hopefully the crazy cold followed by crazy warm now cold again weather on the eastside will have a killing effect on the spruce budworm infestation that has troubled the eastside. I thought that the evergreens showed definite improvement last year w the forests looking a lot healthier. the wet summer of 2013 is hopefully the beginning of a pattern for a number of years. seems like it was very dry the 5-6 years preceeding.
my neighbor on the eastside reports that they have plowed their driveway 4 times this winter which is pretty unusual since the snow usually blows away.
We had a shovel rest on our road this past weekend when the temps were well below zero. This morning the wind is blowing the snow away and it's almost 40.
When I got up Monday morning at 5 am it was 5 degrees above zero here at the house and snowing, by noon it was 37 degrees above and sleeting, this morning it is 40 degrees and everything is getting heavy and melting, talk about up and down, but it does seem more like what we used to have, I am hoping the many freezes we have had will kill some of the beetles off.
Similar on the east side. Saturday and Sunday were -18 and -15 respectively. Monday was forecast to reach 30 but never got above 8. Around 4 this morning I happen to notice that it was 18 but by 5:3o the wind was blowing around 45 and it was 37. Presently 42 and sunny with less wind.
I always like when the snow lays on the ground and it gets warm enough to form a firm surface. That way it will eventually melt into the earth instead Of blowing away to North Dakota.
I'm hoping the evergreen forests will continue to recover from several years of drought and beetle infestation. back in the 70's and 80's it seemed like that park was pretty wet all summer.