GOY temperate climate people- I have joined you!.cold!

Its been a strange year - have to say that 60 in November sounds good to me...

Historically ,69f is the average..but an early Alaskan storm has pushed down.

66 seems lovely and warm to me too Stera. I hope we do get some decent cold weather too.

Well,the sun came out after the rains. We received a good soaking...I think no return to drought this year.

Im so glad to hear you’ve had a good watering Stan! We didnt get many days above 15C all summer! We did have a few, but most days the cloud was so thick that the sun’s warmth couldn’t permeate it.

Did the Cactii in the desert get a soaking Stan ?
Will they flower this year ?

Does it really stay that cool all summer Karen? Thats about what the very coolest and foggiest area round here- Half Moon Bay has...but even they get to the 18C for 3 months of the year. I would guess this streak of UK cool summers is because the European continent is warmer,and now draws the cool Atlantic air farther east. Just like out hot summer interior draws that Half Moon Bay fog in so thick.

Diane,we in the San Francisco bay area are about 450 miles from the southern deserts. We get the Alaskan current offshore that moderates our climate...in soucal,they get something else that keep their ocean temps 10f warmer. Creating deserts and very mild winters.
San Francisco is like a tug and pull of the warm south and the cool wet Pacific northwest. Lately the south has been winning!

Very cold here too Stan. We've had fog, frost and rain the last few days and the only way to get above 15 degrees is with the heating on. Winter has arrived!

Winter has arrived even in London - distinctly chilly outside tonight, 8 degrees C at the moment (7 pm), heating on, here we go....

Stan, you might want to note that in London, we had a lot of days over 30 deg C this summer - very unpleasant because the pollution rises with the temperature. I like it to stay below 25 deg C for comfort, personally, but the weather is so unpredictable - last weekend, I was out on the balcony in a sun top, potting up and so on, this weekend, its sweater, boots and coat weather,despite the sun.

I've seen photos of Avocado tree's in mid London and tall Norfolk Island Pines. Urban heat islands are great to have.

Hayward has a..mild climate. It rates high on one scale I found. I've always said - No,we dont have the best tropical climate for plants in California,but it is nice for people.
Well, this gives you idea. According to this,it takes a Hawaii to rate more "comfort". I myself would not go that far...

http://www.bestplaces.net/climate/city/california/hayward

btw- As i write this,I have a small space heater going. Cool today.

So cold first thing this morning I switched on the heated blanket while I read the morning paper in bed! All day the sky has been a beautiful blue which probably hints at another slightly frosty night tp come.

We chose the right day to cover up the Alstroemeria bed last Friday. It was sunny and bright and the leaves were all beautifully dry.

OH has checked the greenhouse heaters and one wasn't working properly. Took it along to the expert to be repaired and it's back on duty tonight.

You're right, Eirlys, it was cold; I came home at 4.35 in the morning today (not my choice, stuck in what's laughingly known as 'Urgent Care' at the hospital - I dunno what's urgent about it, a 5 hour wait doesn't exactly scream 'urgent' to me) and it was freezing, literally - the cars where I live weren't just frosty, their windscreens were ice sheets...

We had our first proper frost this morning as well, car scrapers out for the windscreens, it was followed by a really sunny day, clear blue skies so possibly frost again in the morning ,had a mad scramble to place the last of my pots into the g'house, luckily my youngest daughter had brought hers around this weekend so they are safely tucked up as, went out with the dogs a few minutes ago, just around the block as we call it, 10pm, definitely not as cold as last night....

Bamboo are you ok, what have you been up to that called for hospital at that time...?? Heard of getting home in the wee small hours but thats usually from a good night out....

wow- Hope all is best Bamboo. Been there when you have something that's non stop bleeding...and the teens who want an excuse to skip school go first and second..

We sort of warmed..to 18c or so and sun.

When is the last frost there? March? April?

Here the real cold starts in mid December..can be earlier..and by mid January the frost season is over..but we are then still along ways from the warm weather,of mid April. (21C+)

Asthma attack triggered by a viral infection, that's what took me there, the ambulance crew insisted I needed to see a doctor, after giving me a nebuliser.What a pain, much better today - still coughing, but asthma's back under control, thanks for asking, Lincslass and Stan.

Last frost date in the UK? First, depends where you are, and second, its a moveable feast Stan - we've had a frost in London on 4th June before,but in theory, the last frost date is end of May, though many years there's no frost in May at all, very variable here, even more so with climate change, which has meant a lot more wind than we used to get. And thunder in winter, which was unheard of up to ten years ago... That last frost date probably is not true of Scotland though, they have a much cooler climate than where I am...

Oh dear the biddy weather is playing havoc with us ashma sufferers and viral infections are also rife at the moment, my youngest daughter has a bad chest that just isn't getting better, doctor won't prescribe anything as they said medicines don't work against viral infections, pleased your feeling better Bamboo...

I had Whooping cough 4 years ago..I wondered if I would make it as it went on for weeks. I didn't go to a doctor because they always say nothing they can do,and you just infect people in the room- right? Well,a year later i was telling a Dr. about that serious Whooping cough and he said to me "You should have came in and gotten antibiotics" !

Stan: that happened to a couple in their late 70s I know about 4 years ago - they both got whooping cough, but didn't recognise it as such, and neither did the doctor. Finally, after about 5 months, the husband went to a private chest specialist (non NHS) and eventually established it was whooping cough - but wasn't given any treatment. The chest specialist only checked for whooping cough after ruling out absolutely everything else, so it was really an after thought, which suggests it can be difficult to diagnose in older people. He was advised that, so long as its recognised early enough, giving a particular antibiotic for a couple of weeks can help a bit, but it was now too late to make any difference, and they'd be coughing for up to 2 years, gradually easing. Which is exactly what happened...

What a horrific story Bamboo!
Those ambulance men are wonderful.
Thank goodness your problem was diagnosed anyway, though its dreadful that an urgent case has to wait so long to be seen. Hope you will soon be feeling much better. You had so many challenges to meet lately perhaps you deserve a good holiday somewhere nice and warm.
Lincs, hope your daughter soon feels better!

Thanks Stera....

I'm still a bit short breathed after all these years.

I believe varying temperatures can cause havoc with asthma but it's not easy staying in a constant temperature. Our ex-evacuee has asthma and COPD and I keep telling her to stock up on the vitamins and on Manuka honey. I know the latter in the UK isn't the 100% strength one can buy in New Zealand but it's worth a try. Friends keep bees and I think they ought to plant Leptospermum scoparium. Believe it can be grown in pots up to a certain size and it is said to attract bees. Burncoose Nurseries stock 'Nichollsii' which is very attractive.

I think you're right about temperature and asthma, Eirlys, but its not true for every asthma sufferer. What won't be helping people's chests, healthy or otherwise, is the regular problem here with air pollution, sadly...

My last attack was triggered by that red dust storm, I normally suffer on dismal drizzly days or if its foggy, sunny hot days I've always been fine, I'd been gardening and cutting my lawns that day and never even noticed the strange sky until I was putting my tools away just after lunch, if you remember I said at the time I was annoyed at missing the red sun, by the time I took any notice the sky and sun was already clouding over, didn't last long and cleared away within two hours, I took the photo's of the red effect in my garden as did lots of us, by evening I couldn't breathe very well, biddy horrible it was and took over a week to clear my chest..

Oh dear - had you known the air was full of sand particles, you might have stayed indoors and avoided it, Lincslass - my doctor warned me about damp, cold air, but it doesn't seem to trouble me.What does though are those compressed cans of deodorant, half the size they used to be because they're compressed. One spray and I'm coughing for ten minutes...but the original, larger uncompressed ones don't give me a problem.

That's right Bamboo, the aerosol cans don't seem to affect me thank goodness but my late neighbour couldn't use anything like that, I remember her telling me years ago that spray polish was one of the worst, all her life she only ever dusted with a damp cloth and her perfumes were all liquid that she'd dab onto her skin....

Well I'm absolutely fine with all other aerosols, except the modern, new compressed ones - primarily confined to deodorant sprays currently. Thank goodness they still sell the non compressed ones.

Red dust storm in the UK??? Sounds more like the Outback.

We often get Saharan sand dropping over here, Stan - usually picked up in hurricane season in other parts of the world, and carried across on air currents in the upper atmosphere. Not a sand storm though - the sun looked red, with a pink light, and it looked gloomy, and the sand just gets deposited; you see it on cars and windows, not loads,but a light dusting, not visible on grass or soil. We don't usually see it in the sky or notice a different light though, that was unusual,its more usual to just notice sand deposits here and there on cars. When its in the air though, it does make the pollution levels worse, obviously.

It was weird and wonderful Stan, some daft beggars were saying it was the beginning of the end, Armageddon, lol...

Well, it did look end of the worldish, Lincslass - I kept checking for the four horsemen of the apocalypse!

Ah,the Sahara. Yes,I've read that it can cross the Atlantic into North America also. They say,its a good fertilizer high in something good for plants of the Amazon.
One world!

One world indeed - I know that saharan sand is rich in certain nutrients, so I looked it up, found this article, absolutely fascinating (well, I found it so) regarding impacts on health and soil - and its saharan dust, not sand, apparently

http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-dust-from-the-sahara-does-to-you-and-the-planet-57373

Wow, Isn't that amazing!

happy thanksgiving! setting record 90degrees in tucson today!