I think I will have an earlier frost this year because I've had nightly temperatures 10 degrees below normal for a few nights and my hummingbirds departed a week earlier than usual. I'm guessing my winter will be a bit colder, but not too much. What are your guesses about your weather?
If You Were A Weather Guesser.....
we had a wet spring and summer. we are in for a cold dry winter
Carol, there was some earlier discussion related to your post that you may have missed. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/452643/
Hey Darius, I'm confused (so what's new?, you say). The Weather Channel has been running pictures of "leaf peepers" in Asheville. We called them those !@#$ drivers! We always timed our visits for the third week in October to see the peak of the leaves. Are they early this year? I'm now entering my "homesick for the mountains in the fall phase!"
Pati
Pati, We called them the same thing, LOL
I don't think we are quite at peak here, but it depends on elevation too. Asheville is around 2200 feet in the city but the best views are higher up and they haven't peaked yet, as far as I know. Some lovely bursts of color around, though. I'm at about the same elevation here on the lake and there's still more green than other colors.
The sourwoods really stood out last week, and the occasional maple. The mtn. between here and Franklin is Chunky Gal, and she goes up to 4,000 feet. Starting to look good! I have to go to Franklin to Lowe's in a day or two and will take my camera.
Everything seems way ahead of schedule around here this year. I started raking leaves in mid-September, never had to tackle THAT chore until October before. Farmer's Almanac says long, cold, wet winter for us. Oh, buy! Right from raking to shoveling...I can hardly handle my excitement!
LOL Sequee. We have Oak trees that never loose all their leaves at once, just drop a few at a time all winter. This year we don't have that problem. The hurricanes stripped the leaves all at once, we raked them all into our HUGE debris pile and the trucks came and took it all away!!! HOORAY!
Darius, I don't quess the Parkway will be open yet, will it? We used to go through Black Mountain down to Old Fort, then up to Little Switzerland, back down the Parkwy to A'ville. Love that loop!
It's finally raining here today. Looking out my window at the bare trees, the low clouds and my AC turned down cold, I would swear it was going to snow! Brrrr.
Pati
I think we will have another relatively dry winter this year. Temperatures will be pretty typical. Fall seems to be pretty much "on schedule". The Virginia creeper is at the peak of color, wisteria and pride-of-Barbados are shedding their seeds, the jade plants are forming buds, nadina berries are starting to turn color, and narcissus and grape hyacinths are starting to come up.
Pati, you can take part of the parkway, but not past Mt Mitchell to Little Switzerland or vice=versa. I think I saw somewhere that part might be closed a year.
BUMMER!!!!!
Pati
This may be of interest if you want to know what the professionals think. http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2326.htm
Good link, Kelli. Thanks! Looks like I'm in the "will be colder than average" area. Figures, and coincides with what the oldtimers around here are saying.
According to that we will be cooler and wetter here. With the price of energy what is this winter will be expensive too.
John, I copied this a couple of weeks ago.
Quoting:
Oil prices predicted to keep rising
After hitting $50 per barrel last week, industry analysts expect oil prices to continue to go up, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Some experts are saying the days of cheap oil prices are gone -- forever. One major reason is that oil producers can't keep up with the surging world demand.
The U.S. uses about 21 million barrels of oil every day, while it is only able to produce about 5.5 million barrels. The recent interruption in domestic production in the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Ivan further reduced production and inventories.
I know and I don't know what to do about it! My life style will be changing again I think. Will probably be forced to spend my "put out to pasture" time in some blasted city. I shutter at the thought! :-(
im guessing i wont like it-cold! im hoping for snow to insulate the garden and i will be praying for an early spring!!!
someone said it will be a cold hard winter here-hope they are wrong!
When I lived in PA I used to think, "Global warming is a bad thing???"