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Post by reed on Sept 17, 2019 2:25:57 GMT -5
Just hot and dry here, very very dry and also very still, no breezes at all. Another ugly, dusty depressing fall. I miss the color that we used to have in fall, all the red and yellow and orange and purple that covered all the hillsides. Now mostly just various shades of brown and faded green. I'v noticed over past several years, couple decades really that if a tree's leaves turn brown and drop off instead of going though a colorful period it probably will still be alive the next spring. If they drop off as greenish grey crisps, there's a good chance it's dead.
People under thirty or so don't miss what it used to look like cause it isn't even in their memory, that's understandable but few older folks seem to notice either, or care. What the fuck's wrong with them?
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Post by steev on Sept 18, 2019 10:49:49 GMT -5
Raining in Oakland right now; pretty uncommon this early, but welcome.
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Post by RpR on Sept 18, 2019 13:04:24 GMT -5
Yep we went from ten to twenty below average to ten to twenty above average but the rains keep coming.
Do not want to work in a muddy garden and the mosquitoes are now aware that the summer skeeter spraying is over.
They are saying fall colours will be late this year but with temps going up and down plus rain time will tell.
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Post by reed on Sept 19, 2019 4:00:41 GMT -5
They are saying fall colours will be late this year but with temps going up and down plus rain time will tell. That is major peeve for me. Local tourism officials, TV weather talkers, reporting and advertising "fall colors" dumb asses, I wish they would just shut the hell up. Our terrain is hilly, valleys and ridge tops are mostly cleared but thousands and thousands of acres of hillsides used to blaze with color. Fifty years ago I would sit on the porch and just gaze at it, walking in the woods even the ground was covered with it. Now at best, it's 25% of what it was. It hasn't rained here in over a month, hovering between 90 and 100 everyday. A 3rd or more trees, those that are still alive have already defoliated, there isn't going to be any fall fucking color, other than brown and gray. There is a post on this site from Alan, back when he first started it I think around 2008 where he guessed the Ohio valley had about ten years. It isn't completely dead yet but closer to it every year. So lets all jump in our cars and tour the back roads and the see the color. Maybe stop in at some hole in the wall "fall festival" and pig out on some greasy slop. Nothing says fall like an industrial deep fryer smoking away in the 90 degree heat. I know, lets go to the car show and be awed by the vintage corvets. Well at least they would be colorful I suppose, maybe that's what they're talking about. |
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Post by steev on Sept 20, 2019 0:19:48 GMT -5
Now, now; we're just going from four seasons to two, like in Central America; oh, wait, they're coming here because things are going to hell there; nevermind.
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Post by steev on Sept 23, 2019 21:19:22 GMT -5
The next two days are predicted to be a heat wave, the breeze coming from the Central Valley, where it's triple digits now, instead of off the Pacific, which is normal; the only time it's hotter in SF than the East Bay is when this happens. There are always heat-related deaths from this in SF.
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 25, 2019 17:27:54 GMT -5
Wow, reed, sorry to hear of the loss of your autumn. That's what's predicted for your part of North America as "the future" of climate change. The future is apparently here. We are lucky in New England, the climate is really stable. Went camping in the Catskill in NYS last weekend and the colors are shaping up to be glorious. It's been dry here, but nothing like what you describe. |
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Post by reed on Sept 29, 2019 1:54:29 GMT -5
Still hot still dry here but at least it's cooling off at night now. Could change anytime I'm sure. I'm behind on getting ready for winter, got plenty of firewood but it isn't moved and stacked under the porch yet. The woman still has lots of flower pots and stuff in the way. Need to clean the chimney too. Haven't even taken down the outdoor curtains yet.
The house is such that it gets a good amount of heating from the sun and used to be the overhangs blocked it appropriately but now that it often stays hot as the sun gets lower in the sky it cooks in here. The outdoor curtains keep it out completely instead of trapping heat inside between the glass and a blind. Coolaroo shade cloth is great stuff, kinda pricey if you get something made of it but I bought a big roll and made my own. It's just a mesh made of recycled plastic, won't rot, won't stain, won't fall apart in the sun.
Long range shows us falling from mid 90s for highs early this coming week to mid or low 70s by end of week, that will feel nice. Even some possibility of a little rain in next ten days or so.
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Post by steev on Sept 30, 2019 20:32:25 GMT -5
Going farm-ward Saturday, there were scattered light showers in the Central Valley; then, driving west through the hills, there was a short rain of big drops, followed by several minutes of big slush-balls, quarter-sized splats on the windshield; did a pretty good job of washing the p'up; that night the clouds reflected lightning in the Valley; that can be concerning when things are dry; we get lots of fires in the Sierra that way; I don't recall ever seeing lightning in the farm's valley.
The weather seems to have really changed, Summer to Fall; it was quite cool OTF this weekend; primo work weather.
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Post by reed on Oct 2, 2019 3:28:52 GMT -5
Still hot here but highs supposed to drop by 20 degrees or more in next few days. No rain showing through next week. Been fifty days without it at my house, might as well make it sixty. Extremes and frequency of such things isn't going to stop increasing. Dream of moving to a place with better access to water becoming more urgent, should have done it a long time ago. I'd prefer a nice creek, even the bigger ones are dry now but could get big tanks and fill them up in late winter. Ponds get too nasty, covered in green sludge and stink. A well would be nice too and might be doable at a lower elevation.
If the temp drop actually happens in might be chilly at night so don't forget a light jacket for the ball game and as always enjoy the fall scenery. Stupid sacks of brain dead shit, wonder what they'll drink when the river falls below the municipal intakes or rises above the pump houses? I think I see a little schadenfreude on the horizon.
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Post by RpR on Oct 2, 2019 12:34:05 GMT -5
We went from above average wet and humid to below average cold and wet.
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Post by walt on Oct 2, 2019 13:09:58 GMT -5
Same here.
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Post by reed on Oct 3, 2019 3:22:20 GMT -5
I think this is supposed to be our last very hot day. 90s this afternoon and 70s same time tomorrow. Cool air will feel real nice, unfortunately rain isn't expected to come with it.
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Post by walt on Oct 10, 2019 11:23:36 GMT -5
Light freeze predicted for tonight. Record low for this date.
All my citrus hybrids will be inside with me. Even a few pure trifoliate oranges will come inside. They are hardy enough, but I will be keeping them inside this winter to get more growth on them, reducing time until they start production. I've been a citrus "breeder" for 6 years and still haven't made a single cross. I am growing out many F2 and backcross 1 F2 seedlings, but I'd really like to make planned crosses in addition to growing out progenies from other people's crosses. These include some very useful crosses, but I'd like to try additional crosses. Maybe next year.
I have trifoliate (hardy) orange trees 6 years in the ground. They would be 7 years old, due to one year in pots. They could bloom next year. Someone in Wichita, KS, 100 miles south of me, had seedling from the same trees bloom in 8th year.
Also I have seedlings I started last winter and planted outside in the ground last spring. These are from a mutant that can bloom in one year from seed, sometimes. I read that they are slower to bloom in the shorter growing season in the north.
Non-hardy plants, like peppers, that are protected during the next two nights may be OK for 3 or 4 more weeks.
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Post by mskrieger on Oct 17, 2019 10:53:25 GMT -5
In the middle of a beautiful nor'easter, skies grey, leaves crimson and golden flying everywhere. Trees down here and there. About 2" of rain fell last night, typical for such a storm. However today is two days past average first frost and we have, once again, not had a frost, nor is one predicted yet. Harvested 8 red ripe peppers two days ago and stuffed them, and it looks like we might have more yet to come!
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