Weather.... late 2009

[Maggi Young]

Well, I didn't say how BIG a packet, did I now!???  

[Paul T]

Ah, so that was the "Maggi Sized" crisp packet I saw at the supermarket...... the one that had a health warning on it requiring that you need a forklift for lifting purposes (or you might hurt yourself lifting it, hence the health warning).  Right next to the "Maggi Sized" chocolate bars. 

[cohan]

Here in Aberdeen our next door neighbours need access to our seed frame area for a builder to repair the wall that is letting rain water into their house extension ----it's a long story.... would be better in moan moan moan... but I'm trying to lower my blood pressure  

oh boy! that sounds like trouble hope it can all be resolved smoothly..thankfully i dont have neighbours near enough for that sort of thing, though for a while in the summer they had cows wandering about here every morning...

[Sinchets]

As we only grow 'weeds' here, our neighbours are permanently bewildered by us not wanting their cows, goats, sheep, chicken and turkeys wandering willy-nilly across our land. 

[Ed Alverson]

We've had lots of sunshine here in the normally rainy Pacific Northwest, mainly because we are in the midst of a severe (for these normally mild parts) cold wave.  The temperature has been below freezing for the past 4 days and the past 3 nights have been in the single digits (deg. Fahrenheit).  The night before last it was 7 deg. at the official Eugene airport weather station, 5 degrees F (-15 deg. C) at my house.  They say this is the coldest weather in our area since 1993. 

I think there are going to be a lot of dead New Zealand natives in our gardens this coming spring, since most of the Pacific Northwest from Eugene north to Vancouver is, statistically speaking, in zone 8b (annual low temps between 15 and 20) or even zone 9a.  But every few years we have a "zone 7" winter that keeps everybody in line.  I noticed that the ice on the nearby pond is 6" thick, and the leaves on my 20' tall evergreen Michelia wilsonii are looking quite brown.  Even the inside of my garage, normally my refuge for tender plants in pots, is below freezing.

So, it seems like there is a mighty strong bit of cold air over the arctic right now, and it is finding its way south here and there.  If you live anywhere in the northern regions it is likely to be paying you a visit some time soon...

Ed

[cohan]

ed--this confirms what i often think when i hear about pacific north west coast north america folks planting things which can take only the warmish winters of recent years--sooner or later they will be kept in line, as you say..
unless you have contingencies to cover/move inside, those cold systems will slide down from the north occasionally, unfortunately hopefully you dont lose too many precious things...

here in alberta, we have been having some of that arctic air too,  of course its more expected here than where you are, but its still been well below normal..
we had a couple of warm days yesterday and today--around -10C, but saturday's forecast high is -26C, and we had about another 5"/12cm of snow yesterday, although only an inch or two was forecast.. and more for each of the next 5 days..sun is out right now, against forecast

[Paul T]

A forecast high of -26'C 

Totally mind numbing from my point of view.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.

[johnw]

Late yesterday afternoon I found myself driving up the south shore heading home and trying to outrace a huge winter storm advancing eastwards.  The day started off very cold with a low the night before of -7c. By afternoon it was still -3. As I drove up the coast I heard reports from 45 minutes behind me of two snow ploughs and 3 tractor trailers off the road on a notorious hill, cars backed up and whiteout conditions.  I got home at 4:45pm and within an hour a full fledged blizzard was underway here. By 9 there was 8cm of snow down. By midnight the winds were exceeding galeforce, rain mixed with snow. This was the strongest blow I can recall since Hurricane Juan flattened the city.  All night long the house shook from stem to stern and this is one sturdy old Victorian from 1883, even the bed was shaking; ominous sounds from the yard, I imagined the frame lids flying about and decapitating every plant in the yard. Just before sunrise it was over but every inch of lawn was covered in twigs and branches.  The temperature was +9c and at mid afternoon today I thought what a glorious day with the sunlight streaming horizontally, everything so green and fresh looking - just like the UK at this time of year. Within an hour the sky darkened and suddenly it was raw and bone-chilling again.  Now at 11pm it is 4c and will barely get to that by morning. What a climate.

This morning I heard it approached -15c near Eugene, Oregon.

johnw - now 12:15am and snowing.

[Lori S.]

A forecast high of -26'C 
.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.

It was -27 C on Monday morning here, and I was told by a gentleman at the hospital who had driven in that morning that it was -37 C at their farm near Bentley, about 100km north of here...

I'm sure you realize by now that we who live in these god-awful climates take a sort of sick, perverse pride in pointing out how dreadful it is. 

[cohan]

A forecast high of -26'C 
.... and Yes, I realise there are others on the forum who probably get even lower.

It was -27 C on Monday morning here, and I was told by a gentleman at the hospital who had driven in that morning that it was -37 C at their farm near Bentley, about 100km north of here...

I'm sure you realize by now that we who live in these god-awful climates take a sort of sick, perverse pride in pointing out how dreadful it is. 

paul--there are places that get lower than me, for sure, not sure if there is anyone on the forum that i've noticed in any of those places...lol..usually, i will have lori beat by a few degrees at least, though occasionally we may reverse..
lori--bentley is not so far from me (maybe around 45mins? east and a bit north), and we were probably not far from low -30's to -40C that day, i spoke to someone west of rocky mountain house (i.e. just past where i work) and she mentioned her themometer stops at -40C(what good is that? and it was at the bottom
...there are a couple of thermometers here, but i dont know if they are any good, so i dont usually look at them...lol..i usually get temps from the town where i work, which is about 30k from here, and cannot be assumed to be quite the same..

[David Nicholson]

Late yesterday afternoon I found myself driving up the south shore heading home and trying to outrace a huge winter storm advancing eastwards........
  

Thank you John, we shall probably get the remnants of that one early next week. I just couldn't cope with the kinds of winter temperatures you Canadians get. After weeks of never ending rain (only three dry days since mid October) we have a spell of high pressure for a change. Very still and high cloud with always chance of a weak sun breaking through for a few moments. In many parts of the UK these conditions usually bring fog and yesterday what started as a pretty nice day was ruined by a belt of fog drifting up our local river valley which, for a couple of hours made it difficult to see across the road, but it departed as quickly as came.

[Paul T]

A big swathe through the north of the US had blizzard conditions yesterday (I think?) according to our news here.  Lots of footage of cars slowly drifting sidewards all by themselves etc.  Not fun at all I would imagine.

I find these discussions fascinating, because it is a window into a climate that is just something I have never experienced, nor something I am likely to experience much more than a potential visit one day.  It is interesting to hear people's experiences, and I just love John's blow by blow account of racing the storm in the afternoon.

Thanks all.  Great stuff!! 

[johnw]

Thank you John, we shall probably get the remnants of that one early next week.

David   - Pleased to pass it along.

A skid of snow fell overnight.  Up too late watching Blackadder's Christmas Carol.

johnw

[Sinchets]

Always nice to hear what's coming our way- as long as the UK and western Europe don't take too much water out of the system we could be set for a lovely white Christmas. 

[Anthony Darby]

A skid of snow fell overnight.  Up too late watching Blackadder's Christmas Carol.

johnw

Meri Kweznuz John!