Its snowing here, so must be winter starts in October stops we hope in April, with some intermittent warm ups to make driving fun.
We are somewhat close to the ocean. So we get weather from the west and from the ocean. Those ocean storms can be the most fierce and unpredictable. No way of ever knowing what your winter will be like. Just go along with it and use some sense.
It is hard to dig a burial plot when the ground is completely frozen and hip deep in snow; it is far easier to do it in may when the frost goes out of the ground and the ground dries up. Here, all the cemeteries have a "Crypt" or "Winter Vault" where the coffins are stored until Spring. Many a juvenile has been dared to enter such a place on a bet. Before the days of cremation, children were often the exception to Spring "Committals" as they are called. Family members did not want to endure the hardship of having another cemetery service for the loss of a child, so they were dug even in the winter through the frost. My Great Grandfather died doing this, having got Pneumonia when he dug a child's grave in the winter, so after his death a few weeks later it was said, "He dug his own grave". Here in Maine a sure way to find gravel is to dig near old cemeteries. They needed a spot that was not only easy to dig, but also deep enough since ledge (bedrock) is right on top of the ground here. Because glaciers always traveled in a Southwest direction, gravel piled up on the Northeast side of a hill, and hence where most cemeteries are.
Can’t speak for everyone but This is the coldest we’ve had in probably 5 years. Hopefully it will take care of the bugs this year. We usually just have a day or 2 of cold and then back to 60’s or even 70’s. This year it’s been pretty steady. We’ve had 3 times were we’ve had cold for a week-10 days straight. Snowed over 2 inches twice. Burning through some wood this year but I got a saw and am just getting cranked up on replacing it
stolen of twitter dr. ryan maue Temperature anomalies for next 45 days. We see rather strong signals into mid and late February for winter's last hurrah. Preview here: (link: http://wx.graphics/models/eps/eps.php) wx.graphics/models/eps/eps…
I don't mind the lack of snow but id like some bitter cold and frozen ground (with no snow) as those are my favorite wood cutting days. The plus side to these milder temps is more prime seasoned wood by next year since I'm a novice and still working on that 2+ year wood plan!
Pretty intense thunderstorms going on tonight, a lot of lightning, and rain and Yep, you guessed it... mud. This is the absolute pits...
We have johndee.com for those in the upper Midwest. He's mostly geared toward snowmobiling, but he gives the real deal forecast.
Pellets falling from the sky here. Plus rain. Snow will come just before the drive into work, of course.
I can deal with those conditions, but I prefer a couple inches 1-5"or so, as I haul a ton more wood with my sled behind the ATV than any other way at the moment.
It's sad to see all the pics of "winter" with no snow. I'm 40 miles south of Lake Superior and still have a foot or so of snow in the yard. No where near a couple of years ago, but a lot more than last year. They were saying we could get anywhere from 3 to 12 inches today. It was blowing a lot here, but the snow fall was only an inch or so.... I'd like to have the weather guessers job. I could be wrong every day and still have job security!! This is from a couple of weeks ago. We've gotten more since then....
In Maine we have Jim Witt who does the weather for WKIT (Steven King's radio station). The guy started Fleet Weather which does the weather for companies like shipping, trucking, etc all over the world, but is now retired. He does the weather for WKIT giving the money to charity and has done it for over 45 years! This past week he apologized because he called two storms wrong. He thought the blizzard we got last month was going to be "light" and the last storm we got as "heavy" when it was opposite. He then went on to say, "When I forecasted this back in 1969, I am not sure why I got them backwards." He is known for his long term weather forecasts, doing yearly calendars of what the weather will be. First I was shocked he apologized for being wrong as no other soothsayer (weather forecaster) says that. Second, I could not believe he had done the forecast in 1969!!
Here in Maine they are saying that the winter will have little impact on the tick population and such, only because the ground is so warm. The ground is NOT frozen at all. The only place that it is has been, was where snow was plowed off and the deep cold was allowed to freeze the ground. In the woods it is nothing but mud! But I can bulldoze stumps, make roads, etc...
I'm still holding out for now. Hoping for some cold weather. Tapping in January just isn't right. Can't wait for the run tho! I got 9 new metal buckets with lids and taps!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....there is nothing like tree pee on a stack of flapjacks. Eat your heart out Paul Bunyan!
