
I miss the
snow: I love the snow. We live in
western Maine because we like the four seasons. We are willing to endure mud season and bug
season because we know fall season and winter season are to follow.
We lived in
Florida for a couple of years and there were no markers to changing seasons – I
much preferred the twenty-four hours of daylight and twenty-four hours of
darkness in arctic Alaska to the monotony of the never ending summer time of Florida
weather.
This is a crazy weather pattern and I hope it doesn't become the norm.
the Ol'Buzzard
There is no norm any more. The climate is destabilizing; we've still got seasons but they don't behave the way they used to. I'm reading a book by Bill Nye at the moment that gives a great explanation of the effect of melting Arctic ice on ocean currents and weather patterns. It's more than a bit frightening -- we humans have managed to truly screw ourselves by going along with climate change deniers.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, we've been having similar headaches with trying to maintain comfort levels. Can't keep the woodstove burning constantly because it gets too hot in the house. Fortunately, we haven't had to resort to relying on the furnace (ours burns propane). We're just going through a lot more kindling than normal because we're letting the fire in the Jotul die down to ashes in the afternoon so it'll be cool enough to sleep by the time we go to bed.
Winter does seem to be making another attempt at arriving here, though. We had freezing rain yesterday that turned to actual snow during the night. So now we've got about 6 inches of fresh snow over a layer of ice. Retirement is looking particularly good this morning. I'm feeling sorry for the poor bastards that have to drive to work before the plows and sand trucks have been out. That snow is going to turn to slop as today's high is predicted to be low 30s and tomorrow it'll be back up in the 40s. Definitely not a typical December.
The warm winter this year is due to "Super El Nino" apparently. We have snow here but it's still very mild. I haven't plugged my car in even once so far.
ReplyDeleteSame situation her in Ukraine. Temps should be -10 to -20 and are +5, barely freezing at night. Central Siberia has snow but temps only -5 in daytime. Not sure how big an area El Nino can impact so there must be other anomalies.
ReplyDeleteNo White Xmas for us here in the Blue Ridge, either. While I welcome the lower heating costs, it still feels wrong to be enjoying 60+ degree days in December!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what this is doing to the critters who usually hibernate this time of year?
Be careful what you wish for. But I doubt that we will ever be back to normal temperatures. The planet is in the beginning of a big change. What kind of weather change is anyone's guess.
ReplyDeleteSame situation in Nebraska. We had a thunderstorm two nights ago. A FERKING thunderstorm in mid-December. It's not even getting down to freezing at night most nights. Surreal.
ReplyDeleteYou know it's all Mexico's fault, them and their durn El Neenyos coming up here and takin' all our good winter weathers.
Deleteit's been in the 70's and 80's here..with lots of rain...feckity
ReplyDeleteWe've had snow on the ground for a couple of weeks now, but the switching back and forth from rain to snow has made a mess. The snow is real wet and some places like the driveway is more slush than snow. It's a bitch to try to plow. Haven't tried to use the snowblower because of how wet the snow is. Just use my Yooper Scooper to clear a path to the vehicles.
ReplyDeleteIf I get any snow you can have it. I get sufficient variation from the year round thunder storms. I prefer the four seasons vicariously through your blog. Solstice Blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDelete