a mostly high and dry February

 

What's wrong with this picture?

We're the coldest location on it, that's what?!?

We've been through a couple of quiet weeks here, weather wise. Fog is burning off slowly in our area until today, when an east wind arrived and cleared us out. That means downslope winds at the beach, and a site near Tillamook was at 70° in the past hour. Yet we are straddling the 50° number after a high of 51. It's pretty though for mid-February, and buds are tinting the sticks on rose bushes and hydrangea plants. The skunk cabbage has been up for about two weeks - although 'up' means they are visible not that they are carpeting the creek bed by any means.

A shower or two are expected for Valentines Day, then several more dry days are likely. A pattern shift should hit by the last week of the month, but it's going to be a dry one. We've had less than an inch in a month that typically has about six! So it appears that our snowiest month of the year is taking 2022 off.

The dry weather has helped me clean up the December storm debris though. I still need to hack down the main body of the tree that rested on our truck, but the higher branches have been removed to the large debris pile. The maple branch has also been pared down to a mighty stick. I need to replace the chain on our saw to complete those tasks, as the original has slipped away several times this season.

a new number one

 January sixth turned in a very surprising 4.82 inches of rain which takes over at my lifetime #1 spot - though just barely. It's odd that 0.06 inches separates it from #2, then another inch below to #s three and four, and then another one-inch gap. Curious. 

And one more curiosity: the top three contains two January sixths!

The forecast was for about three inches for the two days of 1/5 and 6; the 5th was spot on at 1.34 but clearly the following day overperformed. Big time! The new 2-day record was set, but the 3-day record still belongs to October 2017.

So as of the 6th our January total was already above average! As of today we're 2½" above. A stretch of fairly dry weather is coming for the next week. I cannot bring myself to complain.

Yard work today consisted of removing limbs from the two major tree events that the snowstorms of '21 brought down. Others came down elsewhere on our property but landed in areas that really aren't accessible - so they can behave as nature intended and r.i.p. = rot in place. One truck-load was added to the debris pile, and the large maple limb will probably be hauled slightly up the hill and act as a lawn definition enhancement and slope break.

Plenty more debris can be had at the bottom of our driveway, where the entire tree fell slowly on to our truck. What a fine mess that was - yet only the front windshield shows any mark. It definitely needs replacing.

another wet spell

January 2022 will begin with a quiet day. 

Just one.

Crazy times begin immediately after: a bit of snow at dawn followed by about two inches of rain. That mix will sit atop, and drain into, about 12 inches of snow that began Christmas day and continued for the next five. It's been fun (well not the tree landing on our truck) but things will turn ugly. A flood of slush will be heading down from the hill-tops all around as the freezing level rises above 3000 feet for the week. Interesting times!

December ends with over ten inches of moisture, comfortably above both 30-year averages. The new average is lower (1991-2020) so it was well covered - and it looks like January will be off to a wet start.

oh dear: omicron

 

What can words add to this chart? Not much.

My mom left us 2 weeks short of 99 years old, and today Betty White followed just 18 days short of 100. A large TV special was planned for her 17.Jan birthday celebration; presumably the jokes will be muted and tributes will be plentiful.

So many deaths from many sources - but so much suffering worldwide from the Covid Reborn /omicron variant. 

It isn't 'reckless hate' doing the killing like Theoden's orc-quote from Tolkien, just reckless indifference to public safety  - and a claiming of 'rights' and 'freedoms' that echo from his great friend CS Lewis in The Great Divorce.

Enough. Please.

Christmas chaos

 

Weather Underground is often ..exuberant with its forecasts in extreme conditions. On the other hand, it is also ahead of other tools at times. Recall last year's extreme heat, where numbers were off the charts historically - and it played out.

It's been right a few times on snow in the past seven years too - so here we sit, and here we shall remain! Christmas will be spent on the hill-top rather than spent on potentially slick roads and increasingly Covid /omicron-riddled locations. Disappointing, but reasonable given the forecast volatility!

The number of white Christmases in my lifetime can fit comfortably on one hand. This might be one of the missing fingers (no we aren't up to the thumb yet, I'm certain of that!). The odds of consecutive snowfall days around here are also quite rare, so I truly do not expect this amount (looks like .. 16 inches less a tenth) to sit on the ground by late Wednesday. Unless the forecast makes a major u-turn though, a foot would not be a shock. 

cheap thrills: the new PRISM data is here!

 Every ten years the 30-year averages for temperature and precipitation are updated. After watching a few times this fall, I finally accessed our local (800-meter resolution) data to see how the numbers have changed.

And here they are!

The average has dropped by 5.76 inches overall. November crashed the most, losing almost two inches in that month alone. January also took a dive, so the wet season overall took a hit. In fact only September has a higher average than before - though many months dropped by a quarter-inch or less. That's hard to do in the dry season, but July dropped .19" and it was already the driest month!

I haven't looked into temperatures so have no comments on the trends on the hill-top. Our seven years have seen big snows and hot weather, as most medium-term samples will show. Our highest ever temperature was easily this past summer though, and many cedar trees have scorched tips as a result.

I've reset my data tab in Excel to record updated deviations. Oh what fun!

life happens.

 - as does death. 

65th anniversary, 2014

After a relatively brief transition, my mom has stepped into a new and better life. She was two weeks short of 99 years old, an amazing number by any standard. We siblings stayed with her overnight in turns at the end, and I left her bedside at 10:30 that morning, when my sister arrived. Mom left us twelve hours later, joining dad and all the other elder members of our family. We siblings and cousins now assume the mantle of family elders. 

Oh my.

She and my dad moved to assisted living about eight years ago. Dad turned 95 before he passed in 2015, after 70+ years of marriage. Both of them left with sound minds but nearly deaf; we shouted to them cheerfully on our many visits, and savored our countless blessings.

So many great memories throughout my nearly 65 years with this amazing couple! And if my memories stay with me as well as theirs did, they will last me for decades more - God willing.

self-captioned, 2010

Sara and Jan wedding, 2014

Covid times, 2020