Here in the uk we have had some lovely sunny hot days. Pretty unusual to get 35 c at this time of year. Now today, we are going to pay for the lovely days : Thunder storms for the next few days. The weather here in the UK has been very variable for years now and it looks to continue. Has anybody in their places of residence had strange weather patterns ? At times the garden plants have been fooled in their growing cycle and birds are completely out of synch some times. Is it me or am I just thinking back to the 1940's and 1950's when weather was far different than today.
Mego, Texas had a very wet spring, and now we have dried up. That part is usual for us, but this spring was WET! I've noticed fewer birds, and fewer species than usual. The same with butterflies--fewer and not as many types. We are getting deer earlier than usual. Deer usually hang around the tree line down by Sandy Creek and we don't see them until mid-October, but this year they have been in the pasture and foraging in the orchard. It isn't just you. We are all in this together--there is no planet B.
Jane your part of Texas had a wet Spring....mine not so much. More zeros on my daily cocorahs.org reports than actual numbers. And very small amounts in the rain gauge since then.
Toni,, we had 3/4 of an inch last wk and an inch prior to that ! Unheard of in Texas in July ! August we are still waiting to see but i think its going to be a dry one !
I remember the first year I lived in NE Texas ans saw the cracked earth. I was shocked that it got that dry! Growing up in Washington state (Western) I had never seen that before. And the second year in Texas we had a ridiculous invasion of grasshoppers! The chickens were in heaven, though. We would sit on the porch and watch them dart from side to side trying to get them. Now here in Wisconsin, I hear the winters are shorter. I guess they used to be 7 months and now they're down to 5. That's from someone who grew up here.
Great to have those observations. So matters are changing in a big way. bye the way, thunderstorms last night were really bad here with lots of flooding and train derailments.
Willow, I remember the 'hopper invasion. We had planted young fruit trees, and the darn bugs were eating the bark! Our plumber, who is also a friend, stopped by with a crate of Guinea hens. He turned them loose and within two days there wasn't a grasshopper to be seen. They roamed the entire property, roosting in trees at night and eating grasshoppers all day long. Noisy birds, but useful. Mego, we are in a stretch of eight days above 100 degrees. This isn't highly unusual for us, bit it is uncomfortable.
Any one who lived in north Texas in 1980 will remember the 42 consecutive days of 100+ temps and add another 27 days that summer for a total of 69 days of 100+ and two of those days topped out at 113 deg. Then the summer of 2011 tried it's best to make 1980 feel like a wimp but did not quite make it for as long as 1980. Grasshoppers, Cycadas and June bugs always some thing trying to be the worst invasion around here.
