Warmer Days Ahead

This week we are ending the lowest average daily high temp mark period here. From here on the days will be getting warmer instead of colder on average.

I consider this an important event, one on par with the winter solstice.

Personally, for me here, it marks the beginning of when we can expect the weather to be improving for backpacking. Here, our lowest average daily high temp is 41º. That happens in the middle of January and last about week.

It also marks the peak of my Stir Craziness, which is nice. From here on out the days not only get longer they also get warmer and I get to spend more time playing outside in the sun.

Of course, it's all still random. Pretty nasty today. High of 30º with winds from the NW gusting to 25 mph. Says the Wind Chill is 17º. It's been ping ponging for the past week. Tomorrow the wind starts blowing from the south and it will be in the 50ºs for the next few days and, who knows, we could have an ice storm and be frozen most of February. Still, I'm hoping for great weather ahead

I remarked to my wife about the upturn to slightly higher average temps that happens right about now in our parts, just last night!

Except that with the inversion layer around here (western Oregon), we have to go to the coast or the mountains to enjoy the warmer temps! I'm off to the coast tomorrow. It will be cloudy Sat. and Sun. (rain has been dropped from the forecast), but Monday (which the grandkids have off from school) looks like a gorgeous day!

I only know what time of year it is from the day's length. Winter never checked in here (except for some crazy cold in December) and we've been setting new record highs every other day for weeks. Am seriously considering moving the usual long August Sierra trip forward two months. There's basically no snow.

Different story in the southwest. I'm hoping for colder, and mostly wetter weather here. But it looks like the warm pattern will stay for at least another week...

I'm hoping to at least get one more full batch in my rain barrels.

It is almost hot here in the eastern sierras. So very dry, the weather is beautiful but scary. It just shouldn't be like this in the mountains this time of year.

Western New England: the river behind our house is a stop over for Canadian Geese. The come down in the fall and leave to the North in spring but they are coming in by the hundreds totaling thousands over the last couple weeks and heading off on a Northern heading. I have lived here all my life and have never seen anything like it. They are NEVER here this time of year. Very strange weather everywhere. Im all for an early spring but something weird is going on.

Funny thing is its still winter in N.E. Freezing blizzard one day sunny and warming the next.

jimmyb

Get a load of this: Paradise at Mt. Rainier NP (about 5k ft IIRC) was 69 today. Unbelievable.