Winter has gone crazy

It has been unseasonably warm here with much moisture. I fear that the plants an trees are going to get fooled into thinking it is spring and than get hit by a cold snap and they will not be able to recover. I has imagined in my mind what trees would look like in the middle of summer with no leaves or few flowers left. I have never seen this happen but am sure it could. What do you all think?

Well I have to admit I have fears as well that the unseasonably warm winter we are having so far will damage my plants. I noticed buds on my lilac bushes yesterday afternoon. Normally at this time of year we are snow and ice bound and while I enjoy the milder winter it is sort of scary when I think on the effect it may have.

I have delayed my winter sowing because of the temp flux only doing some of my containers because I prefer to know it's going to be steady cold before I put all my seeds down. My fear is stuff will start to sprout in the warmer afternoons but get hit badly when the temps yo-yo back. It's only 28* right now but the expected temps for this afternoon are suppose to be low to mid 40's................... that is warmer than the norm. Usually this time of year we are in single to minus digits at night with teen temps for the days

~Julie

Our winter has also been mild. We got our first blizzard New Year's Eve day and I truly enjoyed the beauty of it. We also got our first chance to try out our new snowblower. Yippee!

Twin I am so glad you are happy to try out the snowblower. I myself would just as soon never in life see snow again.
Jab we too usually have single digits a least for a couple of days by this time. I tell the trees and flowers to stay asleep when I go outside. I tell them mother nature is trying to trick them this year. I may even get out some very soothing music and play it for them. :)

Here in Albuquerque, New Mexico we are just digging ourselves out of 20 inches of snow that fell before New Years Eve! The week before that, we had 9 inches of snow. This an all-time record for New Mexico. Morning temperatures have been in the 20s and my yard and gardens are still buried under snow. When we moved to the desert southwest five years ago, we were prepared to deal with the high altitude, dry air and hot summers. I never thought we'd be wishing we had a snowblower!

We seem to be experiencing a change in weather patterns here. This summer we had record rainfall and flooding in a dry area where water restructions are imposed all summer. Now all this snow. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I can usually let my heart worm and flea preventive program go on hiatus in November. Haven't been able to do it this year. (Or last year either, come to think about it.)

My hydrangeas, crocuses, and daffs are coming up now.

My red buds have blossoms on them.

It's JANUARY.

My poor 5 yo, my mother got her a sled for Christmas. Unless she's planning to take this kid to Canada on a holiday, I'm going to have to put wheels on it.

We have never owned a snowblower; my husband doesn't mind scooping. But when the snow can't be scooped a guy would come with a skid loader and scoop us out. Last year I told my husband "NO MORE". Pushing the snow onto my flower beds bent and scrambled my plant markers, broke my curly willow tree in half, knocked out the corner of a retaining wall, gouged the pavers in the driveway . . .Argh!

So he buys the snowblower and says its for ME! First snow comes along and he's out there like a boy with a toy! Ha Ha (I won't be running it) He's a good man; I'm gonna keep him.

luna she better eye Newfoundland, Manitoba or the mountains of British Columbia because a lot of Canada doesn't have that much cold or snow either.

Currently my location has about 4 inches (but Saskatoon, SK and northern Saskatchewan has lots)

Moose Jaw, CA
Elevation: 1893 ft / 577 m
[Unknown]
34 °F / 1 °C
N/A
Humidity: 81%
Dew Point: 29 °F / -2 °C
Wind: 16 mph / 26 km/h / 7.2 m/s from the WSW

Ain't climate change/global warming wonderful??? :(

BTW a major ice shelf up in Canada's arctic has broken away from land now, due to warm arctic temperatures, and will probably be entering the shipping lanes in a few years.




This message was edited Jan 2, 2007 10:10 AM

Ancient ice shelf snaps and breaks free from Canadian Arctic
The Associated Press
Published: December 28, 2006

TORONTO: A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said Thursday, citing climate change as a "major" reason for the event.

The Ayles Ice Shelf — 66 square kilometers (41 square miles) of it — broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.

Scientists discovered the event by using satellite imagery. Within one hour of breaking free, the shelf had formed as a new ice island, leaving a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake.

Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, traveled to the newly formed ice island and was amazed at the sight.

"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years," Vincent said. "We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead."


The ice shelf was one of six major shelves remaining in Canada's Arctic. They are packed with ancient ice that is more than 3,000 years old. They float on the sea but are connected to land.

Some scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years and that climate change was a major element.

"It is consistent with climate change," Vincent said, adding that the remaining ice shelves are 90 percent smaller than when they were first discovered in 1906. "We aren't able to connect all of the dots ... but unusually warm temperatures definitely played a major role."

Laurie Weir, who monitors ice conditions for the Canadian Ice Service, was poring over satellite images in 2005 when she noticed that the shelf had split and separated.

Weir notified Luke Copland, head of the new global ice lab at the University of Ottawa, who initiated an effort to find out what happened.

Using U.S. and Canadian satellite images, as well as seismic data — the event registered on earthquake monitors 250 kilometers (155 miles) away — Copland discovered that the ice shelf collapsed in the early afternoon of Aug. 13, 2005.

Copland said the speed with which climate change has effected the ice shelves has surprised scientists.

"Even 10 years ago scientists assumed that when global warming changes occur that it would happen gradually so that perhaps we expected these ice shelves just to melt away quite slowly," he said.

Derek Mueller, a polar researcher with Vincent's team, said the ice shelves get weaker as temperatures rise. He visited Ellesmere Island in 2002 and noticed that another ice shelf had cracked in half.

"We're losing our ice shelves and this a feature of the landscape that is in danger of disappearing altogether from Canada," Mueller said.

Within days of breaking free, the Ayles Ice Shelf drifted about 30 miles (50 kilometers) offshore before freezing into the sea ice. A spring thaw may bring another concern: that warm temperatures will release the new ice island from its Arctic grip, making it an enormous hazard for ships.

"Over the next few years this ice island could drift into populated shipping routes," Weir said.

Thanks for the info; I feel so uninformed; maybe because I am here instead of reading a newspaper. (Guess there's no chance of that changing) This is the most I have been on DG in over a year. And when I first joined, I was on 2 hours a day - 7 days a week. When I can't sleep at night it gives me something to do with my mind.

dpmichael is a back surgeon in Greece and he too has been reporting unusual weather there: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/679879/ see his first post.

TLC I work at reference desk in our local library and we've had a poster hung opposite the desk (from the Government of Canada) showing what will be happening (and is) over the coming years. I'll take more normal colder temps and snow over what is coming.

This message was edited Jan 2, 2007 6:21 PM