Erik,
Great webcam pic on that link!
Feel warmer just looking at it 😆 😆

Enjoy!
Barb

Thanks Erik, It's my aunt that's sick but she like my second mother.

Enjoy the sun and warmth!

Bill

Safe trip, Bill.

Wishing a speedy recovery for your aunt, and lots of palms in your car for the ride home!

Barb

In Kingston I've hit -18C so far (-2f) but it will get colder, at least it has every other year is recorded history! In Toronto we've now hit -12C. Again, it will get colder. It always does! I've got some pics from last week, and I'll post them soon!

How about you?

Periodic rain and a couple of sun breaks, 9.2ºC (48.5ºF) today. December was quite dry compared to our rainiest month, November. The hyacinths are up so signs of spring are around.

Cheers, Barrie.

Paul,
5.5f is the low here so far followed by 8.8f and 10.8f. Not to bad so far, I'm sure January will throw some more single digits my way.

Bill

Watch out if you get snow cover going.
Last night was -12(F)here and somewhere in the state(Spencer Iowa)hit -36(F)!
My Trachys stayed around 30(F) the Washy between 35 and 50(F)
The biggest g-house was 12(F)covered with snow and without the heat on!

New low for the year (and for the 09-10 winter) of 17 last night. Tonight will likely be colder, from 12-16.

The 10-Day 850 MB Temp-Height Forecast seems to show "more of the same" with arctic cold East of the Rockies from Canada down into the US.

I'm not sure how many people here follow the NAO index, but it is very useful this time of year in understanding the broad outlines of how cold it will be. Generally, a +NAO correlates to a strong west-east jet stream across the US/Canadian border and milder than normal temperatures, particularly along the eastern searboard. A -NAO correlates to stronger-than-normal ridging over Greenland, which tends to act as a 'block' in the atmosphere, forcing the jet stream south and east over the Eastern part of Canada and the US and making it colder than normal East of the Rockies. Conversely, with a strongly -NAO, temperatures tend to be milder in parts of Alaska and Western Coastal Canada. Around this time last year, during a strongly -NAO event, the temperature in Fairbanks, Alaska, rose from around 60 below to +52 in a period of 36 hours. At the same time there was an outbreak of arctic air colder than any in about 25 years along the East Coast.

You can obviously surmise then that I am hoping for this to do a flip -

Yes, I am an amateur meterologist as well. Or like to think I am. ;)[/url]

Chris,

I learned more in your one explanatory paragraph than I've ever learned from watching meteorologists on TV!

rose from around 60 below to +52 in a period of 36 hours.

112 degree change in 36 hours! 😕

What does NAO mean? North American-OMG?

We Canadians are indeed sorry all this crap comes from here...and we blame Siberia 😆

Barb

I'm finally leaving for Fla tonight, the weather is awful down there right now. Freezes all the way down to Ft Pierce and lower.
It should warm up soon I hope, I'll really be able to seek out the hardy plants now. I hope there are still some seeds left, maybe
I'll look for sprouts instead.

Bill

Have a safe trip Bill.

I bet there are some very cold 5 and 10 gallon specimens you can cram in the car for the return trip...seeds and sprouts might've been exposed to more cold than they can handle.

Barb

Drive safely, Bill. Drivers down south don't know to look for black ice on the roads.

Thanks Guys! I'll take a bunch of pictures while I'm there.

Bill

North Atlantic Oscillation.
My guess is-mid February before any substantial break in the cold.
If we get a warmup this month there will probably be at least another outbreak in February.

This is really really tiring right now!

The UK is having perhaps it's 3rd or 4th most severe winter in past 100 years at least, unbelivable that the El Nino along with the -NAO/-AO and the solar minimum has conspired against large areas of the northern hemisphere to give a frigid winter!

I recorded -6.5C (20.3F) this morning, which is the lowest here for 15 years, furthermore it could be lower tonight, perhaps as much as -10C which will be an all time record if it does.

Amazingly a place near Manchester (UK), called Woodford recorded -17.7C which is an all time record for that area.

This is just because of some snow on the ground - if the snow melted we'd only record about 30F and 28F at absolute worst.