Thursday, May 2, 2013

Sick of Snow!

Soooo... yesterday was May 1. It's a date that conjures up beautiful pictures of spring doesn't it?


I'm sorta picturing flowers blooming and people dancing around the maypole in a pagan Beltane celebration.


However, this is what we got instead:

View from Back Porch

View from Front Porch
And yes... I was too lazy to put on boots and a winter coat to actually go out in it to take pictures.


I suppose I shouldn't complain, because last spring we were dealing with this...


But seriously... we had over 20 inches of snow in April, and set a record low this morning. I'm really just getting sick of being cold!


Thankfully it's melting off pretty quickly, and I'm really, REALLY hoping that this will be it for the season!


But it did give me a good excuse to spend the day cooking up some squash, rice and beans, and simmering chicken stock on the stove all day.


And at least I hadn't gotten around to planting any of the warm weather garden stuff yet! But still...


So how about you? Has anybody else out there been dealing with crazy weather?


43 comments :

  1. Just a suggestion -- Christmas card pictures, perhaps?

    It does sound unbelievable. April, I can sort of see. We've had snow here early in April before. But May. Oh boy! You must be sick of it.

    Well, your heat is on its way. Surely, this is the very last of the snow that you'll see this spring!

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    1. Ha! It's Christmas in May! Oy!

      Well, I just looked up some stats on the NOAA website, and it turns out that we've had mid-May snow 6 of the past 10 years. I'm not quite sure why this year feels so different... maybe it's the amount of snow, or maybe it's just that we've had storm after storm after storm... sigh.

      So, just to depress me a bit further, the latest recorded snowfall in Denver was June 12 back in 1947. Holy Moly!

      I think I'll make sure to do a good job setting up the plant protector wall-o-water things this year! :-)

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  2. I'm in Colorado - sounds like the same snow events. It snowed all day yesterday, but right now it's sunny and the snow is almost melted away. I was supposed to go hiking today, but didn't because the foothills trail would have been snowy and muddy. Will be glad to get out tomorrow.

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    1. Sounds like we're neighbors! I'm in Denver. I was thinking of riding my bike to the store today, but I'm not really sure I want to get covered with mud and splashed with water... maybe I'll wait until tomorrow...

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  3. I'm in Denver too! Forecast shows temps rising to 60's over next ten days, with potential T-storms. I'm taking that as no more snow.

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    1. I really, Really, REALLY hope it means no more snow! :-)

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  4. 20 inches of snow in ONE month?! Eek! We usually get about that much - total - during the whole winter season. I'd be sick of it, too!

    Hurry up warm weather!

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    1. Well actually, there are plenty of times when we get that much snow during one storm! But usually we get a big storm, then the sun comes out and melts it all and we go back to nice sunny weather. I think it's just the storm after storm after storm thing that's getting to me.

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  5. I think I would be going crazy if we had had 20 inches of snow in April. However, that would give me an excuse for all of the outdoor chores I am behind on.

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    1. Well, one good thing is that I've managed to do a bit of transplanting in the front yard xeriscape. Usually it gets too hot too soon and the plants never get a chance to establish before they cook to death. Gotta keep looking for those silver linings! :-)

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  6. Yep, am dealing with snow and trying to move to the new home. I am truly sick of it. And yesterday, the local weatherman said that we are in the the drought from April of last year to April 2013, we only had 7 and a half inches of precipitation. I am in West Central Nebraska. An eye opener.
    The weather is crazy and cold then hot and summer for a few days. Just not sure what to wear?
    Have a great weekend, EcoCat.

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    1. Oh man... trying to move during a snowstorm would totally suck! You have my deepest sympathies!

      I was just listening to the evening news and they were saying that even with above normal precipitation and below normal temperatures for the past 3 months we're still not out of the drought yet. Kinda mind boggling!

      Hope you have a great weekend too!

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  7. We've currently got some lovely warm sunshine...I think the weather is trying to make up for last year, which went something like this:
    March- unbelievably sunny and warm.
    Start of April- hosepipe ban introduced due to lack of rain.
    Next day- rain
    Rain continues pretty solidly until about a couple of weeks ago (sometimes it was snow, rather than rain). Last summer, a lot of the country was suffering from flooding, and there was definitely not a lack of water or the need for a hosepipe ban!

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    1. I remember hearing reports of that rain last year. I think y'all are due for some sunshine!

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    2. It's just nice to be able to dry washing outside on the line!

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    3. I can only imagine. Rain is actually a rather rare event here, so I generally love it when it rains... but month upon month of rain? I think I'd go nuts!

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  8. Wow, and I thought we Brits were supposed to be hooked on the weather! ;o)
    My sympathies to all you suffering weather you don't want. Here on the south coast of England we are just starting to see spring, about a month later than usual. Can't complain about snow though because we hardly ever have any and when we do it usually doesn't lay. If it does it's hardly ever for more than a day or so. Consequently I love snow and get very excited (I'm 55!) when I see those flakes starting to fall. Takes me right back to childhood and makes everything look so pretty.

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    1. I don't generally mind the snow either, even though you'd be hard pressed to call it rare here! But we're lucky in that our snow comes in storms and then it generally melts quickly. When I lived in upstate NY it just drizzled snow all winter long and it was quite depressing!

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  9. You really get some extreme weather! that's serious snow. Everything predictably autumnal in South Eastern Australia, although a little on the drier warmer side than usual.

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    1. Well, Colorado weather is nothing if not wacky. We had a high of 85F (29C) earlier in the week, and then a few days later a low of 19F (-7C). Guess we have the mountains to thank! At least we don't get bored! :-)

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  10. It's very different here in Austin. Oh we got the cold snap. But to us, summer is something we want to put off for as long as possible. To us, today's a bonus morning-snuggle day! And some of my co-workers are wishing that if it were going to be cold (well, our wind-chill was around 30 degrees), that it should also snow so we could get the day off work. (See? Very different.)

    But I can still empathize because of those 100-degree days we occasionally have in November. (Also, I deliberately moved someplace with no snow even though I never actually had to shovel or de-ice the car or anything when I lived in snow as a kid or as a college student.)

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    1. I think I would miss winter if I lived someplace that didn't have it. I just wish it would stay in it's place and not invade my spring! :-)

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    2. I don't miss it at all. I miss autumn, but have learned to appreciate our subtle version (reddish-brown leaves, yellowish-brown leaves, orangy-brown leaves).

      In other places I've lived, I've really missed spring--they don't have as many wildflowers as we do (I noticed a total of 3 in Atlanta: a tiny yellow one, a small lavender blue one, and a long, fuzzy maroon one). I know Colorado also has loads of wildflowers.

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    3. I'm hoping I can get some of those wildflowers to bloom in my front yard this year. I actually collected seeds from flowers growing wild along the bike path in the hopes that they might be able to survive the neglect that they will encounter in my yard! :-)

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    4. Cool. Good luck!

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  11. And I was complaining about the 15C (59F) temperatures we are getting overnight here at the moment...

    I really hope you get some better weather soon :)

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    1. Well, it's a sunny and beautiful 60F at the moment. And there's only a bit of snow left in the shadows. That's the good thing about these spring storms, they don't last long. If I was still into skiing I'd be rejoicing because some of the resorts are still open!

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  12. yesterday when i left work at 3:30, it was 78. by 5pm, when i was driving my son to lacrosse practice, it was 62. by 9pm, it had dropped to the 40s and hit the 30's overnight. right now it's in the 50's and is supposed to hit 60 today and 70's for the next few days.
    (I am in southeastern massachusetts)

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    1. it's better than snow though! Hope your's melts soon! (we had a storm of some sort almost every week around here this year.)

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    2. That actually sounds like a typical spring day here in Colorado! I think the combination of our altitude and the lack of any temperature moderation from the ocean sorta makes us a land of extremes in terms of weather. But all of the sunshine makes it worth it. I went to school in upstate NY and the gray skies nearly drove me nuts!

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  13. I was just thinking you would probably hate Michigan because we get a LOT of gray weather. You can always tell when it's sunny outside because suddenly people are in a good mood! Fortunately I think our snow here has finally ended ... we had flooding the last couple of weeks of April so now we're trying to dry out our basement ... oh joy ...

    Wishing you good biking weather!

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    1. Thanks! I actually just got back from a nice little bike ride. I scouted a route over to the thrift store to drop off a few donations. And I swear on my scout's honor to use this information purely for the purposes of getting rid of things not acquiring more! :-)

      I do think I'd have a hard time with Michigan weather. I went to school in upstate NY and found the winters there to be very depressing.

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    2. Oh... just realized that last sentence was sort of like "Department of Redundancy Department." Guess you already knew that! :-) Anyhow, you're right... I love the sun.

      Good luck drying out your basement... now THERE's some incentive not to keep a bunch of junk that you don't need down there!

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  14. In Ireland where I'm from, May 1st is the first day of summer. And instead of summer temperatures or at least mild temperatures, we had one of the coldest days this year. How's that work? The wind was so skinning, there were people out in their winter coats again. It's so depressing.

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    1. Oy! So it's not just us... makes me really wonder what's up. I think I actually read somewhere that it has to do with global warming, but whatever the reason it's crazy!

      I hope spring returns to Ireland soon... today was sunny and beautiful here, so I'm really hoping we're finally done with snow!

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    2. I think a lot of it has to do with global warming but also the sun is going through its' cold phase currently and it just makes the weather kinda extreme! Do ye get decent summers where you live? If so I'm going to come visit for the entire summer! We have shocking winters and even more shocking summers.

      Ah the weather - the bane of our existence! I always say that if Irish people didn't have the weather to give out about, we wouldn't ever talk to people - complaining is all we do!

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    3. Hmmm... do we get decent summers? Well, I suppose that would depend on your definition of "decent!" It's usually very sunny and hot here in the summer. Last year we had 5 days in a row when it was over 100F (around 38C). We topped out with two record breaking days of 105 degree weather (that's 40C)!

      There were so many forest fires that open flames were banned throughout the entire state, and over 500 houses burnt to the ground. The fires weren't anywhere near me, but the smoke caused air quality alerts throughout the area, and I started to feel a bit like I was trapped inside because of the heat and smoke!

      Last year was a tad bit extreme, but it seems like "extreme" is getting to be the norm more and more! Sigh.

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    4. Okay I think my definition of decent and what ye actually get is a tad oversimplified!

      What I mean is that in Ireland we honestly get rain year round. It mostly floods in the summer and our summer is a day or two generally in April, which we didn't even get this year. I'll give you an example..

      I was looking up Irish temperatures one day and said to my mam that the highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was in my home city and it was 33.3C. She turned to me and said 'we hit 33C in the 1980s, it was a Sunday.' So if she can remember the hottest day we've ever had, what do you think it says for the rest of the time in this place?!

      We'll be lucky to see 22C at most this summer. And stupid, horrible humidity. (Sorry, the weather frustrates me to no end!)

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    5. Holy Moly! I think I'd be cold all the time if I lived there! Plus, I don't know how I'd handle the humidity. It's very, VERY dry here. Seems like what we need is something halfway in the middle! :-)

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    6. The humidity is such a horrible part of our climate. I was working in a pharmacy last summer and I was so uncomfortable every day even with the air conditioning going full blast. I'd have to come home, throw my tshirt straight into the wash and jump into the shower, that's how soaked I'd be by the end of the day.

      I'll trade our weather for your dry heat, although it'd break my heart to see all the trees and natural habitats on fire....We'll have to go back to the drawing board! :)

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    7. Well, I think that all in all I prefer the dry weather. I think humidity somehow makes both cold and hot weather harder to take!

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  15. You crack me up! As you know, I'm a kindred spirit in Denver. Do we dare hope that last week's snow was our last this season? Fingers crossed...

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    1. Fingers, toes, arms, legs, cats... anything else I can cross?

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