A couple of weeks ago I wrote about April in Paris, in particular about the rain. The above picture was taken from our porch last Friday, April 17th. That very evening our local paper had pictures from the previous Sunday (Easter, April 12th). The pictures showed the little kids hunting for their Easter eggs in the snow. It didn’t dampen their spirits, of course, it just added to the adventure.
What has your April been like? 😉
Up until a few days ago, our April was cooler than normal. Today we our temperature was near 90F (32C).
We had a freeze warning early in the month and we covered up some of our sensitive vegetation. However, our azaleas are much too large to cover up and I had a sprinkler set up to protect them. However, just before we went to bed, we checked the weather forecast and it had changed. Instead of dropping several degrees Fahrenheit below freezing for several hours, the prediction was that the temperature would drop to freezing and stay there for an hour or so before rising. So I didn’t go out and turn on the water. We didn’t lose anything, except for a few hydrangea leaves whose stems were broken by the weight of the plastic tarp we had over the bush.
We did have some snow flurries… in April! in Arkansas!
Two of our three dogwood trees have just reached peak flowering. Our other tree, the one next to the house, has been flowering for most of the month — longer than normal — and is just now finishing. Our white and red azaleas are just past peak and our pink ones are just getting there. Our daffodils have long since ceased flowering, but we are starting to get irises. Our yard is quite shady — lots of pine — and our irises are later than many in the area.
We took a drive to northwest Arkansas on Monday and it was like stepping a couple of weeks back in the Spring. While almost all of our trees down here are well leafed out, many up there had yet to start.
One indication down here that we’ve had a cold winter is whether or not the lilacs bloom. We don’t have any in our yard, but there are a few here and there in this area. They have been blooming as well as I’ve ever seen them since we moved here in 1980.
Mike Goads last blog post..Old Faithful
In my part of the other hemisphere it’s been dry and unseasonable warm.
While you were freezing in snow in April, I was roasting in sun in India.
An account here under bikehikebabe in India. http://www.levintel.com/
Mike,
Thanks for the detailed descriptions. We went through Arkansas the end of last April and appreciated all the Spring growth. Coming from new Mexico we love rain and greenery.
I would much rather have the snow than the 90 degrees. I hadn’t known that about lilacs. We’ve never had problem with them not getting cold enough, but my husband did manage to kill one by fertilizing it. Some plants don’t like our version of TLC. 😉
Evan,
How cold does it usually get in the Fall and Winter?
bikehikebabe,
Do you have any pictures of India? I would love to see them.
In Canberra, where I am, it gets below freezing some nights in winter, and some in spring and autumn too. A few weeks the mountains around have snow on them.
Canberra has an elevation of a few hundred feet, but it rarely snows at ground level.
I recently heard a story about a lady who had moved to Florida and wanted to include lilacs in her landscaping. There were none to be found because Florida doesn’t get cold enough to trigger the flowering. The people at one place she stopped didn’t even know what lilacs were.
I almost forgot! The tulips that my wife planted for 2008 bloomed again this year. That almost never happens because the soil temperature doesn’t get cold enough. This year it got cold enough that the surface of the soil in our yard was frozen for a few days.
Mike Goads last blog post..Old Faithful
Evan,
That sounds like California, except we lived (when I was a kid) in the Bay Area, so the mountains weren’t close enough to see.
Your comment reminded me of a fellow worker. We were talking about winter and I said, “You don’t like the snow, do you Tai-Sen?” He answered, “Oh, I love the snow!” He pointed to one of my posters showing snow-covered mountains and said, “Up in the mountains is fine. I just don’t want it down here.”
Mike,
Thanks for the further information about lilacs. My husband didn’t know about that either. I would have guessed about the tulips because they’re bulbs. It must be a treat when they bloom.
Here we watch the poor apricot tree, which tends to blossom early. Occasionally it lucks out and has fruit, but usually we have a cold snap that does the fruit in.
Hot, unusually for April, hovering around 39 degrees and crossing 41 on a couple of occasions. More discomfiting has been the unusually high humidity, which has made this summer a bit clammy, sticky and debilitating. Let me throw a bait for Mike – Climate change do you think?
rummusers last blog post..I Love This Doctor.
Ramana – Yes, the climate is changing. That’s what a chaotic system does — it changes, ALL of the time, for a lot of different reasons. I read new material on climate change nearly every day and, the more I read, the more skeptical I am of most of climate change stories I see in the media. Of course, I could go on and on on this topic, but I’ll save it for a post next week or so on my blog, On Climate.
However, what each of us are commenting on — what we are seeing locally — is weather variation on a local scale, which may or may not be because of climate change.
Here’s an interesting graph that I check regularlyArctic Sea Ice Status, along with several other climate indicators.
(And, of course, Ramana, you knew I wouldn’t even try to resist the bait. 😉 )
Mike Goads last blog post..Eyes of the Great Depression 027
If you’re just a drop-in, rummuser is talking about (39 degrees) CENEGRADE. ( & in India) That makes more sense. Freezing should be 0–not 32.
On climate change. I don’t think there is the slightest doubt that the evidence says that it is happening.
A good blog about the denialists’ antics is: http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/
Don’t be sidetracked by the debate about whether it is human caused. Finally it doesn’t matter. We need to stop people drowning. We need to find ways to grow crops so people don’t starve. I am convinced that all these things are possible (though not without change), but it means dealing with what is going on.
rummser,
I sympathize. I wilt in hot, humid weather too. That’s one reason we live where we do. 39 sounds hot enough to me. 41 would turn me into a basket case if it were humid.
One expected result of global warming is more and more extreme weather.
Mike,
Are you skeptical of the stories about the melting Arctic ice? I had thought that was well documented.
bikehikebabe,
I agree, having 0 degrees for freezing makes more sense to me.
Evan,
I agree, no matter what is causing it, we’re going to have to deal with it. I personally think things will be grim if we can’t slow down population growth.
Hi Jean,
Very much agree re population growth. Roll on education for women and old age pensions!
Have you seen the book Cradle to Cradle? It’s a quantum leap ahead of the usual approach to sustainability.
Yes Mike, I knew that you would take it hook, line and sinker. Just to get some traffic going for Jean here who tries so hard to keep peace between us.
bikehikebabe, it is just a matter of degrees! We call it Celsius rather than centigrade now a days. Like we have kilo meters rather than miles, liters rather than gallons and so on and so forth. We are snobs.
Evan, I have just accepted your invitation and have sent you a message. I strongly recommend ‘Prisoners of Our thoughts’ by Alex Pattakos.
rummusers last blog post..I Love This Doctor.
Jean – I’m skeptical of the media reports of arctic ice melt and of “Chicken Little” predictions, in general. However, there are sites on-line that show the daily progress, as measured by satellites, of the extent of polar ice, so the reality of sea ice extent and change is readily available.
Polar ice goes through an annual cycle where it covers more in the colder months and recedes in the warmer months, so the curves tend to look like a sine wave.
Another page I look at daily is AMSRE-A Sea Ice Extent. It has 6 1/2 years of history. The sea arctic sea ice extent currently is higher than any of the other years at this point in the annual cycle
AMSRE-A : Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – Earth Observing System.
Responsible agency: National Space Development Agency of Japan
“Monitoring of sea-ice parameters, such as ice concentration, type, and extent, is necessary to understand how this frozen blanket over the ocean affects the larger climate system. Sea ice has the ability to insulate the water against heat loss to the frigid atmosphere above it, and at the same time the ability to reflect sunlight that would otherwise warm the ocean. AMSR-E measurements will allow the derivation of sea ice concentrations in both polar regions, through taking advantage of the marked contrast in microwave emissions of sea ice and liquid water.”
The Antarctic season, of course, is opposite of the Arctic, and the sea ice extent there is increasing as it gets colder.
Mike Goads last blog post..Eyes of the Great Depression 027
Evan,
It’s going to be interesting (to say the least) to see what happens. Exponential growth is scary!
rummuser,
It seems to me I read from time to time that the US should switch to the metric system and join the rest of the world. But it would be an expensive switch. In physics, of course, we mostly use the metric system.
Mike,
I don’t pay much attention to what the popular media says about climate change. I do read the articles in Science Magazine.
Yes Jean, you also drive on the wrong side of the road! You are the only ones still using Imperial measures!!
rummusers last blog post..My Friends Are Convinced That I am Over The Hill.
rummuser,
Yes, I’m well aware of that. 😉