Late Autumn/Early Winter 2013

you should be snowed in acording to the news over here but i hope you miss it not nice when in large quantity,s

lorilyn57:

I agree with you, the weather was very strange this year. I hope the extremely cold weather from last week didn't affect you too much! I know much of the upper tier of the U.S. was affected with the coldest weather in 20 years with some places having all-time coldest temps.

Here in the Southwest we've been experiencing well above normal temps, and extremely dry weather for almost two months. It's forecasted to be well above normal and dry for the rest of the month of January. With this being said: it's already 80ºF (27ºC) at 12:00 p.m. mid-day (where I live). We however, need rain so badly in the whole state of California. The drought is getting worse by the day...soon we'll all be on water restrictions (some places are already on water restrictions in California). We are hoping and praying for rain.

I'm glad to hear from you Lori and to know you are alright , we are having strange weather here also,in different areas large parts of the country have had severe flooding from swollen rivers , the grounds have become so saturated it can't soak away many people have had to leave their homes ,some houses are like Islands with water surrounding them ,fortunately not where I live it's a shame we can't send the water over to you Delonix !
You were mentioned in our house today Lori to my OH I wondered if you were having a bad winter , keep warm x

Yes Snoopy we have received a goodly amount of snow this season...it started very early in November and on Christmas Eve we had a thaw and freezing rain. This part of the province has fared better than the western part which is next to the Great Lakes. Lots of "lake effect" snow there...Three feet in Muskoka! and we also missed the worst of the ice storm too. I wish I could send some of this precip to you, D1. It has been a (&%&$!! winter, Amy. So far...so bad. It is raining at present! most of our snow has receded and our driveway is a sheet of ice. Very strong winds have made the cold days even more frigid. We had a lovely young deer come right up to our backdoor today... He was hungry. He ate some of the cracked corn and seeds that I put out for the birds and turkeys! Then he tried to walk down the driveway...(too slippery/icy for young hooves!) ...then he sauntered down the stream near the road. From the freeze/thaw there is a strong crust on the snow which makes it hard for them to move around. I still cannot post pictures...wonder why. Want to finish this blog so I can do the next one about the deer.

is the size of photo the problem

Do the Deer eat the bark from round the trees Lori ? they do up our drive we have to put tree guards round them ,Impossible in your situation I know with the size and quantity involved ! take care you don't slip over yourself ...

Never was a problem in the past, snoopy. I think it's just a glitch but will know better when I try again.
Yes they will eat the bark and girdle the smaller trees, Amy. They will eat many different things even the low branches of the cedar. I would think that would be pretty noxious stuff..but the little fellow munched his way thro just about everything we had to offer! They do like the dried ferns and the new buds on the small trees as well a lilac buds and Elder buds. (saw one of the turkeys sampling the lilac buds too!) I don't like to make the wild things dependent on what I put out but this year with it's extreme cold and then rain has put other stresses on them besides just food. They are more liable to be run to ground by wolves or coyotes whose feet are better suited to crusty snow.

Must be very hard for young deer to survive in a severe winter in Canada Lori. Here in the UK we have deer in Essex who graze in suburbia!! Even a large male deer with huge antlers shepherding his ladies around the Harold Wood housing estate this winter! They graze right up to the windows of some of the blocks of flats. A bus driver at the terminal told the TV people that they are there every time he is on the terminus on late shifts. What next I wonder? Our winter so far is very mild indeed, very wet and windy too.

Lorilyn57:

Yes, I wish you could send us some of your rain!

Conditions here in California have gone from bad to worse. The last couple of days the high temps have been widespread 85 - 92ºF (29 - 33ºC) these are normal highs for the middle of summer. Also, the conditions are extremely dry. Some of the morning low temps have been only down to 70ºF (21ºC) which is unheard of this time of year (this only happens in summer) which have been setting highest minimum records.

There's some large fires which have been going on with these extremely dry conditions.

The Governor is suppose to declare California a State of Emergency today or tomorrow due to the extreme drought. It's so crazy!

Yes Lori it all seems to be crazy now everywhere. Australia is boiling hot. USA just had the most awful arctic weather for many a year. UK is soaking wet and many have water in their houses. The Phillipines had a terrifying typhoon and so it goes on. Our last winter was the coldest and longest since 1963, now so warm.

haven't been able to add pics but it looks like the problem is solved... Sad to say our temperatures have gone down into the very cold range this past week and it's bitterly cold with strong winds that make it seem even colder. Saw a video posted by a person in Ikaluit of a storm they had about two weeks ago...over 100km/hr. winds. Storage sheds were being blown down the streets! Imagine calculating the windchill factor on that? Minus 60 without the windchill?!!!