Category: Weather

  • It snowed

    We had our first snow of the year yesterday. Not much, just enough to dust the roof and some log piles. Some years it’s sooner, some later, but in Ohio, you know it’s only a matter of time. And no matter how prepared you think you are, it’s always a bit of a shock to the system. I always tell other people (and hear it from them as well) that I like having four seasons, the first snow is nice, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes I wonder if we just say that to convince ourselves that it’s not so bad, because we’re stuck in Ohio, and we know it’s going to be like this until April…

    In spite of any griping, I really do like the seasonal differences, and for the most part, enjoy living in Ohio. I do think that having a winter is great, as it allows everyone and everything to rest for a bit – I don’t know if I could go full speed year-round if I lived in southern California. Winter gives us an excuse to recharge, and while the focus shifts to inside projects, it’s a little more laid-back than during the nice weather, when the rush is on to get everything done before the cold hits. It’s a time for comfort food, and an opportunity to gain any weight you lost while eating only vegetables for the past three months 🙂 And since it gets dark so early, an opportunity for early bedtimes, if only we could take advantage of it… Here we go.

  • Lest we forgot that we’re not in charge…

    Nothing like the raw power of the weather to remind us how small we really are. It astounds me that even here in Ohio, hundreds of miles removed from the center of this storm, we’re still getting this kind of wind and rain. I’ve seen stronger wind gusts, but nothing like this sustained, and it hasn’t stopped raining since Saturday night. We did lose power overnight for a couple hours, leading to some tense moments hoping the basement wouldn’t flood, but all is clear right now, and we have nothing like the areas facing the brunt of it on the East coast. Looks like the worst is past, but it’s going to be a while to get everything back to normal. Stay safe out there.

  • The color brown

    Of which we’d better get used to – we’re getting a heavy dose of it lately, unlike the regular spring deluges from last year. It’s been a pretty frustrating spring so far in terms of weather (though, when isn’t it? As I’ve pondered many times before, is there really such a thing as perfect weather around here?), as we’ve had one semi-decent rain in the past month-plus, and even semi-decent is probably being generous; it was maybe a half-inch or so. I’d bet we had no more than an inch the entire month of May. Aside from that, we’ve had a few instances of sprinkles (that may as well be nothing), and lots of “a line of storms headed our way,” only to watch them magically dissipate or veer just south right before it hits us. Those are the worst.

    Because much of what I’ve planted is still in a pretty delicate, early stage of growth, I have to water things almost daily, meaning I’ve already had to water more this year than I did all of last year. The grass was turning brown in May, which tends to not happen around here, even considering how messed up Ohio weather can be. I’m hoping this is not a harbinger for the rest of the summer, otherwise it’s going to be a long year.

    The latest “rain” we had came the other day, and was about the most worthless two hours of “rain” I’ve witnessed. Again, everything heavier just seemed to vanish before it hit us, so while it “rained” for several hours off and on, it alternated between a mist and a heavy mist, and did nothing more than get the grass wet – I don’t even know if anything made it to the ground. The only good that came out of it was that we got to witness a nice rainbow just before sunset. Nice gesture.

    Guess what the forecast looks like for the next week? Lots and lots of heat and sunshine. I hope the tomatoes are happy…

  • Garden update 4/11

    Things have been quite busy around here, which is why I haven’t been posting much recently. Reseeding bare patches in the yard, digging new beds, moving rocks and dirt piles, planting trees, starting seeds, chasing the boy around… There’s a lot going on.

    The weather continues to be strange. Although, I’m just accepting the fact that there really is no ‘normal’ weather, just an average based on dozens of years of highs and lows and in-betweens. We had, apparently, the warmest March on record, then no appreciable rain for almost two weeks (meaning I had to water the grass seed. Every. Day.), and today we woke up with a couple inches of snow on the ground. At least I don’t have to water this afternoon.

    I haven’t planted anything else outside since the initial seeding almost a month ago now. I forget how quickly things dry out inside (in some cases, I need to water more than once a day in the cool, dry basement), and I’ve had to replant a couple tomatoes already because they’ve gone crispy.

    After that really warm stretch, temps have more or less been normal for this time of year, so as much as is possible, things are kind of getting back to the way they should be outside. The early start doesn’t appear to have negatively impacted much. So far.

  • Two kinds of cold

    We had another nice winter blast this weekend – it’s been bitterly cold and windy since Friday, and it snowed constantly until Sunday night. I’m not sure how much we ended up with because the wind just blew it around, but it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of six inches. Not even what I’d consider a major snow event around here, but more than we’ve had for most of this winter. Still can’t complain though, with as mild as it’s been. That being said, I’m still ready for spring.

    In addition to the weather, C came down with the sniffles the other day, so he’s been a little stuffy. He’s usually pretty healthy, but he was with a bunch of other kids on Thursday, and I guess when you put a bunch of dirty little creatures in a room together, something’s gotta give. I suppose if we try to spin it in a positive way, it helps his immune system get stronger.

    Of course, you couldn’t tell that he’s feeling any different – he’s his usual wild self, just with a runny nose. He hasn’t quite gotten the concept of blowing his nose, so we still just have to wipe for now. When do they figure out how to blow through their nose?

    Can you tell he's sick?