The New Normal (here's 15 characters*)

7 years ago

When I moved to this area 45 years ago, it was zone 5. In fact, the coldest temps I've ever experienced were Christmas Eve 1983--fell to 30 below, and winter days for weeks on end would never get much above the teens and night temps well below zero.

So now it's Jan 1, 2019 and it's so warm that I haven't had a fire in two days (I heat with wood), last night it was over 50. Snowdrops are in bud all over the yard, and other bulbs are pushing up. It's been like this the last few years. Some years we're almost zone 7, and we're pretty much always zone 6. Of course, the ups and downs of crazy climate include spring coming much too early for these mountains--last February we had almost 2 weeks of temps in the 70s before it got quite cold again. I lost a lot of shrubs, most mourned a bear berry, Arctostaphyllos uva-ursi, that was almost 20 feet across. Some of it survived but the whole thing looks so dreadful even after a full season that I'm contemplating removing what's left. I'm almost 74 and it won't recover in my lifetime.

Happy New Year anyway.

*Why the hell does Houzz need the title to have 15 characters?

Featured Answer

laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author

7 years ago

Yes, I miss winter too. And I've seen several mosquitoes in the last few weeks. And rain, OMG.! The last few years we have had torrential rains of Biblical proportions--very localized with very localized flooding in places in these hills and mountains that have never, ever flooded.

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Comments (8)

porkchop_z5b_MI
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Yea...I hear ya'. DH and I were just talking about "when we were kids" winters this morning....
Jeff Singleton
7 years ago
I saw a mosquito flying around this morning (Jan. 1!) in my peach orchard (in Maine!).
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littlebug zone 5 Missouri
7 years ago
We had 2/3" of rain yesterday here in north Missouri. It used to be very unusual for rain in December here. Today was in the mid-20's, but Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be in the mid-to-high 50's. WTHeck? The local golf course will be full.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
7 years ago
We (DC area) set a record for rain in 2018-more than ever recorded at over 66 inches! We have several levels in the back yard and the lowest level is almost always wet now. Ugh. We are experiencing temps in the mid- to upper 50s! As someone who loves snow in winter, I miss real winters!
Skip1909
7 years ago
My county hit 70.6" of precipitation for 2018, 23.9" above average, and overall the state had record precipitation as well. I have some interesting new vernal ponds in my backyard.

It was 60 degrees yesterday, I took my daughter to the park! Today the high will be in the upper 30s. Erratic weather seems to be the new normal.
deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
7 years ago
I remember last December here where we hit several days of single digit, sometimes teens, days and negative nights. Then Winter held on and Spring was very late. Maybe three years ago we had record snowfall. Usually we get snow and then our normal is for the higher coastal temps to melt most of the snow before the next storm comes. That year temps stayed so low all winter that little of the snow melted. People born and raised here said they had never seen such snow accumulation. Winter feels healthy here, and I love it. (Full disclosure: From the perspective of somebody who grew up in Alabama!)

It could be that things are more erratic, but we definitely experience Winter!
laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author
7 years ago
We used to have beautiful autumns here too. By early Sept, nights were nippy enough to warrant a fire, and we often had frost around Sept 15. Great fall color too. Now it stays so warm, hot actually--sometimes near 80--well into November that we get no fall color. The leaves just eventually fall off, half green half brown. And we often don't get frost at all, just a hard freeze in early Nov. Then warm nights again.