I caught an interesting article a couple days about about an upcoming broad change in weather patterns. Apparently the stubborn high-pressure system that has been giving the western U.S. a freakishly warm and dry winter, while simultaneously slamming the east with horrific snow and cold, is set to change.
According to the article, "While much of the eastern U.S. has been frozen by rounds of Arctic air and snow, the West has experienced weeks of unseasonable warmth, which has left many mountain ranges in a snow drought. A major change in the weather pattern will flip the script by mid-month, as a shift in the jet stream will open the door for numerous storms to bring snow and rain to the West Coast and Rockies."
Whether this long-term prognosis is accurate or not, all I know is we're getting some desperately-needed rain moving in today, the first appreciable moisture we've had since January 2.
I sincerely hope this is the start of a wetter weather pattern for the rest of this winter. Whatever happens, though, we'll take what we can get.
So glad you're getting it! Prayers answered all around! It has moved outa' here and we're supposed to have the next two weeks be like spring! Supposedly. I'm finding it's quite a bit cooler every day than forecasted, but all in all, especially with the sun out again, it's good weather much of the day to be outside working. The Lord is Good!
ReplyDeleteWe desperately need precipitation here in northern Illinois farm country. It's getting to be a desperate situation. Pray for rain
ReplyDeletePlease bring a lot of snow to the Pacific Northwest or the fire season next year will be tragic.
ReplyDeleteOld-Fart here:
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the old saying?
“Weathermen and Fools” NO I’m not insinuation Patrice is a fool by any means.
BUT, I surely hope this prediction is correct.
Here in the Four Corners we are “unofficially” in a server drought, with next to no snow pack in the San Juan, Rockies, and the La-Plata mountains. I believe the last rains/Snow was more than a month ago, this in the middle of our “Wet Season”.
Lakes are well WELL below normal fill, rivers are flowing at 25% of normal and the ground is classified ase in “Drought Moisture”.
SO what’s that mean?
Fire Season will be higher
Irrigation will be limited and yes we produce a lot of crops here.
Ranchers will have difficulty with animal watering
Households will, WILL be restricted in water usage (Meaning no watering of Lawns, Trees, and probably Gardens).
So hopefully this and many more Storms WILL hit the Southwest and most of the western US.
Thanks for keeping us updated Patrice.
I sure hope this comes to be.
Please, take our snow. Bitterly cold here on Long Island and way too much snow. I worry about my feral cats, who do have a heated shelter and food I give them every day, but I'm a mom, it's my job to worry.
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to ask you, Krab, if you ever consider all the many, many songbirds that feral cats destroy? And why would cats be more important than birds? No one needs a wild cat population, but we sure need the wild birds!! And also, what about all the infectious cat doodoo that gets left in people's gardens, sandboxes, etc.?
DeleteI feed them plenty so there's no need for them to attack birds. (I also feed the birds.) It's not the cats' fault they were abandoned, so yes I give them food shelter and water. They are all neutered, too.
DeleteI really appreciate that you take care of animals. Where I live in rural Alabama people dump cats and dogs out on us (me) a lot. What probably happens where you live is they probably just throw cats out.
DeleteLast May a new puppy showed up, skin and bones. After being fed a while I could tell she's a Belgian Malinois. She is still wild, but she takes treats from my hand when I'm walking. I have a lot of woods so she's happy. She guards my house too. I think, hope, within the next few months I can catch her and take her to the vet. She's so beautiful, smart, and loving even... always happy and smiling and near. She guards me and my place too, very well, so she's worth keeping!
Most of my pets have been thrown out on me.
Anyway, I have tremendous respect for people who help these animals. Life is a gift from God and I think He cares about all His critters.
Thank you. Well, four years ago, I found a tiny kitten in January at the bottom of our trash can, mewing. I still don't know where he came from, but we've had and loved him ever since. He looks like a Balinese--long haired Siamese with bright blue eyes--but his genetic profile said he was negative for long hair and for pointed coloration. Go figure.
DeleteHere in the northeast, most of our rescue pups come from down south, sorry to say. I fell in love with one a couple years ago, a hound mix puppy who was supposed to be put down the next day in Tennessee. Well, I sprang into action and right now he's sitting next to me on our sofa, snoring slightly. I love animals and even more, animals who need my help.
Cats hunt birds whether they are well-fed or not. They were made to be hunters, so they are. It's also not the bird's' fault that the cats were abandoned and now are roaming free and killing birds. I love birds, and they are even more helpless than wild cats. You are actually choosing to love one type of animal more than another, and that's your choice, but you need to realize that your choice is leading to the death of other animals, absolutely.
DeleteHope you feed the birds way up high. Otherwise it looks mighty tempting to the cats, almost as if the birds were lured there just for their hunting and eating pleasure. I prefer to let animals be animals. I don't have any answers for the abandoned ones. They shouldn't be allowed to be feral. A neighbor swarmed our neighborhood with feral cats because of her BIG heart. Suffice it to say, all of us on the entire street weren't too happy!
DeleteLisa Beth, Cats eat birds sometimes. Then coyotes and dogs eat cats. Birds I've seen tend to get away because their defense is wings!
DeleteDeath is part of this world and it isn't nice or pretty. It won't be part of our next if we have given our lives to Christ. It's the best any of us can do.
One of my cats, 8 years old, believes in making friends. He plays with things I Wish he woul kill. He brings home moles and voles, and gets bored and let's them go. My yard is a disaster now of mole tunnels everywhere. Most of the time though, he hangs out with the chickens or comes inside. The chickens consider him to be one of them.
I feed the birds at my own house, while the feral colony I feed is about a 7 minute drive away. Frankly I care more about getting rid of the obnoxiously huge deer population rather than the cats and the birds. (also one of my dogs looooooves to kill birds. sigh.) No predators for the deer, sadly. No coyotes on LI.
DeleteIt's been dry here in the southern California desert region, but then , well, it's a desert. Our forecast is similar for next week, with the HOPE of about three inches of rain in the offing. Allotta times these systems futz out before they get to us though. Here's to hope...
ReplyDeleteI hope ya'll are getting rain now! I've been working up a sweat trying to get up storm debris every day, thankful for the warm break!
ReplyDeleteWe don't know what tomorrow holds, but our southern storms keep me busy cleaning up outside. I've learned to take advantage of almost every days weather. If I've got debris up AND low or no wind, AND no draught, burning fits in with other outdoor chores. If the ground is wet, great for raking places the mower won't go. If it's nice, anything goes. If it's cold, walk and work on walking trails.
Worrying about fire isn't fun. It's real and scary. Clear and clean up as much as possible and hope it never comes, but this as in everything else, do the best you can to prepare. It can make the difference.