Weather 2013

I could need some of that snow to cover my plants in the arctic temperatures we have now! But without the wind of course :-\

Just getting a bit colder here with the prospect of snow - which might hold the snowdrops back a bit. Can't really imagine what really cold continental winters are like. This is a good time to catch up on your reading. The Japanese ones on the top row are sumptuous collections of photos of hepaticas and hellebores, grown in the way only the Japanese can. The most thumbed volume is Graham Stuart Thomas's 'Perennial Garden Plants', a real bible when I started gardening... I am not sure whether my garden lives up to the books though, it always seems a little more weedy!

No snow or arctic conditions in the lower half of the planet . Those pictures from Newfoundland are amazing
Today was supposed to be a sleep-in day but at 6.05 there was a clap of thunder above our house that woke everybody . The dog ( a collie) got such a fright she snapped her chain in half and I've just managed to find her . The back of my stationwagon is now open and she is sitting in there and will not come out . Poor thing .
The thing that annoys me is that there was only one clap of thunder , not even a decent storm , that interrupted sleep-in day .
Put your feet up and enjoy the reading Tim

I was also wondering how Todd was doing with all that snow- looks like wet heavy snow which we fortunately rarely get- and I heard they are getting freezing rain on top of that snow..

Our low yesterday morning was around -28, and Mon-Wed are forecast to be above freezing- +6C for Tuesday...

Must be having some fierce winds there in Newfoundland. 

All that snow, yet the tops e of roofs and cars are bare!

Yikes, freezing rain is the worst!  Luckily, it doesn't happen too often here.  Be careful out there, Lis!  

These things can be handy in such conditions: 
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Footwear/TractionDevices/PRD~5002-768/yakt...

A quick hello from the Pacific Northwest -- clear blue skies, glorious sunshine, and 22˚F (-6˚C) this morning.  High temperatures will barely climb above freezing today and lows will be below freezing for the rest of the week.  Freezing fog coats leaves with ice crystals.  Quite picturesque but the cold damage might be serious.

Claire, that's exactly the weather we have here too! The mets have predicted the same weather for at least a week more :-\

Hope that melts, Lis! As Lori said, we don't get much of that here- has to be some advantage to our climate...lol  We did have rain forecast for mid-week but they've rescinded that for now- just 5-10cm snow again on Monday!

Claire and Trond- ah to live somewhere where -6C would be cold enough to be a concern!  ;D Seriously, hope you don't have too many losses- we still haven't reached any of the lowest temperatures we could have by this time in winter- we haven't quite hit -30C and we could have had -40C(-40F) by now! So any plants that don't make it this winter are likely just not hardy enough (barring incorrect siting..).

I am not very concerned of the cold yet. Last year was bad with very mild January, February and March and then severe frost in April when the plants were in full growth:(
It is better with cold weather now to prevent a too early start. I had to bring some pots with seedlings starting to sprout indoors yesterday. Among them were 3 pots of Helleborus seedlings.

Untimely warmth is dangerous- natives here are very conservative starting growth to avoid that risk, since we are guaranteed to have cold weather after warm weather in spring,  but I'm sure exotics could be more at risk...

Been cold here in Reno about ten degrees below normal for us with little to no snow cover in the valleys. The cold air invertions have settled in so it didn't break the freezing mark in the last four days. It'll test the marginally hardy species. (about a dozen Aizoaceae I planted last summer) Should slowly warm up by the weekend.

Opposite for us, John- warm this week: well above freezing, even up to 7 oddly they just said on the weather that the only places warmer than Alberta today in North America are southern California and Southern Florida! Edmonton and Phoenix at the same temperature!..lol we'll be back to normal or below on the weekend..

Snow has an amazing effect on a garden - rather like comparing black and white and colour photos, but just with that hint of colour. Temperatures have dropped in south-east Britain to around -6°C, enough to stop much activity in the garden for a while. This sort of weather rarely lasts that long in the south, hence we have so many snowdrop gardens that open in February. Since we are opening for the first time this year in mid-Feb, touch wood it will warm up by then.

Tim, We are sending another arctic tempest your way. It should arrive by the end of the month. Cheers!

Tim, it looks cozy  ;D  Although the temp here is about the same, we have just 1cm of "snow" and expecting rain in a few days.
Michael, I don't want your arctic tempest >:(

Great views, Tim! Snow does really change things- no surprise- good time to really  look at the bones of the garden!

Oops! -12 F morning of 1-24-13. Pffff -there goes Convolvulus cneorum (Southern Spain native). The photo indicates the weather here; frigid, sunny hot, snow cover -sparse, humidity as near zero as it can get. The plant is at the south foot of an enclosed porch foundation, certainly one of the mildest places on my property, so there may be some life near the base of the plant. The other plant is Muehelenbeckia axillaris (New Zealand native). It goes underground for the winter and the dead top growth insulates it as well. It's never failed to return in spring for many years. There's an Agave (Southwestern USA native), which still looks OK and assorted cacti here too. Weather here currently cruel to all living things.

Hope it pulls through! That's a chilly morning -12F/-24C For comparison, we haven't been lower than around -20F/-29C.

This week we range from nights of -14 to -23C (6.8 to -9.4F) and days from +1 to -14C (33.8 to 6.8F) - typical weather here, but we still haven't had the -30/-40 we could have over winter.. still a decent snowcover from nearly bare under some trees to a foot or so in open areas and several feet where it's shovelled...

After a couple weeks with cold dry weather (the coldest in my garden was -12C/10F) the milder weather is back. A little snow last night but it will soon transform to rain. What I am afraid of is the soil freezing deep and damaging the tender roots and bulbs when there is no snow cover and prolonged cold weather.

Bundraba, my Convolvolus cneorum died two winters ago. It doesn't like our wet winters either :-\

No such thing as unfrozen soil here, the plants have to be able to take it!

Chilly one today- high of -23C with windchill of -38C, but it's a one day thing-- -11 tomorrow and above freezing the rest of the week..

The other night it was a difference of almost 50C between the coldest parts of Norway and the warmest. while we had +7C the coldest parts in north was down to -42.
Tonight we'll get a rainstorm and flooding are expected and very high tide.

That's a lot of difference for a relatively small area- I guess that's what mountains and ocean currents will do for you!Today we have a 'snowfall warning'- not as extreme as that sounds- we've probably had at least 10-15 and maybe as much again on the way over the next day or two..
Canada's range for today (for cities) from +13C(Toronto)  to -36C (Yellowknife)

Cooling off today; back to winter. Yesterday went from freezing; 32F to over 55F in a matter of hours: Air was hot, ground was cold. We don't get such a stripping of snow cover often. 4 inches of fresh snow plus pretty much all of the old snow is gone. Last night it rained. No significant snow expected in near term. Looking like cruel winter here for broadleafed evergreens. One group I don't worry about in this weather are steppe dwellers from the western USA. They get it at least as far as the weather here is concerned. I took some more pix this morning of Eritrichiums etc.

Hope your plants make it through the swings, Michael. Not surprisingly, we don't have a lot of broad leafed evergreens, and mostly low growing. Pyrolas here are often in sites that can be exposed for extensive periods in cold to very cold weather, and even in early spring are often exposed to dry winds while the ground is still frozen. By real thaw they can look a little rough, but seem to make it! Similarly, Ledum here, which grow in low spots with much deeper snow than some of the Pyrolas have are generally shorter and more beat up looking here than in the foothills where they have ( I think) more snow...

Cohan, Very interesting about your Pyrolas. I thought those liked to hide in woods, at least shaded deeply if not under some snow. I know of the Ledum and have three iterations growing here. Don Avery of Cady's Falls Nursery (Vermont) once said to me something to the effect of "I can't figure it out" with the Ledums; they seem tender in some nasty winters and quite solid in others! So far I've suffered with the same frustration regarding Ledums. Linnaea borealis will remain evergreen under snow, but, despite its broad northerly distribution burns badly if exposed. Mitchella repens and Gaultheria procumbens seem very resistant to freeze-drying though and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi seems tough, so there are a few that can handle it. Of these Mitchella is seemingly the only one that remains bright green. Nice things like Rhododendron; Phyllodoce; Erica; and I suspect Calluna (if it ever will grow here, maybe I can see for real!) are not happy about dry cold and sun as you suggest from findings in your own climate.

Some Pyrolas are alpine plants here growing in the belt of shrubs above the subalpine forests. They tolerate a lot of freezing although they usually are snowcovered from December. This goes for Linnea too. Ledum is growing in the coldest inland parts of Norway. I have never seen it in winter but assume they usually are snowcovered at least most winters. Phyllodoce is an alpine plant and stays green throughout the winter but grows under stable snow. Calluna and Arctostaphylos do best on windswept hills and ridges with little or no snow in winter although the tips of the branches of the heather get burnt.
Mitchelia and Gaulteria are foreign ;)

The Pyrolas (mostly asarifolia, just a few elliptica) are super common here- they don't grow in full sun, but do grow from deep shade under spruce to quite open woods etc. I think in summer they are all fairly shaded, though some certainly get dappled sun. Some of the open areas though have  small shrubs, grasses and forbs which would shade the plants in summer, but not in winter. Out snowfall depths vary hugely from one spot to another (even just a few metres away)-- the spruce and mixed woods can have very light snowcover even when there may be a foot or a foot and a half or more in open and low lying areas, So, some of those spots- especially at the base of a deciduous tree, facing south or west, may have very little snow which easily melts during warm spells leaving the plants fully exposed. Orthilia is common but not as abundant as Pyrola, and I think a similar set of exposures. Moneses is much shier and less common, I haven't seen any exposed, but there are far fewer.
Linnaea here is also super common in a wide range of sites from very shady to nearly full sun- the difference I think is that it probably doesn't tolerate some of the driest sites (under some spruce) where Pyrola asarifolia will grow. I have seen Linnaea exposed in winter as well, though I can't say I've tracked those bits to see if they were damaged by the time spring arrived..
Unfortunately, I don't yet have any of those other nice Ericaceae etc! Not that many Rhodos hardy here, though I have seen some deciduous cultivars hybrids for sale that are supposed to be hardy.

I have heard you are hit by a tremendous snow storm in eastern USA. How do you cope?

We are in the midst of the storm here in southwestern Nova Scotia, though it hasn't been as terrible as anticipated (so far). This winter is going to be quite hard on some plants. We usually get a reasonable amount of snow that keeps the ground covered for the whole season, but this winter has been odd! Snow, then the warmth comes for a few days and all traces of the white stuff is gone, then the temperature plunges for a week or so, then the pattern repeats.We have gained and lost all snow cover several times this winter The other morning it was -20 C at 6:00 AM when I woke. One week ago we were skating on our pond, and the next day temperatures rose to +13 C for a day and a half. Most of the ice melted (it was at over 6" thick). Yesterday was the first time I was able to walk out on the ponds again.

We thought about starting a wager on which plants will survive this winter, and which will not. I somehow doubt that Euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tiger' will come back in the spring, and I have my doubts about Acanthus mollis as well. This is going to be a real test for a few other plants as well (Digitalis obscura, Kniphofia triangularis, to name a few). Hopefully the five Lysichiton camtschatcensis that were planted pondside will tough it out and show us what they can do here!

Hoy wrote:

I have heard you are hit by a tremendous snow storm in eastern USA. How do you cope?

Well Trond, this was quite the storm.  I was at a conference 2800 miles away in Las Vegas, Nevada, scheduled to fly back the same night as the predicted blizzard.  Mid-week, I decided to cut the conference short by one day and managed to book the very last seat available on Delta. So glad I did that, over 5000 flights were canceled due to the storm, I would've been struck in Detroit sleeping on an airport floor for the weekend if I had not changed travel arrangements.

Its hard to tell how much snow we received due to the 50-60 mph winds (up to 75 mph along the coast), it roared and buffeted the house all night long. It looks like we easily reached the predicted 2' (60 cm) of white stuff.  There is a State-wide travel ban in place, with threat of a stated $500 fine and up to a year in jail if caught traveling without emergency reasons; seems way over-the-top excessive, probably put out there as compliance by fear factor.

I know what I'll be doing all afternoon  ;)

Good thing you got home ahead of it, Mark- 2 feet at once is a lot to deal with- we wouldn't be going anywhere for a couple/few days if we got that, since our back roads don't usually get plowed immediately, though highways are usually clear...

Meanwhile we continue with our mild 2013- temps this coming week from just above to just below zero daytime, with nothing lower than -13C at night; average is -3/-16C and we usually expect some spells much colder than that in Jan/Feb (we did have literally a couple of days in Jan that were cold) still plenty of snow on the ground however..

Mark, should I send you my snowshoes? :D

With that kind of wind, Mark, you might be able to cut snow blocks for igloo building. 8)

Regarding strict fines on a driving ban, we only heard of it many hours after it had been established.  Had I been without power (400,000 MA residents were without power the morning after the storm started), or en route getting back home from one means or another unaware of such a restriction, without access to such announcements, or a hundred other legitimate reasons, such drivers would be totally unaware of such an edict.  A year in prison for driving in such a case, without considering the circumstances of why a person might be driving, seems ridiculously extreme to the max.  There would be a lesser consequence if one was a drug pusher. Geesh.

All I could think of... what if after some 20 something hours of airport travel and delays, finally managing to get back to Boston, then getting into my car in the long-term parking economy-lot, then starting my 50.2 mile drive from Boston to get home, but to be stopped and possibly imprisoned for 1 year for merely trying to drive home, unaware of any such draconian no-driving edict. One cannot use phone communications in a plane, and constant radio announcements are not forthcoming in mere seconds or minutes even if one were to turn on the car radio and attempt to listen to news vs. music, if I were attempting to drive back from the airport, how would I know of such a ban (never heard of one in the past). There are so many possible circumstances, given the short amount of time, with so many people without power or access to news, that a majority of the population would be unaware of such a restriction. Fortunately, I saw a number of articles the day of the storm stating police were not arresting people in the few cars out there. The State-wide ban was lifted at 4:00 pm.

Hi Mark:  I have every sympathy for your "serious weather event" and feel so lucky to have escaped with only one day of the "Alberta Clipper's rage here.  Thursday was a great day - had to do some driving but no problem on the roads.  Londoners awoke to a "silent" dump of snow Friday morning and it was a day of digging and blowing the stuff out of driveways and off roads and sidewalks.  However, yesterday, everything was back to "normal" and business as usual.  I hear there were 5000 cancellations at the airport in TO and half a million people were without power.  Guess St. John's Newfoundland is still reeling.  Still like living by the ocean?  Fran

Sounds as though we are not the only nation having legislators with little sense!

Mark, good to hear you are sound and safe!
Such a ban would be impossible here, then nobody could go anywhere during the winter :-\

At the moment I am at the mountain cabin. 2 ft snow, -15 - -20C (5 - -4F) no wind at all (very rare) but not much sun either. Nice crosscountry ski tour today.

Rick, you know, it is much better to dig into the snow than building an igloo if you have to overnight outside during winter ;)  I've slept in the snow several times in my youth.

Hoy wrote:

Such a ban would be impossible here, then nobody could go anywhere during the winter :-\

Gee, I keep forgetting how tough those zone 8 winters are...  ;D ;D

Lori, I take your point but we have our share as well! And sometimes we want to visit our inland neighbours  ;D
Pictues from the county where I live earlier this winter:

http://www.yr.no/nyheter/1.10843619

Or take a trip to the mountains ;) Although this is not far from the coast.

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/rogaland/jaeren/1.10841263

Trond, That's a lot of snow- pretty impressive infrastructure that they can even keep those roads open! No denying our winter is long, and we can have deep cold, but we are set up to handle that cold, so really, our winter is usually pretty trouble free-it's rare that it even takes more than a few extra minutes on the drive to work here after or during a snowstorm! I think somewhat warmer and wetter places seem to have much more turbulent and troublesome winters: ice storms, huge wet snow dumps etc-- tornadoes again in the southern U.S.!

cohan wrote:

I think somewhat warmer and wetter places seem to have much more turbulent and troublesome winters: ice storms, huge wet snow dumps etc

I think you're right, Cohan.  I'm not liking this zone 5 weather we've been getting the past few years.
  We never used to have ice storms or humid spells in winter.

I hope they don't move any farther north....

We get the swings, but just not as much moisture, generally... We've had some rain forecast several times this winter, but never got anything noticeable out of it.. Today had been forecast for rain as well, then they took it away, now for Rocky, west of us they say again possible rain showers this evening then 5-10cm of snow overnight.. for Red Deer, east of us, there is no rain, just possible 5 cm of snow... We could get anything between those two possibilities..
Yesterday's high was around +10C and Tuesday's high is -8...

It swings here too! It started in November and since then the temperature has oscillated in a regular manner but with much colder weather than normally here. The mean temperature for this winter is far lower than normal.
This is from the closest weather station for the last two months:

We were mostly below average, but without the coldest temps we expect to have some of, from end of Oct until late Dec, and since then mostly above average with a few short colder spells.. still no -30 which is quite surprising! Luckily we did not get the rain yesterday, just another 5-8 cm of snow... They also took away the forecast for -8C- now our coldest day this is supposed to be -5C, with nights from -9C to -18C

Winter isn't done with us yet- not that I thought for a moment that it was- we've had snow on the ground for just under 5 months, this is this week's forecast;fortunately they removed the possible rain from tomorrow's forecast, there is already a lot of ice around from melting snow, we don't need rain to make it smoother:

Galanthus in full bloom today in northeast USA, were up 2 inches in early January, then snow covered.  Then about 3/4 grown when last seen about a month ago, now snow mostly gone again yesterday, perhaps for the last time; but we can get snow rarely in May.
Winter 2012 was winter-less, approaching zone 6b-7 though plant deaths didn't fit, perhaps because of little snow cover.
Fairly consistent trend, here, of higher than normal low temperatures.  Highs have been about normal this season, which is lower than the last several years.
Voles and deer doing just fine -- as usual. (sigh!)

I'm wondering about voles here too- they've already had the shelter of snowcover for almost 5 months, and some time to go yet!
We didn't get nearly as warm as forecast today, only around/just above the freezing mark, Lori's area was much warmer though..
I wish we had some members in Lethbridge, Alberta- seems they've barely had daytimes below the freezing mark this winter- really curious what gardening is like there- more like Denver? or..?

Well, we have barely had daytime temperatures above the freezing mark this winter :-\ The next week is supposed to be sunny and cold - as the last week and the week before that. . . . This will probably last all April too! Some people like it though - the skaters :-X

Trond- reminds me of what we say about rainy times in summer- 'Good weather --for ducks!'
We have a 'snowfall warning' tonight- maybe up to 10 cm by morning- not sure why that much snow would need a warning, but they always give one... and we might be a bit far east for that amount (hopefully, less or no shovelling would be good!)
Our days this week are forecast from -1C t -11C and nights from -8C to -17C..

NOAA predicted weather outlook for the U.S., spring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIujXD0NElc

Just left frozen Manchester and arrived in Crete. Struggling a bit with the heat at 26c (78f) watching a man swimming in the sea whilst having a beer.Life can be hard!

That's what I was doing last week Tony . Took a few pictures whilst I was out there

Can't say I struggle with the heat here! Although I get a bit warm when cross-country skiing in the bright sun! It's -20C during the night and -5C during the day even in the middle of a fine day here at 1000m.

April 6, 2013 Near freezing, dry and windy here, Jet Stream map tells at least part of the story.
Suggesting cold in New England, USA and Norway, maybe seasonable in the UK, particularly southern aspects. 
My added green arrows attempt to summarize the flow to New England (from Alberta), to Norway (from nearish the north pole) and UK (somewhat from the Gulf Stream)

map from  http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

Charles Swanson Massachusetts USA

Charles, that says it all, with our stop-and-start and stop-again spring this year.  Had a brief break yesterday, relatively warm and sunny, the crocus smiled and opened widely, then down to 26 F last night, it put the kibosh on many crocus blooms; while sunny again today way too cold for the blooms to open, many are already fading, I'm sure the strong freeze overnight curbed possibility of extended bloom.  Supposed to go down to 25 F tonight; still waiting for real spring weather.

A little change today and my evergreens got a short relief. Got some snow, sleet and rain. Hadn't thought that that kind of weather should make me happy!
Seems that the weather will improve slowly next week and the frosty nights come to an end.

Pretty normal spring here-- all over the place! We've had days above 10C, sunny and no fresh precip for weeks, snow melting everywhere (still lots left though) then back to wintry conditions with a fresh 6 inches or more of snow, nights to -14C, days -4/-5C, then tomorrow to 11C with rain and/or snow, back down to just above freezing with more snow maybe on the weekend, etc etc!

Cohan, you have a lot more winter than I have for sure!
Seems the coming night will be the last one below 0C in this row. I cross my fingers and hope for at least 6 months without freezing temperatures!

Our first thunderstorm of the season. and our first bit of moisture since the snow stopped.  It rained hard but briefly and it was already dry enough to walk on the back of the cliff in the morning.  We really need some soaking rains.

Hoy wrote:

Seems the coming night will be the last one below 0C in this row. I cross my fingers and hope for at least 6 months without freezing temperatures!

Must be turnaround time Trond . We have just had our first frost

I hope so Steve, to confess, I am pretty sick of the cold weather now. The spring is a month behind schedule.

Trond- I'd probably need 2 or 3 years to get 6 months without freezing in total ;)
Snowing again today- was forecast for up to 25 cm by tomorrow, but its been melting as it fell all day, now they say 5-10cm, with flurries for next 3 days... on the plus side, this is good moisture, slow and soaks in in areas where the ground is thawed (still lots of standing snow)..

Cohan, I am not jealous of that ;)

We are supposed to have some fast moisture today! (I am sitting and waiting for it - should have been here now!?) A rainstorm is on its way from the ocean and with the soil frozen still and much snow on higher ground inland flooding are expected. The last months we have had hundreds of wildfires (they are much smaller than those some of you experience though) and the farmers have prayed for rain.

Good luck with the flooding! We had half a day of snow that melted as it fell, then it started accumulating in the afternoon with water underneath, and probably got to around 15cm or so. Enough we had to shovel so as not to have our driveway wet until fall! The sun came out though, unexpectedly, so there is a lot of melting already...

Wasn't that bad here, but they had and still have trouble elsewhere where it is still snow. Got some much needed rain and my small creek holds water again ;)

March 2013 - Explained from www.wunderground.com
During March 2013, residents of Europe and the Southeast U.S. must have wondered what happened to global warming. Repeated bitter blasts of bitter cold air invaded from the Arctic, bringing one of the coldest and snowiest Marches on record for much of northern Europe. In the U.K., only one March since 1910 was colder (1962), and parts of Eastern Europe had their coldest March since 1952. A series of exceptional snowstorms struck many European locations, including the remarkable blizzard of March 11 - 12, which dumped up to 25 cm (10”) of snow on the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey in the U.K., and in the northern French provinces of Manche and Calvados. The entire Southeast U.S. experienced a top-ten coldest March on record, with several states experiencing a colder month than in January 2013. Despite all these remarkable cold weather events, global temperatures during March 2013 were the 9th warmest since 1880, said NASA. How, then, did such cold extremes occur in a month that was in the top 8% of warmest Marches in Earth's recorded history?
The Arctic Oscillation (AO) is a pattern of varying pressure and winds over the Northern Hemisphere that can strongly influence mid-latitude weather patterns. When the AO is in its positive phase, jet stream winds are strong and the jet stream tends to blow mostly west to east, with low-amplitude waves (troughs and ridges.) Since the jet stream marks the boundary between cold Arctic air to the north and warm subtropical air to the south, cold air stays bottled up in the Arctic. When the AO is in its negative phase, the winds of the jet stream slow down, allowing the jet to take on more wavy pattern with high-amplitude troughs and ridges. High amplitude troughs typically set up over the Eastern U.S. and Western Europe during negative AO episodes, allowing cold air to spill southwards in those regions and create unusally cold weather.

The Arctic Oscillation refers to an opposing pattern of pressure between the Arctic and the northern middle latitudes. Overall, if the atmospheric pressure is high in the Arctic, it tends to be low in the northern middle latitudes, such as northern Europe and North America. If atmospheric pressure is low in the middle latitudes it is often high in the Arctic. When pressure is high in the Arctic and low in mid-latitudes, the Arctic Oscillation is in its negative phase. In the positive phase, the pattern is reversed.

We've had some wildly variable jet stream patterns in recent years in the Northern Hemisphere. Just last year, we had a strongly positive AO in March, when our ridiculous "Summer in March" heat wave brought the warmest March on record to the U.S. The first day of spring in Chicago, IL on March 20, 2013 had a high temperature of just 25°F--a 60 degree difference from last year's high of 85°F on March 20! During the past five years, we've set new monthly records for extreme negative AO index for six of the twelve months of the year:

-4.3: February 2010
-3.4: December 2009
-3.2: March 2013
-1.5: October 2009, 2012
-1.4: June 2009
-1.4: July 2009
Charles S NE USA

Interesting!
We've had some cool and some warm weather so far, I think much of April was cooler than March, but as  far from normal as many of you have had.. The other day we were up to +20C, then snow again yesterday, and +2 today- back to +21 by Sunday.. fairly usual spring stuff here.. Our average temperatures are not that commonly seen, usually its above or below, adding up to a mythical average in the middle!

Near 30C yesterday, back to 15 today, then 13-27C for the rest of the week, with nights from 0 to +9C..

For anyone who's complaining about their weather conditions...  
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/05/20/nl-...

Poor Todd!  Hope that missed him.

When my friend called me she mentioned about the weather in Newfoundland. Immediately I was thinking about Todd.

Certainly everyone I've spoken to here wants to send their support and hopes through to the people of Moore and Oklahoma City.

The news is very sad.

Last night for hours I was watching TV coverage of the horrific mega-tornado in Moore, Oklahoma; the scope of destruction is beyond belief, with a tornado a mile wide and winds in excess of 200 mph (320 kph).  My heart goes out to the people of Moore that have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods, and all their earthly belongings.
A short photo gallery showing the damage:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732410260457849695145090291...

All our paltry little concerns and complaints are put into perspective... how awful.  My sympathies go out to all who are affected by this tragedy.

I am very sorry to hear about the disaster in Oklahoma. It is difficult to envision such a big wind.

We have our problems here to but no casualities only damaged roads, railways and houses. It is the largest flooding for several years. A lot of rain combined with warm weather and snowmelt. It is in the area where we have our cabin and we are fortunately safe home.

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/hedmark_og_oppland/1.11039281

We had an early start to the hail season on May 29th... sheesh!  (Apologies for the bad photos through the back door.)
 

Oh my, the extremes of weather, so crazy. Lori, you're getting last spring hail, and we're in our fourth day above 90 F (33  :-[C), early for this kind of heat.  Trond, the flooding you show looks bad too, lots of damage.

Too much excitement in the weather department- flooding in northern Alberta, funnel clouds and hail in central Alberta today- luckily we got nothing, I was able to get another 4.5 hours of digging in!