MARCH 1

          I'm more than nerdy about weather . I like the science of weather as how it works with low pressure high pressure systems. When  I was in grade school I liked the weather unit in science. I had many airplane rides in The Northwest Territories. the pilots had to have a good  sense of the weather. The only time I was in danger of crashing is when the pilot misjudged the weather. Well to be  fair the weather  was tricky. The  airplane iced up.

       We did many radio reports on weather and that had to good enough in the 60's.

       What high tech I do remember is when the first satellites began producing weather   reports. I remember the first and only time we  used it,

       But today my topic is March' In like  a lion and out like a .lamb,.We spend time debating whetherr the weather  we had was lamb or lion! Yester dsy we could have had a discussion.

      At midnight it was  minus 18 C and calm, Shortly after  noon it was plus 5 and no wind It was a beautiful day.

    So we'll see what the weather is like on March 31

WINTER

         Our winter weather has been fairly standard this year although many people would disagree with me. But that's typical of winter weather discussions.

        We've had some long spells of very cold weather. Lows below minus 30 C  for two or three weeks without a break. Then we had two and a half weeks of record breaking mild weather.

       On Thur. Feb.26 it was plus ten. In some places the roads were becoming slushy. By midnight it was minus 10. 

     So what I'm trying to say is that winter weather is variable with longer spells of cold and warm. In March the weather changes but the changes are quicker so the times of cold and warm are quicker.

     So I'm about to look at the length of days. We are starting to notice warming from the sun,

    I can get hopeful about spring but it's not here yet.

WEATHER

      The weather has been crazy this summer. Some places have been suffering from a heat wave . Other places have received excess rain. And then some places are cold. 

     This week we are cold in Central Alberta. . Today's high was 11 C. Last night it went down to plus 6 C. The furnace cut in. We are having extremes.

     This reminds me of an extreme I experienced one time. It might cool you off.

     I've said at least 1000 times that I spent 5 years in the Arctic.

     I was single and so were most of the bush pilots. I could ask to go along for a ride and if there was room I got to go with them.

     So one Saturday morning It was arranged that I would go to Ft Macpherson with them. I walked the mile down to the airplane. I was there before the pilot. When the pilot got there they had to cover the engine with a tarp and light a fire pot to warm up the engine. Finally the engine started. I had been standing outside all this time and it was minus 40 F. 

    Off we go but the airplane is just as cold inside as the outside. The flight was about 55 minutes. By the time we got to Ft.Macpherson the cabin had started to warm up. So we landed and picked up a mechanic and dumped off some mail. All the time the doors of the plane were open so it was once more as cold inside the cabin as outside. 

   We had a 35 minute flight to Aklavik. After a while the pilot was looking out the window . According to his watch he should have been at Aklavik. He was on the right path to Aklavik but we were against a strong head wind and it caused a slower air speed. We threw off mail bags and headed for home in another 40 minutes.

   So what I thought would be a very pleasant flight turned out to be very unpleasant. The whole trip was miserably cold. Then I had to walk the one mile back to my residence.

   So If your suffering a heat wave, I hope this cools you off a bit. 

    

A BAD DAY

       I guess we all have to have a bad day or two once in a while. 

      So, here's my story.

     We have been trying to downsize for many years. One of us thinks that not much progress is made and the the other one thinks that we are getting rid of some "stuff" 

    So the neighbor across the corner was having a garage sale today. The micro manager thought that this would be a good opportunity for us to put things out and people may visit our garage sale while going to the other. 

    It was a very nasty day. Wind gusts were well into the 60 km range. It was plus 12 C. Now those two things are enough to tell me that it will be a very nasty day. I said we shouldn't have a sale with such poor weather. The Micro manager thought that it was a great opportunity for a garage sale. Words were said. Strong words were said. Finally I gave in and we rounded up stuff to put out. 

   Now a few things about garage sales. There's more to it than just putting things out. People like to see a sale with  much stuff displayed. They look at a sale with only a few things and they don't stop. You need an attractive sign. Your sign must be clear. It was so windy today that the sign was blown across the yard. Put things out so that they are attractively displayed. 

    Finally about 3 PM the micro manager gave in and said let's quit.  The neighbor next door wanted some of these articles so we invited Darcy for a visit. Darcy took about 75% of the stuff. What was left, we took to bibles for missions.

   Did we learn anything? Probably not. 

I DON'T LIKE THE WEATHER FORECAST

       For the next seven days we have a nasty weather forecast. 

       On five of the next seven days we have snow in the forecast. Now I don't really mind snow.

      Now the highs for the next seven days aren't nice . Here they are. Keep in mind that these are highs. Did I say that before.

         Dec . 17   minus 15 (6 F)

         Dec. 18    minus  20 (minus 4 F)

         Dec. 19    minus 24 (minus 6 F)

         Dec. 20     minus 28 (minus 20 F) 

         Dec. 21     minus 29 (minus 21 F)

         Dec.22      minus 22 (minus 8)

         Dec. 23     Minus 14 (4 F)

      Now the usual questions that are asked about these temperatures. 

      They are not close to record lows. It is normal  get this cold but not often. 

      We get used to these temperatures and go about our business. 

      North American has had some brutal weather in December. 

WEATHER REPORT

      I've had a number of weather related topics lately. so here goes another one which is related to past posts.

     Yesterday , Dec. 4 it was chinooking here. We had a strong steady west wind and a minus 1 C temperature all day. When the sun sets the wind stops. There was no chinook arch but it would have been farther west toward the Rocky mountains.

    Today we had 2 cm of snow. Just enough to shovel and tomorrow morning is will be minus 29 C (20 below F). At one time minus 29 C would not have been a problem but at this age I'm staying home. 

    So there's my weather report and now you can compare it to yours. 

Chinook

          The photos I'm showing today were from Oct. 29. My intention was to use them for my next post. But you know what got in the way. I had to show the snow photos from Nov. 2. 

         Oct 29 was a very nice day. We had a high of 15. The reason for the pleasant weather was that we had a chinook. We are fortunate to live in an area where we have chinooks as they brings very warm weather.

       We live on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. The prevailing wind blows up on the western side of the mountains and dumps most of it's moisture. When the air moves over the peaks and down down on the eastern slopes it warms up. That gives us warm windy weather. In some areas and at times the air temperature will rise 50 Degrees F in an hour. 

     So what I intended to show with my photos is the chinook arch. A chinook arch is formed when air is forced up over the mountains and  cools . Cold air not able to hold as much moisture forms the cloud and chinook arch. There are other places in the world with a similar weather phenomenon but different names.

      If you look through the trees you can see a straight line showing the division between clear skies and cloud. 

   

I'M NOT READY FOR FALL

   There are small hints of fall but I'm not ready for fall. 

    We have had a heat spell for about 6 or 7 weeks. Not a really uncomfortable hot but hot none the less. Our highs have been mostly 28C to 30 C. For many people this is not hot at all.

    But what I'm trying to say is that with warm summer weather ,it's hard to get your head ready for fall.

    If fall comes quickly your head has to adjust to things very quickly. Today our high was 19 C. Most of the day it was 13 C with sometimes a strong wind. So definitely a touch of fall. 

   However, there are other signs of fall. All of my garden flowers are finished blooming and the plants are starting to look pretty ragged. 

    Leaves are falling but they are the ones that have been damaged over the season. Insects have chewed much of the leaf and the leave has quit functioning so weakens and drops. Some leaves have been eaten by leaf miners. 

So no matter what I'm going to have to be ready for fall. I have to be ready cooler temperatures and changes in leaf color and leaves falling. 

    After all that whining, I do like fall. 

QUICK CHANGE

        Our weather changed very quickly in the last 24 hours. 

        Yesterday Mar. 30 was a bright warm sunny 15 C day. I was able to just wear a T shirt. As you can se by the following mural photos it was bright. 

 

     So this morning I woke up to snow on the ground. there were high winds and driving snow in the night. 

I DON'T LIKE MY WEATHER FORECAST

      Today we had a rather nasty day. It was windy. Thunder showers would blow through with wind and heavy rain. There was lots of lightning and thunder. 

      I was going to get groceries at 7:00 AM but it was raining. I decided to have breakfast and see if it stopped raining. Well it stopped raining so I got my groceries. 

     About noon there was lots of thunder and lightning and a heavy shower.

     So it's been a very unpleasant day. 

     We are a bit dry here so some rain would be appreciated. I have some garden planted but I think it's too early as there could be frost. 

     Tonight it is supposed to rain and the rain will change into snow by morning so I may have some snow photos for you in the morning. 

     And if I'm lucky it might not snow!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES.

     Yesterday morning, Nov. 17, it was minus 17 C (0 F) when I got up. I was going out at 10:00 so needed the car. I plugged the car in ( the block heater) to make sure that it would start.

    The day before we had a nice winter snowfall...about 6 or 7 cm ( 2 -3 in.) I had shoveled my driveway and found it cold. I say nice snow as it was what we call dry snow...not a sloppy slushy mess.

    At 1:30 Pm yesterday I was meeting my bird watching group. It was minus 4 when we started. It was a brisk pleasant winter afternoon.  Nine of us spent 2 hours and found 9 species of birds. At the end of 2 hours I was ready to go home.

     All photos from Lynette Asselstine Braun.









    Today  Nov. 18 , when I got up it was plus 3 C ( 35 F). Around 9:00 AM it started to rain and rained for a couple of hours. Now we have a sloppy slushy mess. When things freeze this evening it will become icy. For the next three days our highs are 6 and 7 C. This is very unusual weather for us. I prefer weather to be stable and make gradual changes. It's easier to get used to things that way.

    So it's been a big change in just 48 hours.

WHEN DOES MY SNOW GO AWAY?

    John from John's Island asked an innocent question the other day. He wanted to know when my snow goes away. Well that's a very complicated answer.

     Weather and climate are extremely variable here. We sometimes have early spring and sometimes late spring. In other words there are years that the snow disappears early in March and sometimes it's not until early April when snow disappears.  Now complicating that is the snow storms we can get after the  winter snow has melted. we usually get most of our snow in March. In the last two days we've had 10-12 cm (5 in )m of snow. Our winter snow has not started to melt. So I would predict a late spring this year.

     We can get snow storms in May and even June. However in may and June our crops and plants are well established. We grow plants that are hardy and suited for this climate zone.

    Now for statistics for this date:

     Record low  -27.5 C (-30 F)    2002
     Record high  14 C (58 F)       1988
     Ave. high 4 C (40 F)
     Ave low -9 C 95F)
     Record snow 25.7 cm (11 in.)     2006
     sunrise 7:42 AM
     Sunset 7:44 PM

    So you see that with these conditions our spring can be quite variable.

       
      My daughter on June 8 1986. She was 15 and this was her sense of humor. My apologies for the poor photo quality . 

A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH

     I like watching weather. I taught Middle School science from time to time and there was usually a unit on weather. One place I taught , there was a radiosonde station where they released the large weather balloons that rose about 20000 ft. I would take the kids on a little field trip. The balloons were released at 2:00 PM and 2:00 AM each day. The radiosonde technology is completely obsolete.

     As a farm boy we watched weather.

     I took my private pilot's license and that was more weather. 

    When I was in the north, I quite often gave the pilots our weather so that they knew whether to fly in or not. CAVU meant clear and unlimited visibility.

    So a few days ago a fast moving cold front went through. There were high winds and a little snow. So the trees waved and snow blew. Visibility was limited. The whole episode was over in about 30 minutes and our temperature dropped. I watched all 30 minutes of it.

HOW INTERESTING CAN MY WEATHER GET?

     We've had a very interesting summer as far as weather is concerned. We've had two wind storms that did major damage. It's been dry and it's been hot. Oh yes, did I tell you we had damaging hail about 10 days ago?

     Today was a hot muggy (25 C) ( 80 F)  day. About 3:00PM there were shower clouds forming  in the west. There was a thunder storm warning. The clouds developed and there was lots of thunder by 5:00PM.

     I stayed outside to watch the thunder and lightning. I came in the house and foolishly predicted that I didn't think we'd get any rain.

     Well, it did rain. 8/10 of an inch in 30 min. But there was hail and lots of hail. Most of it was marble size. As you can see my garden is trashed. Some of it will come back.

     We have a storm sewer problem and the water backs up in our street. Terry Willoughby , my neighbor, has supplied photos or the truth is I stole them from Terry!!! Don't tell him.

       My house is on the left.

  
    My house is the brick house on the right. The storm sewer cannot handle the volume of water so it backs up and forms a lake. So you see I have a lake front house! Almost a house in the lake.

SPRING VARIATIONS

      Spring is a time of many variations that pull us up and down. There are nice times when our spirits soar and there wild times when we are saddened once again . We are looking for spring...actually summer. We are hoping. Setbacks drive us to nuts.

      So today our weather was very dull. We had heavy dark clouds but no rain or snow. Our temperature was around  5 C(40 F) all day. It was windy and looked very unpleasant. When I went out it felt much better than it looked.

     A few days ago we had clear skies and 10 C  (50 F). People brought out the shorts.

     So spring brings a wide variation in our daily weather. A cold front is coming in tonight and we may get some drizzle and snow.

     The snow has disappeared except for the dirty remains of snow banks that are in shaded areas.

     The grass is brown but if you look in sunny locations you can find some new grass shoots. Our grass slowly loses its color over the winter and in the spring is brown. It takes a while for things to turn green. I have bluebells along the east side of my house. Since bluebells are early they are about 2 -3 Cm (1 in) tall.

    Most days we have new birds that arrive from the south. We've seen Blue birds, Trumpeter swans, gulls and a few ducks. From now on there will be a steady stream of arrivals. I took my bird group out yesterday morning to  small area and we found 13 species of birds.

    I'm also running a little project called Bird Species 150 which to find 150 bird species  to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. So bird reports are coming in steadily Check RDRN.ca and see what species have been reported.

   And my bunny had a snooze in my back yard today and he/she is starting to turn brown. Richardson ground squirrels have come out of hibernation. The old males come out first and later on the young males and females. The old males return to hibernation in July again.

     So slowly but surely spring is coming to Hiawatha House.

     I've had some new visitors recently and some made comments. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House and thanks for the comments. Maybe we'll have a conversation.
 

WEATHER IS RELATIVE

     Many North American posts lately are about weather. There's been tons of snow on the west coast and cold in other places.

     That got me thinking about my weather. Yesterday in the afternoon it was minus 16 C (plus 4 F). Wind was 19 kph with gusts to 29 kph. It was dull and cloudy with light flurries. Over the last 4 days we've had about 12 cm (4 in ) of snow. I've been busy shovelling. 

    Now on the west coast there's been lots of snow ...up to a meter (3 ft). They rarely get snow and then not much. This much snow is difficult for them as they are not prepared for it. They don't have snow removal equipment. Their cars aren't equipped for winter and they have many very steep slopes on their roads. This weather is a challenge for west coasters.

    I've been noticing other blog posts which  report weather that doesn't seem threatening. Somebody reported that they had several nights close to freezing. I suppose vegetation in that area would be harmed by frost.

    Other areas toy with a bit of snow. Other areas rarely get snow and when they do they have all kinds of fun making snow men.

    I think  many people would think of my weather as extreme and it is. We have cold warnings for tonight. A cold warning is given when wind chill is below minus 41 (minus 41 F) Yes, that's right they're both the same at that temp. We don't like weather to be this cold. We're prepared for it but that doesn't make it any easier to cope with. We have warm houses. We have appropriate clothing. Our cars are winterized. However, it's still uncomfortable. With the snow we've been having, I've had to shovel four times. It's okay if you keep moving. I don't get cold hands or face.

   So my point is that the weather is relative thing. We get used to what weather we get in our area. Anything warmer than what I have would seem very pleasant. 

   However, I'm like everybody else. I'm looking forward to spring. It's just that I can't be in a hurry for spring yet as it's a long way off. Our snow usually disappears around April 1 depending on how much we have. April is cool with frost almost every night. So you see spring and summer come very slowly here.

March 1: Lion or Lamb

       Well, my March definitely came in like a lamb. I was up at 1:00 AM and it was clear, calm and minus 11 C (14 F). You have to check this as close to midnight as possible to be accurate. So I guess I can look for some nasty weather at the end of March which wouldn't be a surprise.

     Now I'm always interested in the origin of proverbs like In like a lamb out like a lion. It seems you have lots to chose from when it comes to origins of the proverb. I found a couple of explanations today which are interesting.

    One example is from a time when people believed in spirits and they didn't want to offend the spirits because the spirits could change the weather. They wanted the weather to be balanced. They wanted pleasant weather. Another uses the stars for an explanation. Leo is a rising sign of the horoscope in March. Aries (goat or kid) is rising in April. Kid didn't sound so good so they used lamb. So that's where lion and lamb come from.

     So take your pick. If you don't like these , check the internet and you'll find lots of explanations.

     Now the reason I was up at 1:00AM is that I was awakened by bright flashing lights. No I wasn't sick. When I looked out there were three police cars in my intersection! That got my attention. They had the dog unit and were obviously looking for someone. Now I rarely see a police car in my neighborhood. They don't even drive through to take a look. Crime is rare.

    So I did what I usually do...go right back to bed. Now the Micro Manager just had to watch what was going on. After half an hour she came back to bed and was none the wiser.

    So maybe my March didn't come in like a lamb because of all the police action.

Equinox Thoughts

      Tomorrow is the first day of fall and it usually causes me to stop and think about seasons,weather and time.  The Equinox seems to be a very definite line between summer and fall. One minute it's summer and the next minute it's fall. In reality we've been sliding into fall for quite a few weeks. Our weather has been more variable. We get cooler nights and daytime highs are not as sizzling. The cold northern air is pushing south and mixing with warm air. The two air systems don't like each other so they

fight and push back and forth.. Sometimes one wins and then the other wins. Guess what? We have cool days and warm days. Now when I wake up in the morning it's not very light. I don't have enough time to go for a bike ride after supper unless I want to ride in the dark. Daylight is much less than a few weeks ago.

     So things have been changing and we have  a line to mark the changes. So when the sun shines directly on the equator we have the term equinox to describe the situation.

     Here the sun rose at 7:21 and set at 19:33 which gives us 12 hours and 12 minutes of sunlight. Our days are rapidly getting shorter.

    With the fall Equinox I always think about September. September gives us some interesting times. We see some vivid colors. We see plants that have become inactive. We have some good things and some bad things. We can have very pleasant warm weather and it's been known to snow here in September. Other people like September because they say it's not too hot or too cold. September seems to be a  time to finish summer.

   Where ever you are I hope you are enjoying some gentle September weather.

    There are songs that roll around in my head for September. My favorite is Neil Diamond's September Morn. Do you have a favorite September song. There are many of them.

  

Extra Ordinary Warm September Days

       For the past five days it has been very warm in this part of Alberta. We had a few days of 25 C and the last two days have been 30 C. Now thirty degrees is not a record but it is extra ordinarily warm.

       Our summer was wet , cool and cloudy. Gardening was a challenge. Sunning at the beach was a waste of time unless you had an umbrella. About July 15th I gave up on my goal of 1000km cycling for the summer. It quit raining in August and I am close to 1000km and will easily do more. We did not have a day with a high of 30 C all summer and very few days reached 24 or 25 C. So to have these temperatures on Sept. 24th and 25th is quite extra ordinary. I had taken most of my tomatoes off the plants about a week ago when we had a couple of frosts. Now all kinds of new tomatoes have formed and if we get a few more warm days they will be pickable.

       I can never remember Sept. days with highs of 30 C. That doesn't mean to say that it hasn't happened before. It's not a record so we must have had a 31 at some time in the past. I was born Oct. 21st and my Dad always told me that it was a very warm day. I wish that I had pinned him down as to what the temperature actually was. He said the old house was really hot. I don't know if that was because of all the hot water that was needed or if it was a case of nerves for somebody who was about to become a Dad for the first time.

       Whatever warm temperatures we have now I will take them and enjoy them to the fullest.

More Winter Weather

        I have started some previous posts with, " When I started this blog I did not plan to write about..." So I did not expect to write about weather as often as I have lately. Of my last ten posts I think four have been on weather.

       Now I like the topic of weather. When I taught science at the junior high level I always tried to work in a unit on weather. The field trip to the weather station was always well worth it. I enjoyed watching every radiosonde balloon go up. (I'm just a old kid!) I took my private pilot license and thoroughly enjoyed the weather ground school. I have flown through all kinds of weather and been grounded by all kinds of weather.

      Weather is a common topic of conversation starter. I happen to think that our weather forecasts are fairly accurate so I have quite  few discussions with all the old boys who complain about poor weather forecasting.



Snow built up on a couple of planks.




Snow load on a bird feeder.




 My long sidewalk that I have to shovel.




 A neighbor's snow loaded trees.

      What I really wanted to comment on today is our recent long siege of snowy weather. We have had 21 cm (about 9 in.) of snow so far in Jan. Our average snow fall for all of January is about 15 cm.(about 6 in.) so as you can see we've had enough snow to talk about.

    Since we don't get a lot of snow here we sometimes don't have very good cross country skiing. Now we have excellent conditions. The trails have been groomed . All I'm waiting for now is a little increase in the temperature.