No winter?

[data farm 26]

I'm not complaining as I absolutely detest being cold, climbing trees in the cold even more so. It is strange though, warmest December I can recall. Any other regions having delayed winter? Obviously, I wonder about the effects on trees. Our climate is typically erratic and the specimen trees don't seem to handle it well.

 

[GregManning]

I have lived in NE Ohio for 56 years (Cleveland, et al).
Of that, 32 years has been in the "Snow-Belt" (Chardon: up to 13 ft/yr)
This year, accumulation has been < 2 ft ! ! ! and very mild temps !

My drive is ~ 250 ft long; I have not used the snow blower, or front loader, to clear it in 3 years !

 

[Shadowscape]

Up here in the frozen north, it is raining. No snow on the ground. Very strange weather for northern Minnesota indeed. My dog should be sleeping on a five foot high snow hill at about zero temp. Currently it is 48 degrees.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Yup...it's not Minnie-snow-tuh this year. I doubt there is any frost in the ground.

If this warmth keeps up we're going to have an awful bug season next year.

 

[evo]

I'm not complaining as I absolutely detest being cold, climbing trees in the cold even more so. It is strange though, warmest December I can recall. Any other regions having delayed winter? Obviously, I wonder about the effects on trees. Our climate is typically erratic and the specimen trees don't seem to handle it well.

We have Rhodes in bloom, some roses and blackberries here and there.
We had some early freezes, and have been in the 40’s since.
Nothing like 40 degrees and pissing down rain for weeks. At least when it’s frozen it’s dry.

 

[TreeVB]

Idaho has been pretty warm with minimal snow. Shot my deer in N. Idaho, an hour away from Canadian border, on Thanksgiving with zero snow on the ground. Am currently at the family cabin in Lowman Idaho with about 6” on the ground. Usually we would have 3-4’ this time of year. It is definitely cold today but no moisture in the air or the forecast. Boise has been comfortable and just starting to freeze again but no moisture in the forecast. Strange year so far but we still have a few months to go.

 

[Boomslang]

We're in one of the strongest El Ninõ events in recorded history, so it shouldn't be that surprising. And yea...climate change too.

We're staring at above freezing temps for the next week with zero snow on the ground or in the forecast. Makes for decent working conditions, but I like snowy winters so I'm a little grumpy.

 

[flushcut]

It’s been warm so far this year but IMO winter is far from over El Niño or not.

 

[Tuebor]

It’s been warm so far this year but IMO winter is far from over El Niño or not.

Agreed. Winter is only 3 days old. Here in southeast Michigan, we have snow on the ground at Christmas only one out of every three years. The coldest day of winter for us has come as late as March 17. That said, we are having a very mild December. It's just not the lack of snow but also the lack of cold days or nights.

 

[islandarb]

Pretty warm Dec here.....must be global warming or planet realignment something sinister......

 

[flushcut]

Do you even know cold? Lol


Real warm today 54 slightly rainy. To be honest I am glad the ground isn’t frozen so all the rain we’ve had is soaking in. It’s been real dry here the last few years.

 

[Serf Life]

Picked a deer tick off my 5yo today in coastal Maine. Pros and cons to warm winter.

 

[oldoakman]

Weather is on a pendulum and operates on geologic time, not human time. It will balance out, it always does.

 

[flyingmosstreen]

Ya, I left Rochester today, it was 50 and the first sun we have seen in a week, down to Georgia which was 50 and rain haha. Supposed to clear up in the next days.

It scares me to think the ground will not freeze this winter if it continues with the warmer temperatures.

Makes work a mud fest and access becomes the determining factor for how we approach the work.

I miss the snow. I know (or hope) that the later season snow will come but the trend seems to be truncated transition seasons. Fall gets pushed back and shortened and winter peaks later with a short spring quickly followed by summer heat.

 

[Tree Junkie]

Weather is on a pendulum and operates on geologic time, not human time. It will balance out, it always does.

Thank You!

 

[data farm 26]

Weather is on a pendulum and operates on geologic time, not human time. It will balance out, it always does.

On the geological time scale weather on the earth has been anything but balanced, since the days of planet wide acid rain. There is no pendulum of weather/climate. Even on the relatively tiny scale of the human race (100k-200k years) the earth has seen major change in weather patterns and climate. Only on the miniscule scale of one person's life, or perhaps the life of a culture/society, has weather and climate appeared to be steady and dependable. Shigo relayed that the idea of balance in nature was fanciful and I tend to agree.

 

[rico]

Weather is on a pendulum and operates on geologic time, not human time. It will balance out, it always does.

It does until it doesn’t. And I can’t help but wonder how the dinosaurs and all the species that have been driven to extinction since our industrial revolution would feel about your theory?

 

[ghostice]

Worked with and hung around with a buncha professional geologists/ geophysicists over the years. These folks have a truly different perspective on earth's history and aren't all that CO2 fussed to be honest (one volcano, two volcano, etc.). Usually in engineering, it's smartest to pick off the low hanging fruit first (most bang for the $$) - so what about China and their coal plants, and India and, well did ANYBODY (there were about 70,000 attendees - Really?) at the COP28 wine and dine yee haw shindig (those that could find a parking spot for their private jets anyway) utter the word Russia? I didn't hear it once in any coverage. If you want to see emissions and pollution, go see the goings on in any of the 'Stans' or in Russian oil production. Pretty disgusting as we all run around chasing CH4 flange leaks in N American production facilities. Really? What about micro plastics and dumping garbage in our oceans? Or even, what about synthetic elements in the periodic table (every living thing now has a couple of molecules, at least, of plutonium in their bodies because of atmospheric testing). Personally I think we (bipedal carbon based lifeforms) have lots of low hanging fruit to work on before we get excited about electric cars and battery this 'n that for "Saving the Planet" but that's just me. That route is gosh darn expensive.
Gotta go - walking to the grocery store today to pick up some fresh bread and buy some now definately single use plastic bags for the grandkids diapers (used to reuse shopping bags but that travesty on the earth is now a distant memory). Happy New Year all. Just some guys view from our coffee table chat sessions over this Christmas. Opinions.alt

Addenda: I keep sayin' that ISA should have a BMP or something and we should have availability of more commercial material on starting seedlings - we are after all supposed to be tree people . . .

Addenda No 2: 16-Feb-2024 Talk about methane flange leaks in the 'Stans? Here's some info seen from space!

 

[Shadowscape]

Here is a video summing up earth over 4.5 billion years. There is no pendulum of weather. It just changes.
Video travels about 1 million years a second (still takes about an hour to watch). Worth noting humans at the end takes but a blip, and probably will not make a full second in existence.

 

[rico]

But what an impactful second it was.