Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Extreme Weather

A frosted rose from the frost on May 18th, past the last expected frost date.



I was thinking today about the lack of rain and the extreme weather we've had and decided to check the NOAA news archives for the headlines. It's really quite amazing to see this and be reminded again how crazy this weather has been since the fall of 2006 for those of us in the Indy area. Just about every month has had some form of extreme weather. It has certainly not been kind to those of us who garden. It was so disheartening to have the late freeze destroy the beautiful spring foliage and blooms after waiting so long for spring to finally come. Now to watch the heat and lack of rain cause things to dry up and once again assault those same plants that were already weakened and struggling to make a comeback, is disheartening once again.

Anyway, for those of you interested, here are the extreme weather headlines from NOAA:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_archive.php?wfo=ind

September 2006 was coldest in 13 years 10/01/06

October 2006 was Coldest in 13 Years 10/31/06

November 2006: A month of Extremes 12/05/06
November of 2006 will be remembered in Central Indiana as a month of transition. While this is certainly true of most Novembers, this year featured near record cold at the start of the month, with some record setting warmth to close out November. The wetter than normal trend of the past two months continued while the colder than normal trend of the earlier fall months came to an end.

Fall 2006: Coldest Since 1997 12/06/06
TEMPERATURE
With an average temperature of 39.1 degrees so far, the winter of 2006-2007 has the fifth warmest start of any winter on record. The last time a winter started out warmer was the winter of 1931-1932.

COLDEST TEMPERATURE IN OVER 2 YEARS AT INDIANAPOLIS 02/04/07

January 2007: A Tale of Two Seasons 02/01/07
January 2007 was remarkable in Central Indiana as it started off with the unseasonable warmth, lack of snow, and over abundance of rainfall that had characterized the latter portion of 2006. By mid-month, a dramatic change came to pass as much colder air from northern Canada flooded much of the Midwest, including central Indiana. Temperatures finally felt more like winter, and snow returned to whiten the ground. By months end, temperatures were actually below normal for several days.

One snowfall record was broken this month. The daily snowfall of 3.5 inches on January 21st set the daily record. The previous record for January 21 was 2.5 inches in 1922.

Daily Record Snowfall Broken at Indianapolis 02/12/07

February 2007: Coldest in Decades 03/01/07

March 2007 - One of the Warmest Ever 04/01/07

April 2007 - Coldest in a Decade 05/01/07

Coldest April Weather in 25 Years - New Record Low Max for April 7th
Coldest April Weather in 25 Years
Temperatures Feel More Like January than April

Third Warmest Spring on Record 06/01/07

Driest Start to May in 15 Years 05/19/07

4 comments:

Carol Michel said...

It has been an odd weather pattern around here, thanks for all the links. I've had to water the grass now, and it has been a couple of years since I watered the grass.

Gardenmomma Chris said...

I'm so sorry for you and your garden! I have to tell you that you looks refreshing to a Dallas girl with temps almost 100. Nahhhh! Maybe not! Stay warm.

Kylee Baumle said...

Robin, it's the same here, just a little north and east of you. I'm worried for some things.

Anonymous said...

Robin, I would not water my grass and would point out the ban to anyone who does water. If the water shortage is that serious, everyone needs to conserve. And YES~~ go buy some bottled water for your family!!

By the way, we have an in-ground sprinkler system but spent nearly $2,000 having a well dug to supply our sprinklers with the well water. What would WE do if the ban were in force here? It would be very difficult for me to water our grass when everyone else is not and they wouldn't know we have well water. That would be a quandry as we would be perfectly legal to water our grass.

God bless ~~ and may He send rain on you and on us, too, in His perfect and good timing.

Susan in Pensacola