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Weather

January Thaw: A Video

January 25, 2010

What happens when the snow melts in the middle of winter? I made a brief video to show you:

Some roads and a few low bridges have flooded, forcing early school closings and rerouting traffic.
A thaw in January is common, but rain doesn’t always accompany it. Sometimes it is brilliantly sunny, inspiring snowball fights in shirt [...]

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Why Is This Winter So Cold?

January 10, 2010
snow covered trike

Yesterday, the low here was 8F (-13C). That’s not too surprising. But Dee Nash of Red Dirt Ramblings told me her low that same day was 5F (-15C) in Oklahoma. Whoa! What’s going on here? Check out Eric Berger’s explanation in the Houston Chronicle. It turns out a lot of factors have contributed to the [...]

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First Snow of 2009-2010

October 16, 2009
Thumbnail image for First Snow of 2009-2010

Last night it snowed. That, in itself, is not unusual for the second half of October. But normally we get flurries mixed with rain, and no accumulation. Yesterday a weather record for snow accumulation was broken. The official new record is 1.2 inches accumulation. The old record was “trace.” And unofficial reports coming in tell [...]

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Rain Plus Warmth Equals Weeds

June 21, 2009

In the past 4 days have gotten almost 3in rain. Now it’s supposed to warm up. I see weeds in my future. Weeds and blooms.

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April heat wave broke weather records

April 29, 2009

This just in from the National Weather Service:
Record April heat has ended…
Many daily and monthly high temperature records were broken from
Saturday April 25th to Monday April 27th across the area.
For the regional Airport daily records were broken for
April 25th and the 27th. On April 25th a record high temperature of
85 degrees was set which breaks [...]

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Weather

April 12, 2009

Low tonight=15F? !! Probably should pile leaves on those foxgloves greening up, if the wind ever dies down.

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Why rain gauges break and plants heave

December 28, 2008

It was a balmy 57F out today, a pleasant change from last week’s snow, so I took a stroll around the garden to see what I could see. I saw the new growth of sedums at soil level, and I saw colchicums emerging from the earth, way too early as usual.I also saw the damage [...]

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Snow is good for dormant plants

December 19, 2008

“Finally, a decent snowfall.” That’s my first reaction as an ornamental gardener, thinking about the dormant plants. Snow is a great insulator and keeps the soil–and the roots of plants–warmer than if that same soil were exposed to the air.
This is one reason why Ellen Hornig of Seneca Hill Perennials can grow many plants from [...]

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Max-Min Thermometer for Cold Climate Gardeners

December 8, 2008

I think every gardener should know the air temperature where their plants are growing (indoors or out). Most people are aware that it can get too cold for plants, but if you’re not gardening in the South, you may not realize it can get too hot for plants, too. That’s why I put one on [...]

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What is a cold climate?

February 7, 2008

This photo was taken two days before the digital thermometer bottomed out in January 2005

Quite a while ago, someone emailed me, asking what was a cold climate. I never did answer them, because I thought it was obvious. A cold climate is any climate too cold to grow the plants you really want to grow. [...]

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Christmas eve sunrise

December 25, 2007

One of the nice things about short winter days is that it’s not too difficult to get up before sunrise. These two photos were taken a bit after seven thirty in the morning. It’s not going to be much of a white Christmas, I’m afraid. Sunday the snow pack was dissolved by rain and highs [...]

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The Weather Watching Gardener

July 25, 2007

Most gardeners don’t start out as weather geeks, but I think most end up that way. The fate of one’s plants is just too tied up with the weather. Garden chores will be different depending on the weather. And while golfers and swimmers rejoice at yet another hot, sunny day, we gardeners know another sunny [...]

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Lucky 7

July 8, 2007

Instead of a single day of good fortune like yesterday’s auspicious 07/07/07, this has been a week of luck for one reason: rain. Although it can’t be discerned from the surrounding woods with their uncommon fullness bordering on rainforest-like lushness, this summer has been uncommonly dry. Late spring and summer started out so well it [...]

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