What's your weather?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

It's about 31 deg. F, very windy (15-25 mph and gusts up to 45 mph!) and I do believe I saw some snow flurries this morning.

[mamselle]

Last night, before going to bed, I looked out the door and it was raining.

This AM, it's 43 with scattered showers.

Ho-hum, I'm inside all day with tea, toast, and editing/writing to do.

Not a bad combination.

M.

[hmaria1609]

It's snowing here!  Not unusual in March though:
https://wtop.com/weather-news/2022/03/winter-weather-brings-blizzard-like-conditions-winter-advisory-to-d-c-area/
I had to drive slower going to the library this morning.

[apl68]

March snow is almost unheard of in our state.  My parents are still talking about the time it snowed when they brought me home after my birthday.  Now we've had a March snow again.  I had planned to drive to the state capital to take care of some business on Friday, and then, instead of returning home, go to my parents' house and spend the weekend with them.  Extended forecast had called for snow to start that afternoon.  The forecast the day before revised that to mere rain.  Snow did seem most unlikely, given the high temps we'd had only a day or two before. 

So I went to the state capital as planned.  Just as the extended forecast had originally predicted--and in defiance of three forecasts I consulted the day before--it started snowing.  I had just started my drive out.  A drive that would normally have taken under two hours took at least three.  Lots of harrowing start-and-go traffic.  I saw somebody skid and rear-end another vehicle in a neighboring lane shortly after it started.  Otherwise the roads were so warm that they were generally clear.  I was amazed to see not a single vehicle stopped or wrecked by the roadside on the whole drive home.  The woods along the highway turned into a winter wonderland right before my eyes as I drove--not that I could spare many glances from the road itself.

A library staff member whom I'd sent to a conference nearby and another staff member's husband who was in the city on a doctor's visit both took off at about the same time.  They each took four hours to cover what would normally have taken under three.

The next morning my parents' house was surrounded by beautiful snow-draped trees.  By noon there were only dwindling patches of snow in shady spots.  Then Sunday was a fantastic spring day.  The March weather here has always been notoriously changeable, but March's moods are getting more extreme than ever.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

It just keeps raining....

[mamselle]

Now? It's 72 F outside.

Yesterday, it was the reverse of that.

So it goes...!

M.

[clean]

It is dry here (not just a lack of rain, but low humidity), we have higher winds and burn bans about.

The ground is dry!  I am working to replant some grass that was eaten by bugs last year.  There are plently of weeds, but the ground is so clay hard, that the hoe does not sink in, but it just scrapes the weed tops all the way to the dirt! 

Today I will get a weedeater out and just scalp the rest of it.  IF it were wetter (muddier) that would not work, but this is the time to take advantage of the situation and use the power tools!

After this, I will put down the grub deterrent, add a mix of top soil and potting soil and then either plant grass seeds or if I find any, get some grass squares/sod from the Home Despot/Lowes or a garden center, but it may be too early just yet for grass squares. 

[mamselle]

Not sure if it works everywhere, but one person I know of with a back-garden farm in AZ uses diatomaceous earth covered by bark mulch to get rid of insects in their soil.

M.

[apl68]

We had the heaviest rain last night that we've had in months.  This morning I saw water pouring over the spillway at the city park for the first time in probably more than a year.  And it came without power outages or destructive winds, which is increasingly something you can't take for granted with rain.

[hmaria1609]

Warm enough to be outside without a coat!  :)

It's cherry blossom season at the Tidal Basin:
https://wtop.com/gallery/national-cherry-blossom-festival/photos-cherry-blossoms-2022/
Enjoy!

[mamselle]

Yo-yo-ing again.

Might be warm enough to walk in tomorrow AM.

Then again, maybe not.

I'll see what it looks like when I get up....

---ETA:

Whoa. It looks worse in NOLA.

Tornado appears to be on the ground going through the city...

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UisjbMack6k

This is an amazing job of reporting in the midst of the storm.

Also here:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzO46XARInE

M.

[mamselle]

I hope no-one here was affected by the bands of tornados going through LA, TX, and Miss. last night.

Impressive follow-up coverage on the New Orleans storms here:

   https://youtu.be/GQVXTHC8jVY

So far, an EF3 with no deaths or serious injuries--people had safe spaces and went into them--some in a matter of minutes.

M.

[apl68]

This round of storms passed through our neighboring states while staying to the south of us.  We got three inches or more of rain, with no high winds and not too terrible much thunder and lightning.  The rains weren't as heavy has projected, so I don't think we had any flash flooding.  We really needed the rain.  Still trying to find more than the most fragmentary news regarding those who were struck by severe weather elsewhere.

[mamselle]

This round of storms passed through our neighboring states while staying to the south of us.  We got three inches or more of rain, with no high winds and not too terrible much thunder and lightning.  The rains weren't as heavy has projected, so I don't think we had any flash flooding.  We really needed the rain.  Still trying to find more than the most fragmentary news regarding those who were struck by severe weather elsewhere.

Re: finding news on the storms; in the first citation above, the weathercaster was actually in the midst of her broadcast when she recognized the signs in her maps that a tornado had formed and was moving through. She and her tech support person were working those maps to within named street blocks, telling people where the danger was, what areas to stay away from, and warning those in their homes to go to their safe zones immediately.

I would guess that channel might be one to follow, they were on top of it from the beginning.

She deserves some kind of award; her quick thinking (while appalled at what she was seeing and having to recover herself a couple of times mid-sentence) probably saved lives. I sat there, watching it unfold--I'd just happened on the channel in that moment--stunned and amazed.

M.

[Harlow2]

After a tantalizingly nice day midweek it is cloudy, windy, and chilly. We could use a bit more sun.