The weather people insist that we’ve received the usual amount of snow this winter, and possibly even a bit more than usual, but the temperatures have been so warm each snowfall has melted within hours or days, and we’ve gone through much of this winter with bare ground… and grass that is still somewhat green. Spring flowers have tried to bloom, trees have budded, the bears are calling, and we’ve had robins under the feeders almost every day.
Yesterday felt like a warm spring day. Three chipmunks kept darting in and out of the cracks in these big rocks with their cheeks stuffed full of sunflower seeds. Any snow on the rocks had melted days or weeks ago.
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)This morning those same rocks are covered with a good layer of snow from last night’s storm, and yesterday’s warm sunny world is cold and white. We’re supposed to have below freezing temperatures today, up to ten inches of snow overnight, and temperatures rising above 50°F for this weekend.
The plants and animals must be as confused as we are…
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Paul
Strange weather here too. A neighbor and I made maple syrup in late January. It looks like we might be getting our winter late though. It snowed almost a foot over the last 2 days.
Marrianne K
We’ve had robin’s this winter too for the first time ever. I have jonquils that have finished blooming too.
Arro
It has been a very strange winter indeed, even for us here on the west coast. There’s been so few rainy days that some orchards needed to be given water during their dormant season. So warm too, I barely needed to use the wood burning stove. I feel like we went straight from a longer than usual fall to spring.
Sarah
I’m hoping my new strawberry plants won’t be harmed by the lack of snow cover. I gave them a good mulch last fall but we’ve had some very cold temperatures. I really enjoy your blog.