Re: RE: OT: weather report

It's fun to see all the simultaneous comparisons across such a large area.
Much better than seeing a map on the evening weather report.  Gives it that
personal touch.

You're all making me glad I'm here in NM.  I'm not very fond of cold
weather, and it's plenty cold enough here for me.

I grew up in Colorado where it sometimes dropped to -50 or colder on my
Grandparent's ranch in the mountains, and occasionally almost as cold (once
down to -45 F) where we lived out on the Plains (I don't miss that at all).
We had real blizzards huge drifts, were sometimes stuck at home for two or
three weeks at a time, and at the ranch sometimes had as much as 8 or 10 ft
of snow on the ground.  I don't miss much of that (it was pretty, and it
always smelled good - sort of clean).  I have to admit, it was fun sledding
off the roof and over the tops of the Aspen groves.  Even so, after 20
years away from the Plains and 30-some away from the ranch, you kind'a
adjust to the new surroundings.  "Severe" takes on a different and relative
meaning, especially when you're a gardener, and have gotten used to a
milder norm, and accustomed to growing plants from warmer climates.

It's been a hard autumn so far here, but I don't see much damage in any of
the plants - none evident in any Irises so far.  It was a really cold
November (for here), and since August the ground has actually stayed moist.
A few times I went out to turn on the water, and it rained the next day.
Of course, it's all relative, and you're reminding me of what winter is
really all about - elsewhere!  It has been cold enough at night to kill
back pretty much anything green on nearly all of the Iris except the
Spurias, which are still growing.  Most years, many of the beardeds stay
green and even grow through the winter - not this year - not last year
either.  I notice that in Albuquerque (there are lots more protected spots
in town) there are still plenty of bright green clumps of old TB's with
leaves well over a foot tall, but not out here where the wind howls.

We had 14 inches of snow Monday before last at the house.  That's only the
second time I've seen snow like that here in central NM (below the
mountains anyway).  The other time was in April in Albuquerque after the
trees had leafed out (that was a mess).  I didn't even know Valencia County
had snowplows, but they pulled a few out of moth-balls, along with some
graders, and got the main roads cleared.  I still had to plow through a
half mile of driveway with the car when I got home (by the way - a Toyota
Celica is a really poor excuse for a snow plow).  Luckily there was no wind
(pretty weird), so no drifts.  The snow took four days for the last bit on
the north side of the buildings to melt, and it's but a distant memory now;
the puddle are even dried up, but the ground is still nice and moist.
Funny, Albuquerque (about 40 miles away by crow flight) didn't get a single
flake.

I think the weather may have flipped back to it's somewhat warmer and much
drier norm now.  Haven't seen much of a cloud in days now, and it was 71 F
at the house yesterday (about 15 degrees higher than average, but not that
unusual).  Looks like the more usual 50's for today.  It was 30 last night
at the house and 15 here at the Botanic Garden in Albuquerque (in the
valley bottom where cold air settles).  We've been down to 11 F once, 12 F
twice, and into the teens numerous times this year at the house, and have
been down to 6 F I think here at the Bot. Garden so far.  A few days in
November stayed below 40F, but none stayed below freezing all day.  Haven't
been at this house location too many years, but most years the lowest has
been about 15 F.

It's pretty frigid to some of the staff here at the Bot. Garden (one fellow
grew up in Claremont, CA, and moved here from Palm Springs), but it's
downright balmy compared to my Grandparent's ranch, which was in a
Subapline valley in sw. Jackson County Colorado at around 8500 to 9000 ft.,
with about a 55 to 60 day frost free season.  Funny, the fellow from
California has been wanting a good snow storm to try out the studded tires
he bought for his bicycle when he moved here.  So, far it hasn't happened -
he lives where the snow didn't fall this time.  But there's plenty up in
the mountains this year.

Dave

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