Hello fellow readers,
We sure had an early preview of things to come and I wasn’t ready. What a sight to see as I rallied in snow boots and cross country ski garb in the heavy pre-Thanksgiving Day snow to cut back my Eupatorium /Joe-Pye Weed and lay their seed heads under the snow onto the bare soil. The good news is the ground is not frozen yet. So, my last minute seed-sewing technique may prove fruitful as the snow will help hunker down (others would say embed) the seeds into the soil.
So what’s to come this winter? The Eastern Pennsylvania Weather Authority (EPAWA) released their 2014/15 Winter Outlook for December through March for the areas they serve which includes Northern New Jersey. They provide detailed technical information using acronyms and colorful charts that frankly are puzzling. Fortunately they provide a Plain English summary that goes like this:
‘Temperatures will not be as cold as they were last year’ and there will likely be less frequent storms, ‘but when they do hit, they hold greater potential to produce larger amounts at one time.’ Hence the ‘odds favor not nearly as much snow as last year, but certainly well above normal.’
Then they go on to describe Wildcards such as the potential of bigger snow events with the warm Atlantic waters; ‘combined with the likelihood of the negative North Atlantic Oscillation dominating this winter which opens the door for some big time winter storm events.’ There is ‘greater potential for blocking unlike last year, making coastal storms slower, bigger, and more robust. Another ingredient will be the southern stream that will be enhanced by our weak El Nino favoring storms coming up from the Gulf.’ The EPAWA goes on to say ‘we are not expecting much contribution from March in the snowfall department so any snow in March or November will be a bonus.’
Well we experienced one Wildcard already! By the way I discovered a wheelbarrow does not maneuver easily through snow; kind of like trying to ride a bicycle in soft sand. Maybe we should come up with extra wide snow tires for wheelbarrows.
Last Minute Gardening Thanksgiving Eve!
Garden dilemmas? askmarystone@gmail.com
